Reactions keep coming from the West

Strong reactions are coming from the western world. As the president and the prime minister have said, even "on a Sunday" they have issued statements condemning the Dec. 14 operation.

It would be a huge mistake to regard these reactions as an attack by foreign powers. Behind such an intense reaction against the operations on daily Zaman and Samanyolu TV, are the accumulated concerns on the state of affairs and the regime in Turkey.

When Turkey has a legal demand from EU countries, they say "we have a ‘rule of law'" and point to the courts. Yes, there were journalists in the U.K. arrested because of illegal tapping, but it was pronounced within the "rule of law," so everything was normal.

Well, are we not a state of law; don't we have a "rule of law?" Well, here is the problem.
Take a look at the reports on Turkey distancing itself from the principles of rule of law step-by-step by the U.S. State Department, Freedom House and the EU.

In the U.S. State Department's Human Rights report in 2012, there were 11 referrals to "corruption" in Turkey's section, while this figure rose to 18 in the 2013 report. Interference with justice was also criticized.

In its May 2014 report, Freedom House lowered Turkey's standing on the list of world press freedom from 120th to 134th place. 

Of course, there could be technical mistakes and political prejudices in these reports…

However, if you present the image of becoming authoritarian, then how others perceive you becomes more pessimistic.

Despite this, one cannot say these reports are entirely intentional. It is especially much more difficult to say the "EU Progress reports" are prejudiced. These reports are prepared after negotiating with Turkey on each...