Back in the days when Turkey was touted as a model for the Muslim world, boasting a booming economy despite the global crisis, it was home to many foreign journalists full of praise for the country. With the Arab uprisings, more foreign journalists arrived in Turkey, as cities like Istanbul, Hatay and Gaziantep became their regional bases, just as Beirut once used to be.
Foreign journalists and local ones employed by foreign media enjoyed high esteem in the days they lauded the Justice and Development Party (AKP), but when they began referring to touchy subjects they became spies overnight in government eyes.