In May 2016, author Mustafa Akyol lamented that "the rhetoric of liberal opening" in Turkey "has given way to authoritarianism, the peace process with the Kurdish nationalists has fallen apart, press freedoms are diminishing and terrorist attacks are on the rise." Supporters of Erdogan credit the change to conspiracies in the West aided by "their treacherous “agents”" in Turkey to undermine the newly powerful and independent Turkey, while Akyol blames it on the corruption of power -- AKP members having been "tempted, intoxicated and corrupted" by the "wealth, prestige and glory" of being in power.[1]