In September, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) made it clear that the press freedom crisis is deepening in Turkey. “Heated anti-press rhetoric, the firing of leading journalists, threats to restrict online speech and a series of physical and legal assaults further damaged the press freedom environment in Turkey in the months following the Gezi Park protests that began last May,” the CPJ wrote.

That crisis is only getting worse now as the government is desperately trying to provide damage control for a corruption scandal involving three ministers’ sons and one minister.

Here's why: I asked the question in yesterday’s column as to why Erdogan still keeps Interior Minister Muammer Guler in charge — his son Baris Guler was arrested as a result of a court order for allegedly accepting a bribe — and allows him to reassign police chiefs, department heads and their deputies who played crucial roles in the investigation. I wondered whether it would have been wiser to reassign Guler instead, so as not to cast doubts on the justness of the investigation.

Defending his and his son’s innocence, Guler said on Dec. 22, “What is more important is that this operation turned into a slandering campaign by the media’s manipulation. All the legal and procedural rules have been turned upside down.” At midnight, the General Security Directorate sent instructions to all its branches in 81 provinces asking them “to ban the entry of journalists to their buildings” effective immediately.