VOA常速英语2007-Turkish Minister Calls for US Action Against Kur

By Al Pessin
Kyiv
21 October 2007

Turkey's defense¹ minister told U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates the United States must take "tangible² action" against Kurdish guerrillas in Northern Iraq, whose latest attack killed at least 12 Turkish soldiers, wounded 16 and left 10 missing. But the minister also indicated unilateral Turkish action is not imminent³. The men spoke⁴ after a meeting in Kiev Sunday, and VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Ukrainian capital.

Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul emerged from a half-hour meeting with Secretary Gates saying Turkey wants U.S. action.

GONUL: "So far, we shared intelligence and they did some things, but we would like to have something tangible, tangible. We are expecting this.

PESSIN: "Tangible military action, you mean?"

GONUL: "Any kind of tangible actions."

Minister Gonul said the Turkish people are suffering from the attacks by group known as the PKK, and, in his words, "our boys are dying." But at the same time, he indicated that while Turkish military planners are working on a possible incursion into Iraq, authorized⁵ by parliament last week, action is not imminent.

"Not urgently," said Vecdi Gonul. "They are planning. They are planning to cross [the] border because, firstly, the intelligence is important, getting enough information. And we [would] like to do these things with the Americans."

Secretary Gates welcomed that approach.

"I am heartened that he seems to be implying a reluctance⁶ on their part to act unilaterally, and I think that is a good thing," said Robert Gates.

But the secretary would not say what action the United States is prepared to take, short of more intelligence sharing.

"We have done a number of things in terms of cooperating with the government of Turkey," he said. "I think that the first and foremost challenge that we face, as is so often the case with terrorism, is actionable intelligence. And I told him that lacking actionable intelligence, for them to send a large force across the border without any specific target was likely to lead to a lot of collateral⁷ damage that nobody needed."

Secretary Gates says he and his Turkish counterpart also discussed the pending⁸ U.S. congressional resolution that would label the Turkish mass killing⁹ of Armenians early in the last century a 'genocide.' A U.S. official says Secretary Gates told Minister Gonul a Turkish attack inside Iraq would make it more likely the resolution might pass, which the secretary believes would hurt U.S.-Turkish defense cooperation, crucial to the U.S. effort in Iraq. Secretary Gates says he also called on Turkey to pursue reconciliation¹⁰ with Armenia.

Secretary Gates said he repeated his view that a Turkish military incursion into Iraq would be bad for all concerned.

"I told him that restraint should not be confused with weakness, that a major cross-border operation would be contrary to Turkey's interests, as well as to our own and that of Iraq," said Secretary Gates. "I told him that we should work together on this."

Secretary Gates and Minister Gonul met on the sidelines of a conference of the Southeastern Europe Defense Ministers' group. Minister Gonul reports the Turkish Prime Minister will visit President Bush in two weeks, but he would not promise Turkey will hold its reaction to the latest Kurdish attacks until then, saying the decision on when to act is a tactical matter.

1 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。

2 tangible   

adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的

参考例句：

• The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
• There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。

3 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

4 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。

5 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

6 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

7 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

8 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

9 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

10 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。