美国国家公共电台 NPR--Blinken arrives in Turkey after attending the Munich Security Conference

Blinken arrives in Turkey after attending the Munich Security Conference

Transcript¹

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Turkey for a firsthand look at the earthquake damage and recovery efforts. He'll also meet with officials to discuss NATO and the war in Ukraine.

: [POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: In this story, we incorrectly say that Norway is seeking admission to NATO but facing challenges from NATO member Turkey. In fact, Sweden and Finland are the two countries seeking NATO membership and encountering objections from Turkey.]

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Turkey this morning to discuss a number of pressing issues.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

It's the second stop of a three-country trip. Blinken had already planned to go to Turkey before a massive earthquake devastated² the country's south two weeks ago. Now he's there, and the trip is taking on new meaning. But he's still facing some of the old issues in the close but contentious³ U.S.-Turkey relationship.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Peter Kenyon joins us now from Istanbul. Peter, what do we know about Blinken's agenda?

PETER KENYON, BYLINE⁴: Well, Blinken arrived in Turkey Sunday after attending the Munich Security Conference. He visited Incirlik Air Base, being used by the U.S. Air Force and others. He was given a helicopter tour of some of the areas damaged in the February 6 quake. He arrived as Turkey is winding⁵ down search and rescue operations in all but two provinces and turning to the much longer job of reconstructing many of the thousands of buildings destroyed by the quake and the powerful aftershocks that followed. So the visit has taken on a more urgent tone. Blinken is now visiting an area in mourning for what's now estimated to be at least 46,000 lives lost in Turkey and Syria.

MART?NEZ: And what's the U.S. doing in terms of earthquake relief?

KENYON: Well, Blinken arrived with a pledge of additional aid that the State Department says brings Washington's total commitment to Turkey and Syria to some $185 million. Meanwhile, Turkey's foreign minister says it needs more. It needs additional mobile housing, more tents from NATO, increased air support from its allies to deliver aid to areas hard to get to by road. The two diplomats⁶ met. They held a news conference at which Blinken reiterated⁷ Washington's firm support for Turkey despite their differences on some issues.

MART?NEZ: I know that Blinken was headed there to talk about other issues, one of them NATO expansion. The U.S. wants Sweden and Norway to join, but Turkey, a NATO country, has threatened to block that. What's at stake there for both countries?

KENYON: Well, that's right, and it's a potentially thorny⁸ issue for both sides. Turkey is the only member state that has yet to affirm that it will ratify⁹ expanding the alliance by adding Sweden and Finland. Here's a bit of what Blinken said.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ANTONY BLINKEN: The United States greatly values Turkey's contributions as a long-standing and active member of the NATO alliance, and we'll keep working together to strengthen and grow our alliance, including through the accession of Sweden and Finland, which will help deliver even stronger and more capable assets to the alliance.

KENYON: Now, President Erdogan wants the extradition¹⁰ of some 130 people, particularly from Sweden, to face charges of supporting terrorism. Sweden says that's basically impossible. On other issues, Blinken reiterated his concern that China is considering supplying lethal¹¹ aid to Russia for use in Ukraine, and he talked about Turkey's bid to buy American F-16 fighter jets, though he didn't offer anything conclusive¹² on overcoming opposition¹³ from Congress.

MART?NEZ: So safe to say, Peter, that Turkish officials want to press Blinken on earthquake recovery support as a No. 1 priority?

KENYON: Yes, I think that's extremely likely. The death toll¹⁴ is, of course, expected to keep rising as the crews get to more of the thousands of buildings that were very heavily damaged or collapsed¹⁵ entirely¹⁶ in the earthquake and the aftershocks. Thousands of people will be needing more permanent accommodation. And the effort, of course, needs to begin to rebuild or construct thousands of buildings, presumably this time with state-of-the-art earthquake defenses. I mean, critics charge that too often corners were cut in building homes in earthquake-prone areas in the past, and that left a situation where many of the buildings were less able than they should have been to withstand the shock of a quake.

MART?NEZ: That's NPR's Peter Kenyon in Istanbul. Peter, thanks.

KENYON: Thank you, A.

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 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

3 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

4 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。

5 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

6 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

8 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

9 ratify   

v.批准，认可，追认

参考例句：

• The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
• The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。

10 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。

11 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

12 conclusive   

adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的

参考例句：

• They produced some fairly conclusive evidence.他们提供了一些相当确凿的证据。
• Franklin did not believe that the French tests were conclusive.富兰克林不相信这个法国人的实验是结论性的。

13 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

14 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

15 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

16 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。