I kinda understand it when Muslims from highly repressive autocracies aspire to "become like Turkey" - after all, even Erdogan's Turkey is a step up from where their countries are. What I don't understand is Muslims from mature liberal democracies being fans of Erdogan.
What's funny is that their justifications for Erdogan's clearly authoritarian behavior mirror the justifications of those they purportedly oppose - Sisi's fans very frequently say that all the bad things being said about him are the creation of "Western media".
It's all very #ArabTyrantManual - I mean the justifications upon justifications for why our tyrannical behavior isn't bad or you're just being unfair or you don't understand our region or you're just jealous or whatever.
I guess identitarian populism is quite the drug. There's nothing wrong with being proud of your identity, be it religious or nationalistic, so long it doesn't become a veil over your eyes stopping you from seeing facts or recognizing values or principles.
