WEBVTT 00:02.066 --> 00:04.166 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Turkey has been an important ally to the United States for years, but, 00:04.166 --> 00:08.266 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% recently, different views on how to fight ISIS in Syria, on human rights, and on a number 00:08.266 --> 00:11.900 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% of other issues have driven a wedge into that relationship. 00:11.900 --> 00:13.866 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Judy Woodruff is in New York. 00:13.866 --> 00:16.700 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And, late today, she spoke with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- Judy. 00:16.700 --> 00:20.300 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: William, yes, I'm in New York. 00:20.300 --> 00:25.300 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And I just finished moments ago a lengthy interview with President Erdogan on a number 00:26.266 --> 00:28.366 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% of subjects. 00:28.366 --> 00:32.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But what I think is -- may be of greatest interest is, when I asked him about the report 00:34.366 --> 00:38.500 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% today -- again, this is a moment of tension in a season of tension between the U.S. and 00:40.900 --> 00:43.733 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% Turkey -- a report today that the Trump administration has decided it will not go forward with selling 00:45.700 --> 00:49.933 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% guns and other weapons to President Erdogan's presidential guards, in a surprising twist, 00:52.633 --> 00:57.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% President Erdogan said this didn't make sense, because he claimed that the U.S. has been 00:58.833 --> 01:00.800 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% giving weapons to terrorists in Syria. 01:00.800 --> 01:05.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And by that, he was referring to the anti-ISIS - - Kurdish anti-ISIS groups. 01:06.400 --> 01:08.966 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% Let's listen. 01:08.966 --> 01:10.600 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, Turkish President (through translator): We need to fight these terrorists 01:10.600 --> 01:12.633 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% with the United States. 01:12.633 --> 01:17.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And when we are not able to acquire those weapons from the United States, why are you 01:18.866 --> 01:20.366 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% giving those weapons to terrorists? 01:20.366 --> 01:23.933 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% It's a question that we ask our friends in the United States. 01:23.933 --> 01:27.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And when these questions are not answered, we're feeling sorry, as the strategic partners 01:27.800 --> 01:29.833 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% to the U.S. 01:29.833 --> 01:32.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Those were some pretty tough words about U.S. foreign policy. 01:32.033 --> 01:36.600 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% I know there was also a recent announcement last week that the Turks had purchased surface-to-air 01:38.666 --> 01:41.700 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% missiles from the Russians, Turkey being a NATO member, Russia being a pretty strong 01:43.600 --> 01:44.800 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% enemy of NATO. 01:44.800 --> 01:45.866 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Did you ask the president about that? 01:45.866 --> 01:47.433 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% And what did he say? 01:47.433 --> 01:49.500 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: I did, William. 01:49.500 --> 01:54.466 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% This has raised the hackles, as you can imagine, of other NATO members in Europe and in the 01:56.433 --> 01:59.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% United States, questions about, where does Turkey's loyalty really lie, if it's cutting 02:01.400 --> 02:05.533 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% this $2.5 billion deal to buy these surface-to-air missiles? 02:05.533 --> 02:09.666 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% President Erdogan's response is that it was a logical thing to do. 02:09.666 --> 02:13.133 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% He said, over time, we have been asking other NATO countries for weapons. 02:13.133 --> 02:15.166 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% They haven't been willing to sell them to us. 02:15.166 --> 02:17.433 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% He said, the United States won't even sell us drones. 02:17.433 --> 02:21.233 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% He said, we have had that request in for a number of years. 02:21.233 --> 02:24.200 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% So, he said, it was only natural that we would turn to the Russians. 02:24.200 --> 02:28.233 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And I tried to pin him down, if you will, a little bit about where his loyalty really 02:28.233 --> 02:29.700 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% lies. 02:29.700 --> 02:32.366 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Is it with NATO and the West, or is it with Russia? 02:32.366 --> 02:37.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And his answer was essentially neither one - - both -- both and neither, that we have 02:38.466 --> 02:40.866 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% to do what's best for Turkey. 02:40.866 --> 02:45.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% As I said, we covered a lot in this interview, and we're going to be bringing our "NewsHour" 02:47.133 --> 02:49.133 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% viewers much more of it tomorrow night. 02:49.133 --> 02:51.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Judy Woodruff from New York, thank you so much.