Turkey's president wishes to maintain friendly ties with Russia and Ukraine

Turkey's president wishes to maintain friendly ties with Russia and Ukraine

Transcript¹

As the Russia-Ukraine crisis builds, Turkey is in a tough spot. It's a NATO ally that doesn't want to endanger ties with Russia - including the tourist economy from visiting Russians.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

A potential invasion of Ukraine would shake up relationships among many world leaders. Turkey is just across the Black Sea from Ukraine. And while Turkey is a NATO member, it also worked with Russia. Turkey's leader plans to go to Ukraine this week, but he's in a tough spot, as NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

PETER KENYON, BYLINE²: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long sought to portray³ Turkey as an important player in both Europe and the Middle East. Last week, with the world watching to see if Russia would invade Ukraine, Erdogan said he'd go to Ukraine and would also speak with Russia's Vladimir Putin in hopes of lowering tensions.

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PRESIDENT RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN: (Through interpreter) Now I have a visit to Ukraine in front of me. In the meantime, maybe a visit to Moscow will take place or talking over the phone with Mr. Putin. Above all, we want peace to prevail in the region.

KENYON: Sinan Ulgen, with the Istanbul-based Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies, sees potential hostilities⁴ between Russia and Ukraine as a very unwanted development for Turkey. Ankara is involved with Moscow in Syria and elsewhere, while at the same time maintaining strong defense⁵ ties with Ukraine, including the sale of armed Turkish drones. Ulgen says it would be, quote, "incredibly difficult" for Ankara to choose between those two relationships. Beyond that, Ulgen says Moscow's overarching goals go well beyond Ukraine. It's demands include no further eastward⁶ movement by NATO and no more NATO weapons in former Soviet⁷ states. These, he says, are not topics Turkey should expect to mediate⁸.

SINAN ULGEN: And then Moscow wants to deal with Washington directly and to some extent with NATO. So in that sense, there is no real role for a country like Turkey because the issue is not about the status of Ukraine solely¹⁰.

KENYON: The Ukraine crisis could also mark a turning point in relations between Erdogan and Putin, says analyst¹¹ Soner Cagaptay at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Erdogan has pursued a path of strong support for Ukraine, while at the same time remaining an ally to Moscow. But if, for instance, Ankara keeps selling armed drones to Ukraine, Cagaptay says Putin has a powerful economic weapon at his disposal - the annual summer flood of Russian tourists to Turkey's Aegean coast and holiday resorts.

SONER CAGAPTAY: Putin can easily put in place tourism sanctions, a boycott¹² of Turkey and economic and trade sanctions. Those would cripple growth prospects¹³, and Turkey's economy is in dire⁹ straits right now. Erdogan wants to return strong growth in the runup to 2023 presidential elections. And if he cannot deliver growth, he can't win.

KENYON: Cagaptay says, so far, Turkey's sounding like a loyal NATO member, ready to do its part. But he wonders how far Erdogan would be willing to challenge Putin, even if the request comes from President Joe Biden.

CAGAPTAY: I think, in this case, Turkish President Erdogan has found himself in a pickle¹⁴. Biden will probably ask him to support U.S. regarding Ukraine, but Erdogan will probably stay quiet because he does not want to pick up a fight with Putin at this moment - a fight that would hurt him, hurt Turkey's economy and definitely hurt Erdogan's reelection prospects.

KENYON: In the meantime, he says, Erdogan's main goal will be to find ways to keep tensions from escalating¹⁵ further.

Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Istanbul.

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1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

4 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 eastward   

adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部

参考例句：

• The river here tends eastward.这条河从这里向东流。
• The crowd is heading eastward,believing that they can find gold there.人群正在向东移去，他们认为在那里可以找到黄金。

7 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

8 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。

9 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

10 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

11 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

12 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

13 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

14 pickle   

n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡

参考例句：

• Mother used to pickle onions.妈妈过去常腌制洋葱。
• Meat can be preserved in pickle.肉可以保存在卤水里。

15 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句