Presidents of Russia, Turkey, Iran Meet on Syria

 

The leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey have promised to increase efforts to end unrest in Syria.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Ankara on Wednesday.

A joint¹ statement by the three countries said they wanted to “speed up their efforts to ensure calm on the ground” in Syria. The three also promised that they would work towards “the achievement of a lasting² ceasefire” there.

Trump³ considers withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria

The meeting came a day after United States President Donald Trump announced that a decision on withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria will be made soon.

About 2,000 American ground troops are helping⁴ Kurdish fighters in the country’s north. Their goal is to defeat supporters of the Islamic State (IS) militant⁵ group. IS forces once controlled large areas in Syria and Northern Iraq.

Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, Trump said the goal of defeating the Islamic State in Syria has largely been reached. He said his administration would be making a decision on the troop deployment⁶ soon “in coordination⁷ with others in the area.”

Trump said the United States sent troops to the Middle East 17 years ago, and that it was time to bring them home. He said the military operation has been “very costly⁸ for our country,” costing about $7 trillion. Trump added that the mission has helped other countries more than the U.S.

On Tuesday, the leader of the U.S. Central Command, Army General Joseph Votel, spoke⁹ at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington. He said that the IS forces in Syria had mainly been defeated. But, he said the difficult part was still ahead.

“And that is stabilizing¹⁰ these areas, consolidating¹¹ our gains, getting people back into their homes, addressing the long term issues of reconstruction¹² and other things that will have to be done.”

The Associated Press reports that some officials close to the president have advised against a speedy troop withdrawal¹³. They include Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo, who has been nominated to be secretary of state.

The president’s comments have raised questions about the future of millions of dollars in aid to U.S. allies in the Middle East.

Turkey, Russia, Iran continue their talks

The three countries meeting in Ankara also met last year during negotiations¹⁴ in Astana, Kazakhstan. The AFP news agency reports that Erdogan said the meeting Wednesday and the Astana talks were not an “alternative” to a United Nations peace process for Syria.

The Turkish president told reporters that those at the talks were looking to get something done. “We must get results,” he added.

Russia, Turkey and Iran have been working together in recent months, although each side has different goals in Syria.

Russia and Iran have supported the leadership of Syrian President Assad while Turkey has called for his removal. Turkey has supported Syrian opposition¹⁵ fighters in their efforts to overthrow¹⁶ the Assad government.

Turkey strongly opposes armed ethnic¹⁷ Kurdish groups operating in Syria. The United States has provided support to those groups in their fight against the Islamic State.

Turkey’s military has carried out an operation to force Kurdish militia¹⁸ fighters from the city of Afrin after launching an offensive inside Syria in January. Turkish officials say the Syrian Kurds have ties to Kurdish organizations banned in Turkey.

The Reuters news agency reports that Iranian President Rouhani said that U.S. forces had “failed to topple the Syrian government.” He blamed the U.S. for causing “insecurity” in the area. Rouhani also said he believed U.S. forces would remain in Syria.

The conflict in Syria started after anti-government protests in March of 2011. It is estimated that 350,000 people have died since the start of fighting.

Millions more have fled to become refugees in neighboring Turkey or sought asylum¹⁹ in western countries.

I’m Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

stability – n. the quality of not changing easily

achievement – n. something that has been done through effort or hard work

coordination – n. organizing people and resources so they work correctly together

consolidating – adj. related to combining or joining together to improve something

alternative – n. something that offers a choice or another way of doing something

topple – v. to bring down, to throw out of power

mission – n. a campaign or military operation

1 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

2 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 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。

5 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

6 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

7 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

8 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 stabilizing   

n.稳定化处理[退火]v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The disulfide bridges might then be viewed primarily as stabilizing components. 二硫桥可以被看作是初级的稳定因素。 来自辞典例句
• These stabilizing design changes are usually not desirable for steady-state operation. 这些增加稳定性的设计改变通常不太符合稳态工作的要求。 来自辞典例句

11 consolidating   

v.（使）巩固， （使）加强( consolidate的现在分词 )；（使）合并

参考例句：

• These measures are meant for consolidating the system of basic medical care. 这些举措旨在夯实基层医疗体系，让老百姓看大病不必出远门。 来自互联网
• We are consolidating the Chinese and English versions of our homepage. 我们将为您提供中英文版本一起的主页。 来自互联网

12 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

13 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

14 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

15 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。

16 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

17 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

18 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

19 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。