*Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2017 *

**Remarks Prior to a Meeting With President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and an Exchange With Reporters in New York City **

*September 21, 2017 *

*President Trump.* Thank you very much. And it's a great honor and privilege—because he's become a friend of mine—to introduce President Erdogan of Turkey. He's running a very difficult part of the world. He's involved very, very strongly, and frankly, he's getting very high marks. And he's also been working with the United States.

We have a great friendship as countries. I think we're right now as close as we have ever been. And a lot of that has to do with the personal relationship.

So, President, thank you very much. It's a great honor to have you in the United States. Thank you.

*President Erdogan.* Thank you so much, Mr. President. Thank you so much, Mr. President. We are here in New York, in the United States, to attend the General Assembly of the United Nations. And my dear friend, Donald, we are getting together with you as the delegations, and we're going to conduct a bilateral meeting as well, whereby we will be assessing the current relations between the United States and Turkey, as well as we will have the opportunity to discuss the recent regional developments as a whole.

And I would like to once again thank you for this opportunity, and it's great to get together with you.

*President Trump.* Very well. Thank you very much, Mr. President. We appreciate it. Thank you all very much. I appreciate it.

*Protests at the Turkish Embassy in Washington, DC/Kurdish Separatist Movement *

*Q. *Mr. President, what will your message be—[*inaudible*]—the violence against peaceful protestors?

*Q. *Mr. President, are you going to reconcile with the Kurdish issue, do you think?

*President Trump.* We'll be discussing many issues. Many issues.

NOTE: The President spoke at 3:13 p.m. in the Hubbard I meeting room at the Lotte New York Palace hotel. President Erdogan spoke in Turkish, and his remarks were translated by an interpreter. A portion of these remarks could not be verified because the audio was incomplete.

*Categories:* Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters :: New York City; Meetings With Foreign Leaders and International Officials : Turkey, President Erdogan*.*

*Locations: *New York City.

*Names:* Erdogan, Recep Tayyip*.*

*Subjects:* New York : President's visits; Turkey : President; Turkey : Relations with U.S.

*DCPD Number:* DCPD201700674.