News reports from Turkey have noted that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly blamed the Hizmet (“Service”) movement and its exiled leader Fethullah Gülen for being a “shadow” subversive organization, and the instigators of the recent attempted coup. Erdogan has declared a state of emergency, arrested thousands of Turkish citizens, including Gülen’s nephew, and called for the closure of 1,043 private schools, 1,229 charities and foundations, 19 trade unions, 15 universities and 35 medical institutions over suspected links to the Gulen movement.

Those of us, however, who have known and worked for many years with local members of the Hizmet movement remain highly skeptical about Erdogan’s motives and characterization of Gülen and the movement. Hizmet is a loosely-organized movement comprising hundreds of local groups who have devoted themselves to service in the best sense- education, multicultural relationship-building and emergency relief projects serving disaster victims, the homeless, the hungry, and beyond…