Former President George Bush Writes Letter To Enes Kanter Freedom After He Becomes US Citizen; Here’s What He Told Him

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Dec 27, 2021
21 May 2015. Istanbul, Turkey. Enes Kanter is a Turkish professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association.

Former President George W. Bush wrote a letter to Boston Celtics player Enes Kanter Freedom, congratulating him on his recently becoming an citizen of the United States.

Freedom officially passed his citizenship test toward the end of November and to celebrate the huge milestone, changed his last name to “Freedom.”

“Congratulations on becoming a United States citizen. I appreciate your commitment to the founding ideals of our Nation,” Bush said in the letter. “America is a great land of freedom and opportunity. We are blessed by the diversity of our citizens, and I encourage you to embrace this chance to add to our country’s proud heritage.”

Freedom posted a tweet showing off the letter, stating he was honored and will never take the freedoms he has in being a citizen for granted.

via Washington Examiner:

Freedom has been an outspoken critic of human rights abuses in China and Turkey, with his criticism of the latter resulting in him losing his passport. The Turkish government also retaliated against his family members and forced his parents to disown him publicly. He says he has not seen his family since 2015.

He drew national attention for his criticisms of China for human rights abuses against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang and its policies on Tibet. In November, he wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journalcalling for a boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in response to human rights abuses in China.

While the NBA was largely supportive of his protests against Turkey, Freedom said he felt pressure from NBA officials over his comments on China.

This kind of thing is so awesome to see.

We’re all very glad to have Freedom — not just the NBA player, but actual liberty too — here in the United States. This is what a true patriot looks like.

Notice how he came through the front door instead of sneaking in the back window? And now he’s a citizen. That’s the kind of people we need more of here in America.