Erdoğan: The art of rhetorical double standards or how to concentrate power without really trying

Just leave it to Erdogan to both extol and castigate the West depending on the point he wants to make. In the past, he has labeled the West as, more or less, an Islamophobic cabal that strives to undermine or sideline Muslim achievements, entrenched as it is in its anti-Muslim bias. He has given plenty of examples to back this up: historical distortions (e.g. the discovery of America), state-sanctioned ridicule of Islam (e.g. Charlie Hebdo) and exclusion from distinctions (e.g. the Nobel Prize). But now, trying to make the case for a presidential system of governance, he is presenting those same western countries with such systems (like France and the US) as paragons of democracy (pointing out of course it wouldn't be a copy of those systems). He even mention the British Monarchy of all things as an example of an effective "semi-presidential" system, Queen Elisabeth the 2nd being his role model (though, Elisabeth the 1st is more like it).

The transition to a presidential system is essential to legitimize the concentration of power in his own hands and is part of a long term to ensure the perpetuation of his rule.