Erdoğan said 'we will never forgive those who call July 15 a theater,' but... The Menzil Sheikh also called it a 'theater'

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his wife Emine Erdoğan visited the July 15 Martyrs' Monument on the July 15 Martyrs' Bridge on the anniversary of the FETÖ coup attempt.

In his speech there, Erdoğan reacted to those who called the July 15 coup attempt a "theater" with the following words: "We will never forgive those who call July 15 a game, a theater, or shamelessly call it a staged fight until the day of judgment. Those who cast these ugly slanders on July 15 are mere extras in the bloody game that was intended to be played on Turkey, in the great theater that was intended to be staged."

According to the report by the X social media account "B yüzü," it has emerged that Menzil Sheikh Saki Erol called July 15 a 'theater.' 

In an interview included in journalist Saygı Öztürk's book titled Menzil, published in 2020, Saki Erol evaluated July 15 as follows: "From the time we knew them until the July 15 coup attempt, our view was clear. They were doing wrong. That is why no one has seen us side by side. We did not approve of their activities. We were also very surprised that the coup attempt was carried out by them. Is something like this even happening? I wonder if it was a theater, or if they were filming a movie? Just like an American movie. I still do not believe it."

Saki Erol had parted ways with his brothers and taken over the leadership of the community following the death of his father, Abdülbaki Erol.

Here is that section of the interview in the book: