Vengeful, irascible, authoritarian, obdurate. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was all of these things even before a cabal of Turkish generals tried to cast him into oblivion. Now that he has survived their machinations, his worst instincts will be redoubled and reinforced.

If Mr Erdogan was a maddening ally for Europe and America in the past, the leader who has just overcome a military coup will be capable of almost anything.

In one sense, Mr Erdogan has been vindicated. Before the turmoil began on Friday night, one criticism that he found most infuriating was the charge of paranoia.

Westerners would deride Mr Erdogan’s claims that dark forces were massing to overthrow him and a conspiracy existed within the Turkish state, plotting his downfall.

Then came one of the most surreal 24 hours in Turkey’s modern history. Military units really did fan out across Istanbul and Ankara, seizing key positions under cover of darkness.