A decade ago, about when Mr. Sukur retired from soccer, Mr. Erdogan was steering Turkey toward the European Union. Mr. Sukur was elected to Parliament in 2011 as part of Mr. Erdogan’s party.

But in recent years, Mr. Erdogan has clamped down on perceived threats — the military, courts, media, even the internet. Tens of thousands of journalists, academics and political opponents have been detained.

Mr. Sukur left Parliament, quit the party and quietly came to California to visit friends, he said. He soon decided to build a life in the Bay Area. He bought a share of Tuts Cafe and Bakery, which was under construction in downtown Palo Alto, and his wife and their three children, now ages 12, 16 and 18, later joined him.

After the coup, Mr. Sukur’s houses and bank accounts in Turkey were seized, he said. His elderly father was jailed for months. Mr. Sukur presumes that he will never see his parents again. He does not know if he will ever return to Turkey.

Still, he considers himself far luckier than the Turks who find themselves under the thumb of Mr. Erdogan and swept up by the political upheaval. His long-range plan is not to run bakeries, but to coach soccer and build sports academies — something he always thought he would do in Turkey, with his fame and wealth.