VOA标准英语 Turkey's Ties to Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Middle

U.S. President Barack Obama begins a two day visit to Turkey starting Sunday. The United States and Turkey have strong ties but relations have been strained in recent years, mostly over the U.S. invasion of Iraq. But Turkish ties to Iran, Iraq Afghanistan and the Middle East, make the country an important U.S. ally.

The visit of President Barack Obama is being seen in Turkey as critically important to rebuilding bilateral¹ relations. The U.S. invasion of Iraq not only strained ties between the two countries but also according to observers fueled public anger towards the United States. Last year an opinion poll found that anti-Americanism in Turkey was amongst the highest in the world, even greater than in some Middle Eastern countries.

Deputy Editor of the Turkish daily Taraf, Yasmin Congar, says the decision by President Obama to visit Turkey is crucial to help ease public antipathy². "It is both symbolic³ and concrete...it will have a big impact on the people to see that there is a new U.S. administration which is more willing to talk to friend and foe⁴, to be open to others ideas and not to act alone,. This is very, very important this feeling of anti American almost hatred⁵ against anything American can really paralyze the turkish government in its talks and relations with Washington . This has to be changed," he said.

Opinion polls indicate the election of President Obama has been viewed positively⁶ by many Turks. His reaching out to Iranians in a video address last month was warmly received in the Turkish media. On the streets of Istanbul the Obama visit to Turkey is being welcomed. "It is nice they started a good relationship with Iran and they policy in Iraq I hope more based on humanity, The rest, he is a visitor welcome," said one person

Another person interviewed in Istanbul shares those sentiments but has concerns over what the U.S. president may want from Turkey. "He seems to be better than Bush . But, I think he is going to talk about sending of Turkish troops to Afghanistan and I don't feel so good about that because I feel that Turkish troops are being used by some capitalist countries which is not good for me."

Turkey currently has a force of around 900 non-combat forces in the Afghan capital Kabul. But Washington has been pressing Ankara along with other NATO members to send combat troops to Afghanistan.

The chiefs of the Turkish armed forces and government officials are mindful that public opinion is unenthusiastic. Observers say Mr. Obama may receive a commitment to send more Turkish soldiers to help in training of Afghan forces, a role it is already engaged in.

One point of tension that may emerge during Mr. Obama's visit could be continuing effort in the U.S. Congress to label the 1915 mass killings⁸ by Ottoman forces of Turkey's Armenian minority as a genocide.

Ankara rejects that label and disputes the death toll⁹ saying the killing⁷ occurred in a civil war.

Mr. Obama said during his election campaign he would recognize the killings as a genocide. A commitment that if made would probably occur on April 24th when Armenians commemorate¹⁰ the killings. U.S. presidents traditionally make a speech to mark the event.

International relations expert Soli Ozel of Bilgi University says the controversy¹¹ will be most difficult part of Obama's trip. "Turkey will want iron clad assurances that neither the resolution will pass nor will the president use the word genocide in his message on April 24th. Can he give this, can he deliver it, is he testing waters on this particular issue , these are really are the outstanding questions in my view, and there is of course a give and take with Turkey and Armenia re-establishing relations," Oel said.

News reports say Ankara is on the verge¹² of reopening its border with Armenia and an announcement could be made during the Obama visit as part of a thaw¹³ in relations.

But analysts¹⁴ warn such efforts would almost certainly stall if not end, and ties with the United States would be strained if Mr. Obama recognizes the 1915 killings as genocide.

During Mr. Obama's visit, officials in Ankara are expected to stress the country's importance to U.S. foreign policy. Turkey, which enjoys good relations with Iran, Iraq and middle eastern countries its expected to offer its willingness to work diplomatically with the United States.

Ozel says the visit is important in laying the groundwork for future cooperation. "I think first and foremost you want to make sure that these relations are on track and that they remain on track. He wants to get a sense of where Turkey stands on a number of issues. And second, probably he wants to make sure that when he calls Turkey that the Turks will respond. That's on Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and maybe the peace process and the Caucasus," Ozal said.

The Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has indicated turkey's willingness in principle to assist the United States as it withdraws its forces from Iraq. While the Turkish president Abdullah Gul reportedly last month delivered a message from the US president to Iran's spiritual leader The message Obama is expected to receive during his visit turkey can be an important US partner in its foreign policy goals.

1 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

2 antipathy   

n.憎恶；反感，引起反感的人或事物

参考例句：

• I feel an antipathy against their behaviour.我对他们的行为很反感。
• Some people have an antipathy to cats.有的人讨厌猫。

3 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

4 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

5 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

6 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

7 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。

8 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

9 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。

10 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

11 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

12 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

13 thaw   

v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和

参考例句：

• The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
• The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。

14 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。