Imam Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan has demanded be dragged from Pennsylvania to Turkey to stand trial, sharply denies Erdogan's accusations that he engineered the coup. Rather, he claims, Erdogan is seeking to silence Turkish voices of democracy:
"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."
Gulen continues: "Nevertheless, Mr. Erdogan’s accusation is no surprise, not for what it says about me but rather for what it reveals about his systematic and dangerous drive toward one-man rule."