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The toe many, weekenning or dilution of the checks and balances in turkish society. so what you're seeing in the be, again, this heavyo what concentration of power, and there's even talk that erdogan, the prime minister, wants to essentially take over the process of rewriting the constitution, strengthen the office of the presidency, and then when he is no longer prime minister, to enter the office of president with far more power than he now has. >> shepard: and this is something that the people are very much aware of. one of the fires that's burping here is that of a telecommunications truck...

Get agreement to invade iraq through turkey. so this direction has been there for some time. and the demonstrations are not motivated by foreign policy concerns but implication of this march toward islamism that the demonstrators oppose. >> shepard: our relationship goes back to the 18th century. a member of nato since 1952. we have been able to use air bases to transport nonlethal logistical support for operationss iraq. >> they were critical in the first persian gulf war and in terms of an alternative to radical islam or terrorism in the middle east it's been very important. i hate to see th...

It would have to be more serious. but this is also a man who seems to not be willing to back off any positions. a certain amount of hubris that has gotten in the way. the decision to make this little tiny park, where there were protests, and it was a scene for public expression to be held spokane a barracks, into something else, and the unwillingness to back away from that to show the protesting elements there is some accommodation for other voices in the country and, yes, did do well at the polls but that doesn't mean your voice won't be heard. there has to be some expression of that to begin...

Boost cell signals or mobile phone signals, and somebody set that on fire. the probability it was thoseç protesters who were using it is slim. mr. ambassador, it is your sense his next move is a crucial one and it's time for some discussion? >> well, from his point of view i'm amazed it's gotten this far. his own party members were offering negotiations and i thought that was the direction he was moving in. but never forget. erdogan, when he was mayor of istanbul in the 1990s, said, and i quote, democracy is like a street car. you ride it to the stop you want and then you get off. and i thin...

>> shepard: now to the wider view of the square. >> shepard: mr. ambassador, if you're still with us, i think it's improper at this point to equate this to anything that happened in egypt but it's hard not to think that way. >> in egypt, however, the mubarak government had no support whatsoever in the population, prime minister erdogan not only has 50% of the population behind him, but the other 50% are not organized and do not have leaders or inside party. so his view is he has the votes so he can carry out the policies he sees fit. this doesn't conform with what many of us in america and in