Over the last several years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has survived massive protests, tumult within his own party, an electoral setback, terror attacks and an armed insurgency by Kurdish separatists. But on the night of July 15 he survived the most serious and violent challenge to his authority yet: an attempted military coup. As the government continues to reassert its hold on power in a traumatized nation, profound questions remain about where Turkey goes from here. And the answers will come from the person who, for a moment just a few days ago, seemed destined to be removed from power or worse: Erdogan himself.

Turkey’s political parties, key government institutions,and much of the public at large sided against the coup, uniting an otherwise deeply divided country, but the question now is how long a rare moment of consensus will last. On Friday night some of Erdogan’s bitterest enemies stood by him. All four major political parties, including the nationalist, centrist, and left-wing opposition, rejected the putsch. In a parliament where only weeks earlier lawmakers engaged each other in a physical brawl, there was unity.

Responding to an appeal from Erdogan—made on FaceTime and relayed via CNNTurk—demonstrators took to the streets, facing off with soldiers who had been to enforce the power grab. Some of those protesters were killed, among the 280 people who died that night. At the same time the instigators of the coup failed to mobilize popular support or bring on board other key institutions within the state. No pro-coup protesters appeared to confront those opposing the soldiers and tanks in the street.

The government is now moving to purge the state of what is says are the participants and perpetrators of the coup. As of Monday at least 7,543 suspects had been arrested, according to the prime minister. At the moment the clampdown is focused in part on the plotters and the followers of Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, currently in self-exile in the U.S., whom the government blames for the coup. (Gulen has denied any role.)