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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Turkey has 
been an important ally to the 
United States for years, but,

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recently, different views on 
how to fight ISIS in Syria, on 
human rights, and on a number

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of other issues have driven a 
wedge into that relationship.

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Judy Woodruff is in New York.

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And, late today, she spoke 
with Turkey's President 
Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- Judy.

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JUDY WOODRUFF: William, 
yes, I'm in New York.

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And I just finished moments 
ago a lengthy interview with 
President Erdogan on a number

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of subjects.

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But what I think is -- may be 
of greatest interest is, when 
I asked him about the report

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today -- again, this is a 
moment of tension in a season 
of tension between the U.S. and

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Turkey -- a report today 
that the Trump administration 
has decided it will not 
go forward with selling

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guns and other weapons to 
President Erdogan's presidential 
guards, in a surprising twist,

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President Erdogan said this 
didn't make sense, because he 
claimed that the U.S. has been

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giving weapons to 
terrorists in Syria.

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And by that, he was referring 
to the anti-ISIS - - 
Kurdish anti-ISIS groups.

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Let's listen.

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RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, 
Turkish President (through 
translator): We need to 
fight these terrorists

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with the United States.

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And when we are not able to 
acquire those weapons from 
the United States, why are you

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giving those weapons 
to terrorists?

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It's a question that we ask our 
friends in the United States.

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And when these questions are 
not answered, we're feeling 
sorry, as the strategic partners

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to the U.S.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Those 
were some pretty tough words 
about U.S. foreign policy.

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I know there was also a 
recent announcement last 
week that the Turks had 
purchased surface-to-air

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missiles from the Russians, 
Turkey being a NATO member, 
Russia being a pretty strong

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enemy of NATO.

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Did you ask the 
president about that?

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And what did he say?

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JUDY WOODRUFF: I did, William.

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This has raised the hackles, as 
you can imagine, of other NATO 
members in Europe and in the

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United States, questions about, 
where does Turkey's loyalty 
really lie, if it's cutting

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this $2.5 billion deal to buy 
these surface-to-air missiles?

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President Erdogan's 
response is that it was 
a logical thing to do.

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He said, over time, we 
have been asking other 
NATO countries for weapons.

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They haven't been willing 
to sell them to us.

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He said, the United States 
won't even sell us drones.

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He said, we have had 
that request in for 
a number of years.

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So, he said, it was only 
natural that we would 
turn to the Russians.

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And I tried to pin him down, 
if you will, a little bit 
about where his loyalty really

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lies.

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Is it with NATO and the 
West, or is it with Russia?

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And his answer was essentially 
neither one - - both -- both 
and neither, that we have

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to do what's best for Turkey.

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As I said, we covered a lot in 
this interview, and we're going 
to be bringing our "NewsHour"

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viewers much more of 
it tomorrow night.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, 
Judy Woodruff from New 
York, thank you so much.