U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Turkey this morning to discuss a number of pressing issues.
美国国务卿安东尼·布林肯今天上午在土耳其讨论一些紧迫的问题。
It's the second stop of a three-country trip.
这是他三国之行的第二站。
Blinken had already planned to go to Turkey before a massive earthquake devastated the country's south two weeks ago. Now he's there.
两周前,一场大地震摧毁了土耳其南部,在这之前,布林肯就已经计划前往该国了。现在他身处土耳其。
And the trip is taking on new meaning.
布林肯此行被赋予了新的意义。
But he's still facing some of the old issues in the close but contentious U.S.-Turkey relationship.
美国与土耳其关系密切,但也存在争议,布林肯仍然面临着美土关系中的一些老问题。
NPR's Peter Kenyon joins us now from Istanbul. Peter, what do we know about Blinken's agenda?
NPR新闻的彼得·肯扬将从伊斯坦布尔带来报道。彼得,我们对布林肯的议程了解多少?
Well, Blinken arrived in Turkey Sunday after attending the Munich Security Conference.
布林肯在参加完慕尼黑安全会议后,于周日抵达土耳其。
He visited Incirlik Air Base, being used by the U.S. Air Force and others.
他参观了美国空军和其他国家空军使用的因吉利克空军基地。
He was given a helicopter tour of some of the areas damaged in the February 6 quake.
他乘坐直升机参观了在2月6日地震中被毁坏的一些地区。
He arrived as Turkey is winding 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.
他抵达之际,土耳其正在逐步结束除两省外所有省份的搜救行动,转而开展一项耗时更长的工作,即重建在地震和随后的强烈余震中被摧毁的数千座建筑。
So the visit has taken on a more urgent tone.
因此,此次访问气氛紧迫。
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.
布林肯现在正在访问一个地区,该区在为土耳其和叙利亚估算的至少4.6万遇难者哀悼。
And what's the U.S. doing in terms of earthquake relief?
美国在地震救援方面做了什么?
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.
布林肯抵达时承诺提供额外援助,美国国务院表示,这使华盛顿对土耳其和叙利亚的援助承诺总额达到1.85亿美元。
Meanwhile, Turkey's foreign minister says it needs more.
与此同时,土耳其外交部长表示需要更多。
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.
土耳其需要更多的移动住房,需要更多北约提供的帐篷,需要盟国增加空中支援,向难以通过公路到达的地区提供援助。
The two diplomats met. They held a news conference at which Blinken reiterated Washington's firm support for Turkey despite their differences on some issues.
两国外交官会面了。他们举行了新闻发布会,布林肯在会上重申了华盛顿对土耳其的坚定支持,尽管他们在一些问题上存在分歧。
And I know that Blinken was headed there to talk about other issues, one of them NATO expansion.
我知道布林肯此行是为了讨论其他问题,其中之一就是北约扩张。
The U.S. wants Sweden and Norway to join.
美国希望瑞典和挪威加入北约。
But Turkey, a NATO country, has threatened to block that. What's at stake there for both countries?
但北约成员国土耳其威胁要阻止这一计划。这对两国来说有什么利害关系?
Well, that's right. And it's a potentially thorny issue for both sides.
嗯,没错。这对双方来说都是一个潜在的棘手问题。
Turkey is the only member state that has yet to affirm that it will ratify expanding the alliance by adding Sweden and Finland.
土耳其是唯一一个尚未确认批准瑞典和芬兰加入北约从而扩张联盟的成员国。
Here's a bit of what Blinken said.
以下为布林肯的一段话。
The United States greatly values Turkey's contributions as a long-standing and active member of the NATO alliance.
美国高度重视土耳其作为北约联盟长期活跃成员国所作的贡献。
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.
我们将继续共同努力,加强发展我们的联盟,包括通过让瑞典和芬兰加入北约,这将有助于为联盟提供更强大、更有能力的人才。
Now, President Erdogan wants the extradition of some 130 people, particularly from Sweden, to face charges of supporting terrorism.
现在,埃尔多安总统希望引渡约130人,特别是从瑞典引渡的人,他们将面临支持恐怖主义的指控。
Sweden says that's basically impossible.
瑞典表示,这基本上不可能。
And he talked about Turkey's bid to buy American F-16 fighter jets.
他还谈到了土耳其竞标购买美国F-16战机的问题。
Though, he didn't offer anything conclusive on overcoming opposition from Congress.
不过,他没有就如何克服国会反对提出任何决定性的建议。