VOA慢速英语--土耳其议会批准进入紧急状态

AS IT IS 2016-07-22 Turkey’s Parliament Approves State of Emergency 土耳其议会批准进入紧急状态

Turkish leaders are saying life will continue as normal for most people despite a state of emergency.

The state of emergency, approved by Turkey’s Parliament, gives more powers to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

It allows him to expand a crackdown begun after last week’s failed coup¹ led by some members of Turkey’s military. Already, thousands of people have been arrested.

But Mehmet Simsek, Turkey’s deputy prime minister, said most people won’t see major changes in their lives.

“Life of ordinary people and businesses will go un-impacted, uninterrupted, business will be as usual,” he wrote on Twitter.

The Parliament on Thursday voted 356-115 to approve the three-month state of emergency.

Erdogan said he needs new powers to “rid the military of the virus of subversion².”

The Associated Press reported Thursday that the government arrested nearly 10,000 people and closed hundreds of schools. It said 58,881 civil service workers were dismissed, forced to resign or had their licenses³ taken away.

And academic leaders and teachers were banned from leaving Turkey.

“The lynching has started,” said Beyza Ustun, an official of the Kurdish-led, People’s Democratic Party. Her opinion reflects the concern of Turkish minority groups of more threats to their rights.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry criticized the coup attempt. But he also said: “We need to have Turkey respect democracy, human rights, and fundamental freedoms.”

President Barack Obama called Erdogan on Tuesday. He said the United States would assist Turkey’s investigation⁴ of those responsible for the coup, according to the White House.

But Obama also urged the Turkish president to avoid reducing public confidence in Turkey’s democracy.

Turkey is very important to the United States battle against Islamic State militants⁵. It uses a military base in Turkey to conduct air attacks against IS in Syria and Iraq.

Simsek, the deputy prime minister, said there could have been “carnage in the streets” if last week’s coup succeeded.

He said the government is going after those who organized and carried out the coup.

“We owe it to our people to go after them,” he said. “We will have a legal framework for it."

In a televised speech to the nation on Wednesday, Erdogan said the state of emergency would protect Turkey’s democracy.

“This measure is in no way against democracy, the law and freedoms,” he said.

Erdogan has been accused of taking too much power for himself -- even before the current state of emergency.

And some world leaders called on Erdogan to end the state of emergency as soon as possible.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said it is important “the rule of law” is kept in Turkey.

He said Turkey should keep the state of emergency only for as long as necessary “and then immediately end it."

Words in This Story

coup -- n. an attempt to takeover a government

ordinary -- adj. normal or usual, not unusual or special

unimpacted -- v. not affected⁶

uninterrupted -- v. not stopped or affected

lynching -- n. to kill someone illegally

fundamental -- adj. basic

carnage -- n. the killing⁷ of many people

framework -- n. the basic structure of something

1 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

2 subversion   

n.颠覆，破坏

参考例句：

• He was arrested in parliament on charges of subversion for organizing the demonstration.他因组织示威活动在议会上被以颠覆破坏罪名逮捕。
• It had a cultural identity relatively immune to subversion from neighboring countries.它的文化同一性使它相对地不易被邻国所颠覆。

3 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 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。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 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。