Mr. Soros is not included as a suspect in the case. It seems I was cast in this narrative because I was a board member of the Open Society Foundation in Turkey and because of my open — though not financial — support of the campaign to protect Gezi Park. My involvement in the civil initiatives around Kurdish and Armenian questions, and a smear campaign against me by certain media organizations, might have facilitated my framing.

My office was adjacent to Gezi Park, and being sympathetic to the demands to protect the park, I often went there during the protests. A large majority of young people there had no ties to any political organization. They were there out of a strong sense of justice and solidarity. Their energy, humor and optimism greatly impressed me. Allegations that these young people were mobilized by a secret plan is an insult not only to their intellect, but also to everyone who can look at events objectively.

The political mood in Turkey during the Gezi protests was different from today. President Abdullah Gul and some members of the government were in favor of dialogue with the protesters and of listening to their demands. Mr. Erdogan, prime minister at the time, met with two different groups active in the protests. (He wanted to proceed with the construction project, which was later stopped by a court order.)

There was a major change in the attitude of the government to the Gezi Park protests, and in the news and opinion coverage by media organizations close to Mr. Erdogan, after the coup attempt of July 2016 initiated by Gulenist officers — the followers of the shadowy cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania — in the Turkish army.

I think that the change is related to a strong conviction that the coup attempt was supported by foreign powers, particularly the C.I.A. The identification of George Soros as the embodiment of the United States’ imperial intentions and the mastermind behind the protests is handy — and it does not affect the relationship between Mr. Erdogan and President Trump.

After the 2016 coup attempt, a state of emergency that suspended basic constitutional rights was declared. The judiciary was given the mission of identifying and punishing not just those who planned and executed the coup, but almost everyone connected to the Gulenist movement, including those who had no knowledge of its clandestine criminal activities.