VOA常速英语2007年-Israeli, Palestinian Leaders Meet in Turkey

By Dorian Jones
Istanbul
13 November 2007

The Turkish  capital, Ankara, is hosting the Israeli and Palestinian  presidents.  The two leaders are meeting with their Turkish counterpart and the prime minister.  The visit comes ahead of an expected peace summit in the United States.  Dorian Jones reports for VOA from Istanbul.
 
The official reason for the visit of the Israeli President Shimon Peres and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas is to confirm the construction of a Turkish-backed industrial park on the West Bank. 

But, analysts¹ say the real goal of the trip is to set the stage for a peace summit in Annapolis, Maryland, later this year.

President Peres says his country supports the effort for peace.  He says hard work remains² ahead.

"I think all of us would like not to make the Annapolis meeting a failure.  If it will succeed, it won't be perfect success.  But, if it will fail, it will be perfect failure," Mr. Peres said.

After meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Turkish  President Abdullah Gul stressed his country is a close friend of both Israel and the Palestinians.  Ankara has strong political and military ties with Israel and has, for decades, been one of Israel's closest allies in the Muslim world.  At the same time, it has kept strong ties with the Palestinians. Turkey, which once ruled the region, has particular interest in helping³ to find peace, according to International relations specialist Soli Ozel of Istanbul's Bilgi University.

"The Turkish public believes being the inheritors of the empire Turkey may have a special role to play in the Middle East;  that It should try to play that role and it should try to place this in an even-handed fashion," he said.
 
Both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to address the Turkish  parliament.  It will be the first time an Israeli president has addressed the body.  According to Turkish reports the two Middle Eastern leaders will meet for private talks, to discuss the upcoming  summit. 

While Turkey is trying to facilitate peace efforts, tensions with Israel over Iran are apparent.  During the meeting with his Turkish counterpart, President Peres emphasized that  Israel will never tolerate a nuclear Iran.  President Gul insists Iran has the right to the peaceful pursuit of nuclear technology.  Last week, the Turkish parliament passed legislation to start its own nuclear power program.

1 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。