I don't understand why people are surprised that Erdogan is pushing an Islamic agenda. He was voted in because of his appeal to the religious people.

I think all the people who are surprised at this are the ones outside of Turkey. This should not be a surprise at all. People living in the rural areas are very conservative and they are the ones who brought him to power once again.

Even to this day I hear nothing but praise for Erdogan in my social circle (of _very_ well educated upper-middle class people).

Reading articles from the US & UK makes it look like we are talking about two different people. There is not a lot of hate for Ergodan at the grass-roots level. Almost as if there is an agenda to push by the international community