VOA标准英语2011--Kurdish Issue Heats Up Before Turkey's P

Kurdish Issue Heats Up Before Turkey's Parliamentary Vote

With just weeks to go before Turkey's June 12 parliamentary vote, tensions are rising over Turkey's Kurdish minority's demands for the greater rights. The election campaign has already been marred¹ by violent demonstrations² , clashes between the army and the PKK rebel group as well as many arrests. But the ruling AK party are committed to taking a tough stance against the unrest.
Kurdish youths clash with police in the center of Istanbul.
Similar clashes have also occurred across much of Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast. It is in response to last weekend's killing³ by the Turkish army of 12 members of Kurdish rebel group, the Kurdistan Workers Party, or the PKK.
Tough stance
Since the start of his election campaign, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken a tough stance against the rebel group and the country's main pro-Kurdish party, the BDP.
"We can't get anywhere with those who try to undermine the democratic will of the people," he said in an address to parliamentary candidates. "There is no longer a Kurdish question in this country. I do not accept this."
That stance differs from 2005 when the prime minister declared in a speech "There was a Kurdish problem."
Greater cultural rights
In the last general election in 2007, Erdogan campaigned on the platform of meeting Kurdish demands for greater cultural rights. In the past few years, the government developed a 24-hour state Kurdish TV station and launched what it called the "Democratic Opening" to end the 26-year conflict with the PKK. But that broke down in mutual⁴ recriminations.
"The whole government was disappointed, even resentful, about their attempts towards the Kurds. But they saw the benefit of getting nationalist votes away from the nationalistic party. They saw there is a solid support ground and they can easily get more votes by underlining their nationalist credentials⁵ rather than democratic credentials and this explains their present policy," Political columnist⁶ Nuray Mert explains.
Increasing legal pressure
In last few years the pro-Kurdish BDP has been getting more organized and has high hopes of defeating the AKP in the predominantly Kurdish southeast in the upcoming elections. But the party is facing increasing legal pressure.
Last month there were nationwide protests by Kurds when many BDP-supported parliamentary candidates were banned by Turkey's electoral commission because of alleged⁷ links to the PKK. The decision was later reversed, but during the unrest one person was shot dead by the police and hundreds arrested. According to the Turkish-based Human Rights Society, in past 50 days more than 2500 ethnic⁸ Kurds have been detained by the police. This month, Aysel Tugluk a leading BDP supported parliamentary candidate gave this warning about the crackdown.
"A calamity⁹ is just around the corner. I am not pessimistic," she says. "I only possess the sensibility that emanates¹⁰ from intuition and foresight¹¹. Once again we are at a crossroads. Everyone who is concerned about the Kurdish issue should know that we are moving toward ground zero, and fast."
So far, the AKP has defended the measures taken against the BDP. The prime minister accused the party of being involved in an attack earlier this month by the PKK on a campaign bus of its members returning from a rally.
AKP parliamentary candidate Volkan Bozkir, is a former Turkish ambassador to the European Union. "It is not because they have said something. But they are part of a terrorist organization. They have been helping¹² those terrorists who are killing young people," he said.
PKK's uttimatum
Last month imprisoned¹³ PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan issued an ultimatum¹⁴ that unless talks start over greater Kurdish rights within three days of the general election, fighting will resume.
But Political scientist Cengiz Aktar says any hope of dialogue is remote. "The government have extreme difficulties to understand that they should talk to Kurds. In their minds there are plenty of bad Kurds and a few good Kurds who belong to their party. When there is vacuum in policy others come in and fill this vacuum, both the Turkish military and PKK may come back. Unless the government solves the Kurdish problem through political means the military will always be around," he said.
The ending of the Turkish army's interference in politics is heralded¹⁵ by the ruling AK party as well as the EU which Turkey is seeking to join - one of its most important democratic accomplishments¹⁶ of Erdogan's rule. But that breakthrough came at a time of relative peace. A return to widespread conflict, observers warn, could well unravel¹⁷ many of the country's achievements.

1 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

2 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

3 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。

4 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

5 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

6 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

7 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

9 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

10 emanates   

v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的第三人称单数 )；产生，表现，显示

参考例句：

• He emanates power and confidence. 他表现出力量和信心。
• He emanates sympathy. 他流露出同情。 来自辞典例句

11 foresight   

n.先见之明，深谋远虑

参考例句：

• The failure is the result of our lack of foresight.这次失败是由于我们缺乏远虑而造成的。
• It required a statesman's foresight and sagacity to make the decision.作出这个决定需要政治家的远见卓识。

12 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

13 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

14 ultimatum   

n.最后通牒

参考例句：

• This time the proposal was couched as an ultimatum.这一次该提议是以最后通牒的形式提出来的。
• The cabinet met today to discuss how to respond to the ultimatum.内阁今天开会商量如何应对这道最后通牒。

15 heralded   

v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要）

参考例句：

• The singing of the birds heralded in the day. 鸟鸣报晓。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King. 嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

17 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。