Not only does Mr. Erdogan’s suggestion run afoul of everything I believe in, it is also irresponsible and wrong. - Fethullah Gülen

In April, the president won a narrow referendum victory — amid allegations of serious fraud — to form an “executive presidency” without checks and balances, enabling him to control all three branches of the government. To be sure, through purges and corruption, much of this power was already in his hands. I fear for the Turkish people as they enter this new stage of authoritarianism.

Instead of explaining why they could not convince world leaders about the accusations they made against me, the government deceives citizens with conspiracy theories through the media they have turned into propaganda tools. Unfortunately, the Turkish people, who cannot hear the different arguments about this terrible event, are mobilized en masse around hate messages. Until now, few people have realized how similar the scapegoating of Hizmet volunteers was to the scapegoating of certain groups by fascist and communist totalitarian regimes in the 20th century.

Throughout my life, I have publicly and privately denounced military interventions in domestic politics. In fact, I have been advocating for democracy for decades. Having suffered through four military coups in four decades in Turkey — and having been subjected by those military regimes to harassment and wrongful imprisonment — I would never want my fellow citizens to endure such an ordeal again. If somebody who appears to be a Hizmet sympathizer has been involved in an attempted coup, he betrays my ideals.