A little over a year ago, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan used a memorable argument to fight back against criticism of his authoritarian tilt and efforts to muzzle critical media. “If I were a dictator,” he said, “you wouldn’t be able to say all this.”

Two days after he made that statement, the June 7 general elections produced a big shock for Erdogan as his Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since coming to power in 2002. Erdogan blamed the media, and, pushing the limits of the law, forced a new election for Nov. 1.

In the run-up to the November polls, stick-wielding and stone-throwing AKP supporters attacked the Hurriyet daily in Istanbul on Sept. 7. The police chose not to intervene as the mob — led by newly elected AKP deputy Abdurrahim Boynukalin, the head of the party’s youth branches — shattered the glass entrance and windows of Turkey’s largest media group. Less than 24 hours later, the building came under a second attack, along with Hurriyet offices in Ankara.

Boynukalin was absent from the AKP ticket in the Nov. 1 polls, but shortly afterward he got his reward, becoming deputy minister for sports and youth. The suspects in the attack, meanwhile, stood trial — free of pretrial detention — and were eventually acquitted.