Recep Tayyip Erdogan has emerged from the attempt to topple him with his grip on power apparently unassailable. A week on from the failed coup, Turkey’s president has assumed emergency powers that will allow him to rule by edict; while some 60,000 people have been detained or suspended in a continuing purge of the public sector. For the moment Mr Erdogan commands public support, both from the devotion of Justice and Development party (AKP) loyalists and the qualified backing of those who dislike him, but condemn the coup and fear the country’s descent into civil war.
A state of emergency can be justified, given the brutality of the rebels, who launched air strikes on the capital and shot at civilians. Some of them may still be at large. The question now is whether Mr Erdogan will use this occasion to form a new national consensus and rebuild Turkey’s fractured institutions, or take the opportunity to redouble repression and realise his ambitions of fully fledged autocracy.
Ministers have made efforts to reassure the public, and international observers, that civil rights and the rule of law are not under threat. But the early signs are not promising.