U osnovi tih kritika bili su strahovi od rastuće autoritarnosti, a neki analitičari upiru na martovsko hapšenje dva istaknuta istraživačka novinara i kažu da ono obilježava razvođe u liberalnim zapadnim stavovima prema AKP.
Fears of growing authoritarianism underpinned much of the criticism, and some analysts point to the arrest in March of two high-profile investigative journalists as marking a watershed in liberal Western attitudes to the AK Party.