VOA标准英语2013--Tough Childhood, Political Battles Marked Turkey's Embattled PM

Tough Childhood, Political Battles Marked Turkey's Embattled PM

Istanbul's Kaptanpasa neighborhood, a working class district where everybody knows and supports each other.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan grew up in this modest apartment building. The residents are proud of it.

Some gather in the neighborhood tea shop to play cards and chat. Unemployed¹ waiter Onder Terkan said Erdogan is popular because he is a devout² Muslim.

“We like our prime minister because he prays and fasts [like observant Muslims]. Our country is 98 percent Muslim and a prime minister who follows our beliefs, of course, everybody will like him,” Terkan said.

Not everybody. Anti-government demonstrations³ continue in Taksim Square. They began one month ago over the proposed demolition⁴ of a park but have broadened into a general call for Erdogan to resign.

“He [Erdogan] uses disproportionate force. He oppresses people. He sees only one side," said security guard Sati Ay. "We don't know why. He never listens to us. He just acts like a dictator.”

But in Kaptanpasa where residents are known to be tough, many say the prime minister should not back down.   

“Sometimes he's rough. Sometimes he's soft. And people like this characteristic [quality]. More than 50 percent of them support him,” stated textile worker Eris Dogan.

Erdogan, now 59 years old, became prime minister in 2003. He has been re-elected twice by an ever-larger percentage of the voters.

As a boy he worked odd-jobs to help support his family. He became active in political Islam as a teenager and served four months in jail in 1998 for reading an Islamist poem at a rally. As mayor of Istanbul in the mid-1990s, he was popular for cleaning up and modernizing⁵ the city.

A professional football player in his youth, he built a stadium for his old team, Kasimpasa Spor, that bears his name. As prime minister he has launched many infrastructure⁶ and urban renewal⁷ projects. Under his leadership, Turkey's economy has quadrupled and the middle class has grown. But critics say his programs mostly favor the rich.

In Kaptanpasa, some patrons privately⁸ express reservations about their favorite son.

“He was a good friend. He was nice, a good person. And he was loyal to his friends. But I don't know now. Now he's too high, like in a helicopter in the sky,” said 72-year-old retiree Hidir Aydin.

But Aydin does not want to speak ill of his former neighbor. Besides, he said, he was a good football player. 

1 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

2 devout   

adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness)

参考例句：

• His devout Catholicism appeals to ordinary people.他对天主教的虔诚信仰感染了普通民众。
• The devout man prayed daily.那位虔诚的男士每天都祈祷。

3 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。

4 demolition   

n.破坏,毁坏,毁坏之遗迹

参考例句：

• The church has been threatened with demolition for years. 这座教堂多年来一直面临拆毀的威胁。
• The project required the total demolition of the old bridge. 该项目要求将老桥完全拆毁。

5 modernizing   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• Modernizing a business to increase its profitability and competitiveness is a complicated affair. 使企业现代化，从而达到增加利润，增强竞争力的目的，是一件复杂的事情。
• The young engineer had a large share in modernizing the factory. 这位年轻工程师在工厂现代化的过程中尽了很大的“力”。

6 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

7 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

8 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。