turkey is geographically locateded right at the core of the middle east and europe. it s the world s 17th largest economy. and turkey is meant to be the model or example of how an islamist country can also be modern and market orienteded and democratic. if turkey doesn t work, it raises fundamental questions for the entire middle east, for the muslim world, for the arab world. there s a lot at stake both for the country itself and as a symbol. let s go to nbc correspondent richard engel. he joins us live from istanbul, turkey. there is a delay. richard, take it away. reporter: as you can see, a very different scene here in taksim square, an uneasy calm, not at all like yesterday. there s no tear gas in the air, no clashes going on at the moment. there are still some protesters here, but traffic has returned to the square, foot traffic,
budget, the long-term debt. this changes everything. and obviously, we re covering the ongoing situation in turkey. you re here for that. and the miami heat got crushed last night. crushed. can you guys get the file footage where they have all the fireworks going off behind them and they say they re going to win seven or eighth championships? that would be great. there s nothing that we want to see. look, look, listen, even the new york post is talking about the plug. it s very important. plug the leak. traitor could get life. let s just absorb that. all your viewers are absorbing that. i think let s debate it. i think he deserves life. you think he deserves life? thomas, just stop. like the cut of his jib. let s go. there s a lane that you and
you very much. thomas? one thing we ve seen as we ve watched the middle east and, richard, you know this, through social media, twitter exploded. the turkish prime minister went on a week ago saying these protesters are looters and bums and basically called social media a menace in the translation. what does it do to our relationship, president obama s relationship with turkey, and as you point out, how it is supposed to be a model for how an islamist country can run and do so with a secular vision. president obama has put tremendous stake in his relationship with prime minister erdogan. but what we re seeing is the relationship between prime minister erdogan and his own people is obviously frayed. they re upset with him not only bringing islam into the center of turkish society, but also his consolidation of power. he s prime minister. he wants to change the constitution to strengthen the presidency and then become president. the most interesting thing to watch is not simply the
together what she needs to. we re going to make sure that we cover this similarly to the way we covered another very heated issue. violence has gripped turkey s capital of istanbul. you re looking at we ll pull up live pictures, if we can. some 5,000 people were injured over the past few days and four people killed during yesterday s protests. protesters threw rocks and small explosives as police tried to clear taksim square. even reporters like our own nbc s richard engel were forced to don gas masks during the reporting. by evening, the square filled again with 10,000 demonstrators. the response was even more intense as hundreds of police were using water cannons and rubber bullets. rioters set fires in the square, even shooting off fireworks at the police, and the night air filled with smoke. protesters complained the prime minister is trying to impoeds an islamic agenda on what they say should be a secular country. what s the ponce of this story, richard?
vehicle traffic, and if you pan off, you can see something we didn t see yesterday, a police presence here, but the police are just sitting down. they have their riot shields at their feet, some of them. they re looking very relaxed. no one is attacking them. we re not sure if this is going to hold the turkish president just a short while ago appealed for calm. he said that this is not an arab spring movement. he said that turkey is a multi-party democracy, and he stressed that these security forces haven t been using lethal force against protesters although some people have died. they ve been using tear gas and water cannons, not live ammunition. still the protesters say they will return to the square. it s unclear if a small number of them or a large number of them will try to engage security forces and once again return to clashes. but for now, it seems to be calm. we ll see if this holds. nbc s richard engel, thank