The fate of Turkey is a test for the world

The West needs a stable Turkey. Turkey, of course, needs a stable Turkey. There is a temptation to see last Friday’s attempted coup and its aftermath entirely through the lens of the West’s problems – but at its heart is a nation struggling to hold on to constitutional norms. For their sake, as well as our own, peace must be forged. Turkey must shore up its place in the club of democratic nations, united in the face of Islamist extremism.

So many of our shared troubles go back to Syria, the country burning on Turkey’s border. The Syrian civil war has forced thousands to flee overseas – heading to Europe via Turkey, a situation that both sides have struggled to control. Meanwhile, battlefield success against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) has triggered a new wave of killings in Europe. Last week, a terrorist drove a truck into crowds of people in Nice, France. To begin with, it looked as if he was acting alone. But other suspects have been arrested and Isil has claimed responsibility. Whatever the truth, the fact is that we face a desperate enemy willing to use innocent civilians as targets.

Resolving this crisis is not an easy task. The terrorists exploit lingering social problems within Europe that might take decades to address: unemployment, alienation, radicalisation. And the political situation in Syria is complex and shifting. President Bashar al-Assad might be a bloodthirsty dictator, but Russia and, more reluctantly, America have concluded that they would prefer the devil they know than see Isil expand its caliphate. Turkey’s role, under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has been enigmatic. At first it supported the rebels trying to undermine Assad. But in recent weeks, relations with Russia and Israel have been normalised and rapprochement with Damascus put on the table.

Perhaps this change of heart was due to the success of Western-backed operations. Perhaps it was in reaction to Isil terror plots within Turkey. Either way, there probably is no solution to the current Middle East crisis without Turkey playing a significant, positive role – if only to guarantee the safety and security of refugees within its borders. Winning that cooperation will be, again, not easy. Turkey resents Western support for Kurdish groups, some of which demand independence from Ankara. In short, it is important that there is someone in charge of Turkey with whom the West can deal straightforwardly and effectively. The alternative is chaos.

Opposition to Mr Erdogan is more than justified. He is an authoritarian who wishes to roll back Turkey’s long tradition of secularism. He has launched campaigns against alcohol and adultery, and successfully lifted restrictions on the wearing of headscarves. The president’s vanity is apparent in his 1,000-room Ak Saray palace – an official residence that is four times the size of Versailles. And as a newspaper, we are particularly sensitive to his war on free speech. Newspapers have been seized and journalists dragged before the courts because they were believed to have insulted the president.

But a military coup proved to be a huge error of judgment. Mr Erdogan does enjoy large sections of support, while liberal civilians opposed to his rule would doubtless have preferred to remove him through the democratic process rather than have their future dictated by soldiers. The most immediate effect of the coup seems to have been not to chasten Mr Erdogan but to empower him. Plotters have been arrested. Thousands of judges have been stripped of their posts. The legal system, long a bastion of open criticism of the regime, may lose its independence. We sincerely hope that this is not the case. In his first test as Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson has struck exactly the right note. Or, at least, the only note that the West can strike for the moment. He has spoken about his concern for the country, and for the poor Britons who find themselves trapped in it, and echoed America’s support for a speedy return to democratic norms. As he writes on this page, Turkey’s chaos demonstrates that Brexit changes nothing when it comes to global diplomacy. Britain is still part of Europe, still a key player in the Western alliance and still determined to help build a more stable and prosperous Middle East.

Because – in an age of global terror and the mass movement of peoples across whole continents – what happens in Asia Minor affects us in the British Isles. We need to see stability returned to Turkey – a stability rooted not in one man’s authoritarianism but in a return to the constitution and a respect for political and individual liberty. The fate of Turkey is thus a political and moral test for the entire world. We hope that the West’s leadership, which has too often been characterised by vacillation and weakness, rises to the challenge.

There is no solution to the Middle East crisis without Turkey playing a significant, positive role The most immediate effect of the coup seems to have been not to chasten Mr Erdogan but to empower him