2006年VOA标准英语-Turkey Warns of Widening Conflict in Iraq

By Sonja Pace
Istanbul
30 November 2006

U.S. President George Bush went out of his way Thursday to show Washington's support for the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as the two men held talks in Jordan on ways to stem the violence in Iraq. The meeting took place amid growing frustration¹ within the United States over U.S. involvement in the war, and warnings by Jordan's King Abdullah the unrest could spread throughout the Middle East. Those concerns are shared in nearby Turkey, as VOA's Sonja Pace reports from Istanbul.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan , 21 Nov. 2006

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan told lawmakers from his political party this week, a dangerous game of escalation² is being played out in the Middle East. He added that, if the fire is not stopped soon, it would engulf³ the whole region.

In particular, the prime minister warned against a division of Iraq, noting that would be the beginning of a huge disaster.

Turkey has watched nervously⁴ as war and sectarian violence have engulfed⁵ its neighbor. But, what worries Turkey even more is the possibility that Iraq might split into three sectarian units - Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish. In particular, the specter of a Kurdish autonomous⁶ region, or an eventual⁷ independent state on Turkey's border raises alarm.

Kurds are a substantial minority in Turkey - an estimated 15 million of them live mostly in the impoverished⁸ southeastern portion of the country. From the mid-1980s, the government fought an all-out war with separatist Kurdish guerrillas for some 15 years, and separatist violence still flares⁹ up. Almost any actions, or even statements by Kurdish activists¹⁰ are seen as a threat to the Turkish state.

Istanbul-based Turkish writer and columnist¹¹ Mustafa Akyol has written extensively about the Kurdish issue, and tells VOA, what happens with the Kurds in neighboring northern Iraq matters very much to Turkey.

"Most Turks think, if there is a Kurdish state in northern Iraq, it will, in a kind of domino theory, influence our own Kurds, and our own Kurds will want to join with them, and, then, we will be losing Turkey's southeastern part, and, there will be a greater Kurdistan, and, Turkey will be losing its territory," he said.

The Kurds are an ancient people in the region and an estimated 20-30 million live today in Turkey, parts of Iraq, Iran and Syria, with smaller communities elsewhere. Promises of an independent homeland after World War I, were never fulfilled. Kurdish uprisings were often brutally¹² put down, most notably¹³ in Iraq during the so-called Anfal campaign that prosecutors¹⁴ say killed more than 180,000 Iraqi Kurds in 1987 and 1988, including some 5,000 Kurdish men, women and children killed with chemical weapons in the town of Halabja.

In Turkey, the separatist fight was spearheaded by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the PKK, whose leader, Abdullah Ocalan, was captured, tried and convicted of treason in 1999. Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union consider the PKK a terrorist organization.

Amid the unrelenting sectarian violence in Iraq today, the idea of splitting the country into sectarian parts has been raised by some U.S. politicians. However, President Bush said Thursday that he and Prime Minister Maliki agreed this is not a viable¹⁵ option.

"The prime minister made clear that splitting his country into parts, as some have suggested, is not what the Iraqi people want, and that any partition of Iraq would only lead to an increase in sectarian violence. I agree," he said.

Such statements may come as a relief to Turkey, but political sociologist¹⁶ Dogu Ergil of Ankara University says a western-supported, autonomous Kurdish entity¹⁷ already exists in northern Iraq, and even that, he says, could prove a threat.

"Given the rate of development by foreign aid and so forth¹⁸ … it seems that the place [Iraqi Kurdish region] is the most stable place in Iraq, and it's developing faster than eastern Turkey. And, soon … it could be a center of attraction for the Turkish Kurds, not only economically, but identity-wise, as well," he said.

Many Turks fear that an autonomous Kurdish northern Iraq is just the first step toward full independence. Political scientist, Hasan Uenal of Ankara's Bilkent University, says that is something Turkey could not accept.

"Any attempt to set up a Kurdish state in northern Iraq would be considered by the Turkish state as a vital danger to Turkey," he said. "We would not let that happen. We would not remain idle, and we would do whatever we can to prevent that, to stop that, to kill it off."

Some Turks say they would favor a military incursion to stop that from happening. But, writer Mustafa Akyol says he does not consider a military option likely. Instead, he says, a friendlier approach is needed.

"First of all, we should make our own Kurds happy, so they will be happy citizens of the Turkish state, and they won't need to join a poor Kurdistan in the mountains of Iraq," he said.

Akyol says Turkey has relatively¹⁹ little leverage²⁰ to help calm the situation in Iraq. And so, for now, at least, Turkish leaders watch their eastern neighbor closely, and wait to see what happens next.

1 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

2 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

3 engulf   

vt.吞没，吞食

参考例句：

• Floodwaters engulf a housing project in the Bajo Yuna community in central Dominican Republic.洪水吞没了多米尼加中部巴杰优那社区的一处在建的住房工程项目。
• If we are not strong enough to cover all the minds up,then they will engulf us,and we are in danger.如果我们不够坚强来抵挡大众的意念，就会有被他们吞没的危险。

4 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

5 engulfed   

v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was engulfed by a crowd of reporters. 他被一群记者团团围住。
• The little boat was engulfed by the waves. 小船被波浪吞没了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

8 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 flares   

n.喇叭裤v.（使）闪耀( flare的第三人称单数 )；（使）（船舷）外倾；（使）鼻孔张大；（使）（衣裙、酒杯等）呈喇叭形展开

参考例句：

• The side of a ship flares from the keel to the deck. 船舷从龙骨向甲板外倾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation. 他是火爆性子，一点就着。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 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。

12 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

13 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

14 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

15 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

16 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

17 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

18 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

19 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

20 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。