美駐土耳其大使：一些土官員試圖破壞美土合作

America’s ambassador in Ankara suggested some Turkish officials might be trying to “disrupt” co-operation between the two countries after the arrest of a US embassy employee prompted a tit-for-tat diplomatic dispute.

美國駐土耳其大使約翰•巴斯(John Bass，見文首圖)暗示，一些土耳其官員可能正試圖“破壞”美土合作。此前，土耳其當局逮捕了美國大使館一名工作人員，引發(fā)了一場針鋒相對的外交爭端。

In a video statement released by the State Department on Monday, John Bass, the US ambassador to Turkey, said the American authorities had been unable to determine why the employee had been arrested and what, if any, evidence exists against him. Mr Bass added that he did not know whether to expect further arrests of Turkish staff members.

在美國國務院(State Department)周一發(fā)布的視頻聲明中，巴斯表示，美國當局無法確定這名工作人員被捕的原因以及到底存在何種不利于他的證據(jù)。巴斯補充稱，他不清楚是否應該預期會出現(xiàn)進一步的逮捕土耳其籍工作人員的情況。

“This arrest has raised questions about whether the goal of some officials is to disrupt the longstanding cooperation between Turkey and the United States,” Mr Bass said. “If true this would put the people who work with, and work at, and visit our diplomatic facilities at risk.”

“此次逮捕提出了一個問題：一些官員的目的是否是破壞土耳其與美國長期以來的合作?”巴斯表示，“如果答案是肯定的，那將讓那些與我們外交機構(gòu)合作、在我們外交機構(gòu)工作和到我們外交機構(gòu)來的人面臨危險。”

Following the arrest, the US on Sunday stopped processing new visas, in effect blocked thousands of Turks from travelling to the US. The sharp dispute between two Nato allies triggered a selloff in Turkish assets and its currency. Ankara swiftly retaliated with similar measures.

此次逮捕發(fā)生后，美國于上周日開始停辦土耳其赴美新簽證，在事實上堵住了成千上萬土耳其人的赴美之路。這兩個北約(Nato)盟國之間爆發(fā)的激烈爭執(zhí)導致土耳其資產(chǎn)和土耳其里拉遭到拋售。土耳其政府迅速采取了類似措施報復美國。

Mr Bass said he hoped the suspension of visa services would not take long, but “at this time we cannot predict how long it will take to resolve this matter.”

巴斯表示，他希望簽證服務的暫停不會持續(xù)太久，但“目前我們無法預測需要花多長時間來解決這件事”。

He added: “This was not a decision we took lightly and it is a decision we took with great sadness.”

他補充稱：“這不是一個我們輕易做出的決定，做出這個決定我們非常遺憾。”