Nationalism and authoritarianism don’t seem to mix very well with satire. Donald Trump, preparing vigorously to make America great again, gets very prickly about Alec Baldwin’s all too accurate impressions, while Vladimir Putin doesn’t seem like a guy who appreciates having the Mikhail taken out of him. Kukly, a Russian TV comedy series, was cancelled in 2002 after likening Putin to ETA Hoffmann’s fictional dwarf, Little Zaches. If it turns out that Nigel Farage’s entire political career has been a work of satirical art then kudos to him; but the jury’s still out on that one.

In Turkey, the authoritarian rule of Recep Erdogan has long regarded satire as a form of political rebellion. Even by last spring, months before the failed military coup, more than 1,800 prosecutions had been brought against individuals alleged to have insulted the President, including by lampooning him. In April, Erdogan demanded that legal action be taken by the German state against a comedian who had supposedly defamed Turkey’s leader in a satirical poem. Criticism of Erdogan – whether tongue in cheek or otherwise – is increasingly portrayed as an attack on the Turkish state, and even on national security.

July’s attempt by a faction within the army to unseat Erdogan from power only ended up making him more powerful, enabling him to justify a purge of the civil service and the armed forces. Critical voices in the media, already diminished by past crackdowns, have become even more muted, with newspapers and magazines closed or placed in the hands of state “trustees”.

In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Turkey coup attempt In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Erdogan attends the funeral service for victims of the thwarted coup in Istanbul at Fatih mosque on July 17, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey Burak Kara/Getty Images In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised in Istanbul on 16 July, 2016 Gokhan Tan/Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 REUTERS/Murad Sezer In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Surrendered Turkish soldiers who were involved in the coup are beaten by a civilian Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags as they capture a Turkish Army vehicle Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt People pose near a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's Bosphorus Brigde Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A Turkish military stands guard near the Taksim Square in Istanbul Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Pierre Crom/Twitter In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square AP In pictures: Turkey coup attempt People demonstrate in front of the Republic Monument at the Taksim Square in Istanbul Murad Sezer/Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers detain police officers during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish Army armoured personnel carriers in the main streets of Istanbul Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Chaos reigned in Istanbul as tanks drove through the streets EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of President Erdogan celebrate in Ankara following the suppression of the attempted coup Reuters

The horrific New Year’s Eve attack on an Istanbul nightclub, claimed by Isis, is likely to stiffen public support for Erdogan, who has called on Turks to unite in the face of attempts by terrorists to destabilise the country. It will also make legitimate criticism of the President and his policies more difficult.

Governments in Western Europe have an interest in a stable Turkey and are therefore conflicted in their attitude to President Erdogan. They may not regard him as a democrat, but for as long as his Justice and Development Party (AKP) dominates Turkey’s parliament, a blind eye can be turned to his autocratic excesses – especially when he and his government are dealing with regular terror attacks from various groups. For the EU, Turkey provides at least a partial solution to the refugee crisis and remains a critical player in the Syrian civil war and the flammable Middle East more generally.

Yet the truth is, would-be autocrats don’t clamp down on domestic opposition – especially not of the satirical form – in order to keep the public safe from terrorists or to bolster social harmony. Rather, they use security concerns or patriotic feeling as an excuse for stifling political disapproval in order to boost their own authority. We have already seen this with Donald Trump, who indicated in November that he wanted to make it illegal for anybody to burn the American flag, casting his view as a patriotic defence of what it ought to mean to be a US citizen. But really it was an attack on freedom of expression and of political dissent, designed to marginalise both those who would carry out such an act – and, crucially, any who would defend in principle (if not in practice) their right to do so.

Turkey was once held up as the great exemplar of Islamic democracy, yet basic freedoms of speech and association have been slowly eroded under Erdogan, who now oversees something approaching a dictatorship. In the 1990s, Russia was seen as a crucial test for a major state making a peaceful, unforced transition to democracy. But most observers would surely agree that it failed the exam, with political opposition having ultimately been crushed by Putin and his cronies. The question in 2017 is what the nationalistic pigeons which set off last year around Europe and America – those bastions of liberal democracy – will do when they come home to roost, at the White House and perhaps elsewhere.