2006年VOA标准英语-Violence Spreads in Turkey's Kurdish Regio

By Amberin Zaman
Ankara
30 March 2006

A child is reported in critical condition after Kurdish demonstrators clashed with security forces for a third day, Thursday, in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir. 

Demonstrators carry wounded Kurdish boy during riot with security forces in southeastern city of Diyarbakir, March 30, 2006  
  
Turkish police backed by armored personnel carriers used tear gas and truncheons to disperse¹ a violent march Thursday by tens of thousands of Kurdish protesters in Diyarbakir. A seven-year-old boy was reported to be in critical condition after sustaining bullet wounds in his stomach. Witnesses said he was fired on by police. The reports could not be confirmed.

The urban skirmishes, described as the worst in the past decade, first erupted on Tuesday during funeral services for 14 rebels of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

The rebels were killed by Turkish security forces in the neighboring province of Mus over the weekend.

Four of the rebels were from Diyarbakir, the most populous² city in southeastern Turkey, a hotbed of Kurdish nationalism. Thousands of Kurds clashed with security forces during a funeral organized for the rebels on Wednesday. Three mourners, including an eight-year-old boy, were killed in the clashes. Elsewhere across the city, teenagers chanting Kurdish nationalist slogans smashed hundreds of shop windows and torched businesses and government offices in rioting that lasted for several hours.

Most shops remained closed Thursday and most residents kept to their homes, fearing unrest during the funeral for the three victims of Wednesday's violence.

Eyewitnesses³ said the violence was triggered by teenage youths who hurled⁴ rocks at a police station on the way to the cemetery⁵.

The chief of Turkish National police and other high ranking security officials gathered in Diyarbakir Thursday as the violence spread to the neighboring city of Batman.

Officials there say some 5,000 demonstrators, protesting Wednesday's deaths, torched and ransacked⁶ around 300 shops, banks and government offices in the city. At least 20 people were reported to have been wounded when police intervened to disperse that demonstration⁷.

Violence has been steadily⁸ escalating⁹ in Diyarbakir and the surrounding region since June 2004. That is when the PKK ended a five year unilateral truce¹⁰ it had declared following the capture of its leader, Abdullah Ocalan, in February 1999. The PKK said it was taking up arms again because of what it termed the government's failure to broker¹¹ a lasting¹² peace. The rebel group began its armed campaign, initially¹³ for independence and later for autonomy, in 1984. Over 30,000 people have died in the fighting.

Western governments had long criticized the Turkish army for the brutal¹⁴ methods employed to suppress the rebellion in the Kurdish region. Turkey has adopted a more conciliatory approach toward the Kurds in recent years, including easing bans on the Kurdish language, as it seeks to gain entry of the European Union.

Analysts¹⁵ say the escalation¹⁶ in violence risks jeopardizing¹⁷ the reform process, as the Ankara government has begun taking tougher measures to counter the PKK. On Thursday, the interior ministry¹⁸ launched an investigation¹⁹ of Diyarbakir mayor Osman Baydemir for expressing sympathy for the dead PKK rebels.

1 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

2 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

3 eyewitnesses   

目击者( eyewitness的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The examination of all the eyewitnesses took a week. 对所有证人的质询用了一周的时间。
• Several eyewitnesses testified that they saw the officers hit Miller in the face. 几位目击证人证明他们看见那几个警官打了米勒的脸。

4 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

6 ransacked   

v.彻底搜查( ransack的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫，掠夺

参考例句：

• The house had been ransacked by burglars. 这房子遭到了盗贼的洗劫。
• The house had been ransacked of all that was worth anything. 屋子里所有值钱的东西都被抢去了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

8 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

9 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

10 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

11 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

12 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

13 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

14 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

15 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

16 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

17 jeopardizing   

危及，损害( jeopardize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Plans may also become inefficient in the attainment of objectives by jeopardizing group satisfactions. 用危及群体利益方法去达到目标的计划，也是无效率的。
• That boosted government revenues in the short term, but is now jeopardizing them. Morales将天然气工业，电信业和部分采矿业收归国有的举措吓跑了投资者们。

18 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

19 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。