美国暂停在土耳其办理所有非移民签证
上周土耳其当局逮捕美国大使馆一名工作人员后，美国已暂停在土办理绝大多数新签证，这一事态加剧了美土这两个盟友之间不断发酵的外交危机，并在事实上堵住了成千上万土耳其人的赴美之路。
The news sent the Turkish lira down as much as 6.6 per cent against the dollar in thin overnight trading to an intraday low of 3.8533 per dollar, its softest level since January 30.
消息传出后，在交投清淡的隔夜交易中，土耳其里拉对美元汇率一度下跌6.6%，创下1美元兑3.8533里拉的日内低点，同时也是自今年1月30日以来的低点。
The embassy employee is the second to be arrested in the last year, in addition to at least a dozen US citizens held under yet unproven allegations of allegiance to Fethullah Gulen, a self-exiled Islamic preacher living in Pennsylvania whose extradition Turkey has sought to little avail.
此次被捕的工作人员是过去一年里被捕的第二名美国大使馆工作人员。此外，还有至少十几名美国公民因被指控效忠费特胡拉•居伦(Fethullah Gulen)而被土方关押，尽管这些指控尚未得到证实。居伦是一名自我流放的伊斯兰传教士，目前住在美国宾夕法尼亚州，土耳其已要求美国引渡居伦，但未得到什么响应。
“Recent events have forced the United States government to reassess the commitment of the government of Turkey to the security of US mission facilities and personnel,” the US embassy in Ankara said in a statement late on Sunday. “In order to minimise the number of visitors to our embassy and consulates while this assessment proceeds, effective immediately we have suspended all non-immigrant visa services at all US diplomatic facilities in Turkey.”
“最近的事态令美国政府不得不重新评估土耳其政府对美国使团设施及人员的安全作出的承诺，”美国驻安卡拉大使馆在周日晚的一则声明中表示，“为了在评估进行期间最大限度减少我们使领馆的访客数量，我们已从即刻起在所有美国驻土耳其外交设施暂停一切非移民签证服务。”
In retaliation, Turkey’s embassy in Washington blocked new applications from US citizens, in a statement using almost identical language.
作为报复，土耳其驻华盛顿大使馆在一份几乎使用了同样措辞的声明中表示，停办美国公民新提交的赴土签证申请。
That means that other than those applying to immigrate to the US — usually because they have family there — no new visas will be issued to business people, tourists or students, among others. In the 2016 fiscal year, the US embassy in Ankara and the consulate in Istanbul issued 113,240 non-immigrant visas, compared to just 4,214 immigrant visas, according to state department data.
这意味着，除了那些申请移民美国的人——通常因为他们有家人在美国——美国将不会对土耳其商务人士、游客、学生等等发放新签证。美国国务院数据显示，在2016年财年，美国驻安卡拉大使馆和驻伊斯坦布尔领事馆共计签发了113240份非移民签证，签发的移民签证只有4214份。
The arrest of the second embassy employee — a Turkish citizen — has incensed US diplomats, who said it confirmed suspicions that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan considers American detainees in Turkish prisons as a bargaining chip in its increasingly hostile negotiations with the US over the extradition of Mr Gulen and the trial of a Turkish-Iranian citizen with ties to Mr Erdogan’s inner circle.
第二名大使馆工作人员(土耳其籍)被捕激怒了美国的外交人员，他们称此举证实了一种怀疑，即在土美围绕引渡居伦和审判一名与土耳其总统雷杰普•塔伊普•埃尔多安(Recep Tayyip Erdogan，文首图)核心圈子有关系的土耳其-伊朗双重国籍人士展开的敌意渐浓的谈判中，埃尔多安把关在土耳其监狱中的美国公民视为讨价还价的筹码。
