Mustafa Akaydin, a member of parliament with the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), allegedly said Aug. 7 that the failed putsch of July 2016 was “theatrics” and that “the state [actually] killed the 250 martyrs” who were resisting the takeover. Akaydin reportedly questioned how the Turkish air force’s highly trained F-16 pilots, who played a prominent role in the plot, could bomb the parliament building but not cause significant damage. He repeated CHP chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s claim from earlier this year that the coup was “controlled” — meaning the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government knew about the plan in advance and allowed it to take place for political gain.

Per news reports, Akaydin also added that the commemoration ceremonies for those who died fighting the coup are meant to replace the memory of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and the national struggle he led from 1919 to 1922 that culminated in the founding of Turkey as a republic in 1923. Through these public displays of patriotism, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to replace Ataturk as the pre-eminent leader of modern Turkey.

Although the pro-government daily newspaper Sabah released a video in which Akaydin says he stands “behind every word [he] said,” the footage is clearly edited and it is not clear exactly what he said in his original statement or subsequent clarification.

As can be expected, high-ranking officials of the ruling AKP and their supporters in the media had a field day with Akaydin’s words. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim condemned the remarks and exclaimed, “What sort of person are you? How dare you utter words that hurt the souls of our martyrs?” Yildirim proceeded to attack Kilicdaroglu for calling upon German tourists not to visit Turkey because it was “unsafe.” The CHP leader denied he said anything to that effect in a recent interview with the German magazine Focus.