Insult can lead to injury in Turkey. Upset the supreme leader in Iran and you will be lucky to escape with a flogging. In Azerbaijan offending the head of state can lead to two years of “corrective labour”. The over-sensitive president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has punitive means at his disposal too. But he does not need to use them as Angela Merkel will do his bidding.

The German chancellor’s decision to authorise the prosecution of the comedian Jan Böhmermann represents an extraordinary act of abasement to the Turkish leader. It is a retreat from one of the most basic tenets of democracy — the right to free expression. And it underlines her new dependency on the autocratic Mr Erdogan in helping to resolve