accused of fabricating evidence and acting dictatorial. the political struggle between the once powerful military and the civilian government is far from over. now analysts predict a fresh legal battle over where to prosecute these military officers. no one yet knows whether they will be tried before civilian courts or before a military tribunal. ivan watson, cnn, istanbul. any instability in turkey certainly has serious implications for the region, for nato and for the united states. let's bring in our national security contributor fran townsend who was the homeland security adviser for president bush, and also worked in clinton administration in the justice department. explain to our viewers why turkey is so significant and important not only to nato, be tow the united states. >> well, wolf, the best thing to look at to understand it is where it sits. this is -- turkey sits both at the gateway to asia and the gateway to europe.