Gökçek, one of the most outspoken senior figures in the AKP who regularly updates 3.4 million followers on Twitter with his views, said there would no longer be a risk of coups in Turkey but rather of assassinations.

“Politicians will be at risk of assassinations… of course I have increased my security,” he said.

The mayor was quick to take to Twitter on the night of the coup attempt, describing it as a Gülen-backed coup minutes after the first reports emerged and then calling all supporters out into the streets.