VOA常速英语2007年-Turkey Sends Message to Kurds Through US

By Sonja Pace
Istanbul
05 November 2007

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayipp Erdogan is visiting Washington for talks with U.S. President George Bush about dealing¹ with Kurdish rebels who have been attacking Turkey from bases in northern Iraq. Turkey is threatening to launch military operations into Iraq to deal with the rebels and to possibly impose economic sanctions. But as VOA's Sonja Pace reports from Istanbul, some say Turkey is also sending a strong political message to the United States and the Kurds of Iraq.

Turkish officials say the outcome of the talks in Washington will largely determine what, if any, action Turkey takes. They insist all options remain open - from a large-scale military incursion to trade sanctions.

The conflict goes back decades, to 1984 when the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the PKK, took up arms against the government for an autonomous² Kurdish homeland in southeastern Turkey. Tensions flared³ again last month after a deadly ambush⁴ against Turkish soldiers by rebels who had come across the border from northern Iraq.

Turkey has warned that if the Iraqi government and the U.S. military do not deal with the rebels, Turkey will.

In an exclusive interview with VOA in Istanbul, Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari again urged restraint and warned of the implications of military action.

"Any major military incursion will destabilize the one single most stable part of Iraq and this could undo⁵ many of the achievements on the security front, on the economic front - to undo them, which is in nobody's interests," he said.

The Iraqi government has promised to take tougher actions against the rebels, but it is not immediately clear if this would be enough to satisfy Turkey.

Iraq analyst⁶, Joost Hiltermann of the International Crisis Group tells VOA he considers economic sanctions more likely than a large-scale military operation, which he says Turkey would be reluctant to carry out without U.S. agreement.

"Economic sanctions are a possibility. I do not think these are the best option for Turkey because all it would do is to create greater enmity between Turkey and the Kurdish regional government in the North [of Iraq], he said. "My sense is that Turkey would be better off to find a political solution to the PKK to have some kind of amnesty, to work out a very close economic relationship with the Kurdish region in northern Iraq."

Hiltermann says Turkey's threats to act against the PKK also signal a deeper, more fundamental concern.

"By putting pressure on the PKK and by asking the American government to put pressure on the PKK, really what Turkey is doing is to ask the Americans to put pressure on the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq in order to keep it down to size and not give it any ideas about future Kurdish independence," added Hiltermann.

Hiltermann says the mere⁷ thought of an independent Kurdish state next door is, what he calls, a red line for Turkey. Ankara fears Turkey's own ethnic-Kurdish minority would be encouraged to follow suit and the result would be the unraveling of the modern-day Turkish state.

As it seeks to defuse tensions, the United States is having to play a careful balancing act between two friends - long-time NATO ally Turkey and the staunch Kurdish allies of Iraq.

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

3 Flared   

adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The match flared and went out. 火柴闪亮了一下就熄了。
• The fire flared up when we thought it was out. 我们以为火已经熄灭，但它突然又燃烧起来。

4 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。

5 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

6 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。

7 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。