土耳其政府责令逮捕更多记者

AS IT IS 2016-07-28 Turkish Government Orders Arrests of More Reporters 土耳其政府责令逮捕更多记者

Turkey has approved orders to arrest more reporters suspected of ties to a Muslim clergyman living in the United States.

Turkish officials claim the religious leader plotted the attempted overthrow¹ of the government this month. The attempt failed.

Officials announced arrest orders for more than 40 former members of the editorial staff of Zaman, the country’s largest newspaper.

In March, a Turkish court placed the newspaper under government control. Police officers raided its offices a short time later. Since then, the paper has taken a strongly pro-government position in its reporting.

Earlier this week, the government ordered the arrest of 42 other media workers.

The actions are part of a wider operation to punish government officials and others after the overthrow attempt. Amnesty International estimates that more than 10,000 people have been detained in Turkey since the July 15 coup² failed.

The Zaman newspaper was closely connected with the religious movement of clergyman Fethullah Gulen. He now lives in the American state of Pennsylvania.

On Tuesday, The New York Times newspaper published an opinion piece Gulen wrote. In the piece, he condemned³ the coup attempt and denied having any part in it. He denounced Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan for what he called a ‘systematic and dangerous drive toward one-man rule.’

Gulen said Erdogan is threatening to limit his country’s support for the coalition⁴ against the Islamic State unless the United States surrenders him to Turkey. The Turkish government says the clergyman must face legal action in Turkey.

The religious leader accused Erdogan of ‘blackmailing⁵’ the U.S. government. The U.S. must resist the demands, he said.

Jonathan Adelman teaches international studies at the University of Denver in Colorado. He spoke⁶ with VOA on Wednesday. He said he thinks Gulen has a point.

"What he is saying is what we (Americans) are afraid of: That Turkey, which had really been a model for the Middle East in terms of strong economic growth, doubling their output in a period of 10 years, democracy and trying to end military coups⁷, now seems intent on taking Turkey almost like into the Vladimir Putin way as a kind of one-man dictatorship, and that is something that we’re really very concerned about.”

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told The Wall Street Journal newspaper that the government’s evidence against Fethullah Gulen is clear. He likened the attempted coup to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States.

Yildirim criticized what he called a ‘heartbreaking lack of support from the Obama administration’ for Turkey’s extradition⁸ request. A U.S. official said on Tuesday that the two countries have an extradition process and said, “We’re going to let that play out.”

Words in This Story

editorial staff – adj. the leadership or publishers of a newspaper

coup – n. a military overthrow of a government

blackmailing – v. threatening to take action unless the person or group being threatened does what you want

output – n. the amount of something being produced

intent – v. showing great attention

extradition – n. the surrender of a criminal suspect, usually under the rules of a treaty

1 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

2 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

3 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。

4 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。

5 blackmailing   

胁迫，尤指以透露他人不体面行为相威胁以勒索钱财( blackmail的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The policemen kept blackmailing him, because they had sth. on him. 那些警察之所以经常去敲他的竹杠是因为抓住把柄了。
• Democratic paper "nailed" an aggravated case of blackmailing to me. 民主党最主要的报纸把一桩极为严重的讹诈案件“栽”在我的头上。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 coups   

n.意外而成功的行动( coup的名词复数 )；政变；努力办到难办的事

参考例句：

• China has seen many political coups within the ruling class. 中国统治阶级内部发生过很多政变。 来自互联网
• Thailand has had eighteen coups or coup attendance since nineteen thirty-two. 泰国1932年以来有18次政变或参加政变。 来自互联网

8 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。