VOA常速英语2008年-Iraqi President Winds Up Visit to Turkey

By Dorian Jones
Istanbul
08 March 2008

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has ended his 2-day visit to the Turkish capital Ankara. The visit came only a week after Turkish forces ended their 8-day incursion into northern Iraq to attack Kurdish rebels. The second day of Mr. Talabani's visit focused on developing stronger trade ties between the neighboring countries. Dorian Jones reports for VOA from Istanbul.

Iraq's President Jalal Talabani spent the final day of his trip fostering deeper economic and trade ties between the two countries.  Speaking to Turkish business leaders in Ankara, he stressed the importance of bilateral¹ trade. He said Iraq wants to establish relations in all areas including economic, political and cultural.

With the Turkish-Iraqi border considered the most secure route for trade into Iraq, there has been a substantial rise in bilateral commerce. Turkish contractors² have been key in developing the Kurdish controlled enclave in northern Iraq.

Mr. Talabani was accompanied to Ankara by his natural resources minister who held talks with his Turkish counterpart, Hilmi Guler. Projects aimed at carrying Iraqi oil and natural gas to Turkey topped the agenda.

Guler said Turkey wants to be a transit³ country for Iraq's energy resources.
 
Turkey is already an energy hub for central Asian oil and gas.

Although trade was a priority for the Iraqi president, security concerns dominated the trip.

Last month, Turkish forces launched an incursion into northern Iraq against rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).  Ankara accuses the PKK of using Iraq as a base to launch attacks against its forces.

Baghdad strongly condemned⁴ the incursion saying it infringed⁵ on Iraq's territorial⁶ integrity, but Ankara accuses Iraq of failing to reign⁷ in the PKK.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at a lunch for the Iraqi president, repeated those concerns saying countries have a moral obligation to fight terrorism.

Mr. Talabani proposed the formation of a supreme⁸ council, presided over by the prime ministers of both countries, to resolve contentious⁹ issues.

Although there appeared to be little concrete progress, political analyst¹⁰ Akif Emre says Mr. Talabani's visit was important.

"Politics and psychological side is very important, after the military operation in northern Iraq," he said.  "Talabani's visiting Turkey is very important in a diplomatic way. Normalization¹¹ of the Iraqi government and Turkish government, improving their relationship.

Turkish officials see the Iraqi visit as the start of a warming in relations, but the process is expected to be slow.

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 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

4 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

5 infringed   

v.违反（规章等）( infringe的过去式和过去分词 )；侵犯（某人的权利）；侵害（某人的自由、权益等）

参考例句：

• Wherever the troops went, they never infringed on the people's interests. 大军过处，秋毫无犯。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He was arrested on a charge of having infringed the Election Law. 他因被指控触犯选举法而被拘捕。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

7 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

9 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

10 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

11 normalization   

n.（normalisation）正常化，标准化

参考例句：

• The visit signalled the normalization of relations between the two countries.这次访问显示两国关系已经正常化。
• He was pleased to the normalization of relationship between the police and the people.他很高兴警方和人民之间关系的正常化。