VOA常速英语2007-US Pressing Turkey, Iraq to Cooperate Against PK

By David Gollust
Washington
22 October 2007

The State Department says the United States is making an all-out diplomatic effort to defuse the crisis spawned¹ by cross-border attacks into Turkey by Iraq-based Kurdish PKK militants². Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has led the effort with telephone appeals for Turkish-Iraqi cooperation on the issue. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

The Bush administration has mounted what one senior official here describes as a diplomatic full-court press to defuse a crisis over PKK attacks into Turkey that threatens a regional conflict, as well as severe harm to U.S. interests.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice led the effort with separate telephone appeals Sunday to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and to the Iraqi Kurdish regional president Massoud Barzani.

State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack says Rice urged the Turkish and Iraqi governments to work together against what he termed the common threat posed by the P.K.K., the Kurdistan Workers Party, which the United States has long listed as a terrorist organization.

He says the secretary appealed to the Turkish Prime Minister not to follow through with the Ankara government's warning of a military incursion into Iraq, a threat renewed after a PKK ambush³ in Turkey Sunday that killed 12 Turkish soldiers:

"We do not believe that unilateral cross border operations are the best way address this issue," he said. "The best way is to work with the Iraqi government, and we are going to do everything we can to have the Turkish and Iraqi governments working together. It is important that there be action to counter the PKK, and we need to see that action from the Iraqi government, working with the Turkish government."

McCormack did not contest an assertion by Prime Minister Erdogan that Secretary Rice had asked Turkey to put off any military action for a few days to give more time for diplomacy⁴.

Iraqi officials contend that PKK militants are operating out of rugged⁵ areas along the Turkish border that are beyond the control of Iraqi security forces, but Turkish officials allege⁶ that mainstream⁷ Iraqi Kurdish factions⁸ have tolerated cross-border PKK operations.

Spokesman McCormack side-stepped a question as to whether the Iraqi Kurdish leaders have been doing all they can to counter the PKK. He said it is incumbent⁹ upon both the Iraqi government in Baghdad and the Kurdish regional authorities to act, and said Rice underscored this in her conversation with Kurdish leader Barzani.

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker has also been involved in the diplomatic effort, speaking to Barzani, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who is also Kurdish, and with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

U.S. officials are concerned that a Turkish invasion of Iraq would upset security in the broader region, while shattering the relative peace in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq and setting back hopes for Turkish membership in the European Union.

1 spawned   

（鱼、蛙等）大量产（卵）( spawn的过去式和过去分词 )； 大量生产

参考例句：

• The band's album spawned a string of hit singles. 这支乐队的专辑繁衍出一连串走红的单曲唱片。
• The computer industry has spawned a lot of new companies. 由于电脑工业的发展，许多新公司纷纷成立。

2 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。

3 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。

4 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

5 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

6 allege   

vt.宣称，申述，主张，断言

参考例句：

• The newspaper reporters allege that the man was murdered but they have given no proof.新闻记者们宣称这个男人是被谋杀的，但他们没提出证据。
• Students occasionally allege illness as the reason for absence.学生时不时会称病缺课。

7 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

8 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

9 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。