Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's supporters were awed once again by his performance at the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. He spoke at the summit about Syrian refugees and touched upon nearly every issue on in his agenda, as if he was addressing an admiring domestic audience in Turkey.

While he was delivering his speech, his fans flooded social media with claims that he taught the world a lesson. The following day, pro-government media outlets hailed his speech with glowing headlines like “Turkish Day at the UN,” “The World is Bigger than Five” and “Erdogan was very outspoken, lashed out at the whole world.”

“The world is bigger than five” is Erdogan’s favorite motto, a challenge to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council that hold veto power. Erdogan once again chose the UN rostrum to voice his resentment of the injustices of the international system. When he picked up the microphone at the General Assembly meeting, he did not mince his words nor try to be diplomatic. He was as blunt and populist as in his domestic political performances.

In this respect, Erdogan increasingly resembles the fiery third world leaders of the Cold War period and perhaps more than anyone else former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.