美驻土耳其大使：一些土官员试图破坏美土合作

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.

美国驻土耳其大使约翰•巴斯(John Bass，见文首图)暗示，一些土耳其官员可能正试图“破坏”美土合作。此前，土耳其当局逮捕了美国大使馆一名工作人员，引发了一场针锋相对的外交争端。

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.

在美国国务院(State Department)周一发布的视频声明中，巴斯表示，美国当局无法确定这名工作人员被捕的原因以及到底存在何种不利于他的证据。巴斯补充称，他不清楚是否应该预期会出现进一步的逮捕土耳其籍工作人员的情况。

“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.”

“此次逮捕提出了一个问题：一些官员的目的是否是破坏土耳其与美国长期以来的合作?”巴斯表示，“如果答案是肯定的，那将让那些与我们外交机构合作、在我们外交机构工作和到我们外交机构来的人面临危险。”

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.

此次逮捕发生后，美国于上周日开始停办土耳其赴美新签证，在事实上堵住了成千上万土耳其人的赴美之路。这两个北约(Nato)盟国之间爆发的激烈争执导致土耳其资产和土耳其里拉遭到抛售。土耳其政府迅速采取了类似措施报复美国。

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，他希望签证服务的暂停不会持续太久，但“目前我们无法预测需要花多长时间来解决这件事”。

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

他补充称：“这不是一个我们轻易做出的决定，做出这个决定我们非常遗憾。”