VOA标准英语2010年-US Holds Firm on Issue of 1915 Massacr

The mass killing¹ of Armenians by Ottoman Turks beginning in 1915 remains² an emotional issue. A major U.S. congressional panel has described the massacre³ as genocide. In this report from Washington, Senior Correspondent André de Nesnera looks at the ramifications⁴ of the congressional action for the Obama administration.

A majority of scholars and historians agree that the massacre of an estimated one million Armenians during World War I constitutes genocide as defined by the 1948 United Nations Convention on Genocide. The text defines genocide as the intentional⁵ killing of all or part of a designated people defined by their faith, their race, their ethnicity or their nationality.

However as Ronald Suny with the University of Chicago explains, the Turkish government has a diametrically opposed view.

"Turkey rejects the notion of genocide - actually the word or the term 'genocide.' They have acknowledged that there were deportations - there is no question about that - and that there were massacres⁶ and killings⁷. What they deny is that the massacres and killings were intentionally⁸ organized and carried out by the government - and that the killings were anything more than collateral⁹ damage," he said.

Turkey rejects use of "genocide"

Roger Smith, a co-founder of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, says many Turks refuse to use the word 'genocide.'

"I worked with some Turkish scholars and these are people who would be considered liberals and so on - but even they really kind of shy away from using the word 'genocide.' They will talk about massacres - you lay all of these things out and they say yeah, yeah, yeah, this happened, okay - well no, I don't want to use that word. So there is this emotional antipathy¹⁰ to pronouncing what people now almost jokingly call the 'G' word," he said.

Smith says Turkey's position is difficult to sustain. "Turkey's persistent¹¹ denial and inability to face, or unwillingness¹² to face up to its history is very disruptive in all kinds of ways - in terms of international relations, in terms of its own internal politics - and it also prevents it from really recognizing how do you deal with minorities," he said.

Recently the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee passed a non-binding resolution recommending that President Barack Obama recognize the 1915 killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.

Obama administration's position

The Obama administration opposed the resolution. After the measure passed, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the administration does not believe the full House of Representatives will or should vote on the resolution.

Turkey immediately recalled its ambassador to Ankara for consultations¹³. And Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan indicated he might not attend a mid-April nuclear energy summit in Washington hosted by President Obama.

About 20 countries - including France, Canada, Russia, the Netherlands, Sweden - have recognized the Armenian massacre as genocide.

"What's startling is that two important countries have not recognized it - the United States, repeatedly, because of its alliance with Turkey, its strategic interest in the region, its need for Turkey as a NATO ally, in its war against Iraq, has not recognized it. And secondly¹⁴ Israel, even though itself, its people originally suffered a great holocaust¹⁵ - the great genocide of World War II - has not recognized it, again for strategic reasons, its connection with Turkey." said Ronald Suny with the University of Chicago.

Suny and others point out that President Obama has changed his position. "Every presidential candidate, including President Obama, when they were campaigning, stated declaratively, clearly, fervently¹⁶ that they would recognize the genocide. Once they take power, of course, then these strategic security interests come into play and historical decisions, the historical truths have to be put aside. It's sad, but that's the case," he said.

Many experts say the resolution by the House Foreign Affairs Committee puts President Obama in an awkward position. But many analysts¹⁷ also say that may be a temporary situation, because they don't expect the measure to be taken up by the full House of Representatives.
 

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

4 ramifications   

n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications. 这些变化注定会造成许多难以预料的社会后果。
• What are the ramifications of our decision to join the union? 我们决定加入工会会引起哪些后果呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

6 massacres   

大屠杀( massacre的名词复数 )； 惨败

参考例句：

• The time is past for guns and killings and massacres. 动不动就用枪、动不动就杀、大规模屠杀的时代已经过去了。 来自教父部分
• Numberless recent massacres were still vivid in their recollection. 近来那些不可胜数的屠杀，在他们的头脑中记忆犹新。

7 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

8 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

9 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

10 antipathy   

n.憎恶；反感，引起反感的人或事物

参考例句：

• I feel an antipathy against their behaviour.我对他们的行为很反感。
• Some people have an antipathy to cats.有的人讨厌猫。

11 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

12 unwillingness   

n. 不愿意，不情愿

参考例句：

• Her unwillingness to answer questions undermined the strength of her position. 她不愿回答问题，这不利于她所处的形势。
• His apparent unwillingness would disappear if we paid him enough. 如果我们付足了钱，他露出的那副不乐意的神情就会消失。

13 consultations   

n.磋商（会议）( consultation的名词复数 )；商讨会；协商会；查找

参考例句：

• Consultations can be arranged at other times by appointment. 磋商可以通过预约安排在其他时间。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Consultations are under way. 正在进行磋商。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

15 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

16 fervently   

adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地

参考例句：

• "Oh, I am glad!'she said fervently. “哦，我真高兴！”她热烈地说道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• O my dear, my dear, will you bless me as fervently to-morrow?' 啊，我亲爱的，亲爱的，你明天也愿这样热烈地为我祝福么？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

17 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。