美国国家公共电台 NPR--Opposition parties in Turkey band together to try to defeat President Erdogan

Opposition¹ parties in Turkey band together to try to defeat President Erdogan

Transcript²

The parties making up a coalition³ to unseat Turkey's powerful president in next month's elections have little in common, But they're trying to rally around a common goal.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Turkey is holding its own election campaign. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is back on the ballot⁴ next month. During 20 years in power, he has gained from a divided opposition. Now they've joined forces in hopes of defeating him. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from Istanbul.

PETER KENYON, BYLINE⁵: Sixty-four-year-old Alaatin Erim says he doesn't know a lot about the coalition known as the Table of Six. But he likes the idea of several parties banding together to defeat Erdogan.

ALAATIN ERIM: (Through interpreter) Yes, the alliance table. I also think that's a good thing. I hope it can continue for a while. Addressing the issues won't happen overnight. It will take time. Yes, I think the No. 1 issue is the economy.

KENYON: Some younger voters say they're voting for the coalition because they're desperate for a change after two decades of Erdogan's ruling party in power. Twenty-four-year-old Ibrahim Iper says if the opposition wins, its first priority should be to, quote, "fix our democracy." He says that's not something he would entrust⁶ to Erdogan.

IBRAHIM IPER: Our position is difficult for Turkey because this government is, right now, make everything difficult. We want to change because we are young. Young people want to change this position. For economical or political, we don't like it.

KENYON: Analyst⁷ Sinan Ulgen, head of the Center for Economics and Policy Studies in Istanbul, says the coming together of this coalition is a remarkable⁸ event in Turkish politics.

SINAN ULGEN: One major failure why the opposition was not able to unseat Erdogan in the past related to its failure to act as a united opposition. This time around, the opposition has been able to set up a large coalition that includes six different political parties.

KENYON: The coalition is supporting veteran politician Kemal Kilicdaroglu for president, but it's made up of nationalist and pro-Kurdish parties and others not normally allies. That's led to some growing pains. Meral Aksener, the head of the most conservative party in the coalition, bolted from the alliance last month before two other members convinced her to return. Ulgen says that's not surprising, given the broad differences among the parties in the coalition.

ULGEN: This is inherently a difficult exercise because you have parties with different political philosophies. And, in that sense, it's quite a unique experiment in Turkish politics. Having said that, they've also been able to draft quite a comprehensive policy platform.

KENYON: The coalition platform emphasizes rule of law and seeks to weaken the office of the presidency⁹. Not surprisingly, President Erdogan has nothing good to say about the coalition. In an interview with a state television news channel, he said there's a hidden seventh party in the coalition, a pro-Kurdish party, which the government says supports Kurdish militants¹⁰ who have been battling security forces for decades.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN: (Through interpreter) Let's call this a table of seven, not six. It's missing one. Where is the obvious party? As I always say, it's under the table.

KENYON: Other observers say this coalition has taken on a hugely important task, namely, trying to reverse what critics see as Turkey's slide toward authoritarianism¹¹ under Erdogan. Analyst Soli Ozel, a lecturer at Istanbul's Kadir Has University, says that's the question Turkish voters should be thinking about in this 100th year of the modern Turkish Republic.

SOLI OZEL: This year, we celebrate the centennial of the Turkish Republic, founded on Enlightenment principles by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and his colleagues, and whether or not Turkey will continue on the secular¹², modernizing¹³ path, or will it actually be increasingly religious conservatism, Islamization?

KENYON: In a few weeks, the opposition will learn if it has the votes it needs to launch a post-Erdogan era in Turkish politics.

Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Istanbul.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 entrust   

v.信赖，信托，交托

参考例句：

• I couldn't entrust my children to strangers.我不能把孩子交给陌生人照看。
• They can be entrusted to solve major national problems.可以委托他们解决重大国家问题。

7 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。

8 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

9 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

10 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

11 authoritarianism   

权力主义，独裁主义

参考例句：

• Modern authoritarianism is a vestige of traditional personal rule. 现代独裁主义则是传统的个人统治的残余。
• In its latter days it was a byword for authoritarianism, incompetence, and corruption. 在后期，它是独裁、无能和腐化的代号。

12 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

13 modernizing   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• Modernizing a business to increase its profitability and competitiveness is a complicated affair. 使企业现代化，从而达到增加利润，增强竞争力的目的，是一件复杂的事情。
• The young engineer had a large share in modernizing the factory. 这位年轻工程师在工厂现代化的过程中尽了很大的“力”。