General Kenan Evren, the soldier who led the 1980 military coup in Turkey – a ferocious Latin American-style operation involving tanks on the streets, mass arrests, and torture allegations – lives in happy retirement in the Mediterranean resort of Marmaris. He is said to spend his days painting.

Other Turkish generals refuse to go so quietly. On Tuesday, two retired military men were arrested in an investigation of an alleged plot to overthrow the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister. They are among several ex-army personnel implicated in the plot since the probe began in June last year. And despite the series of arrests – this week’s was the sixth and most important – no one has yet been indicted.