VOA标准英语10月-Turkey's Kurdish Party Looks to Religion to Boost

After suffering defeat in last year's general election to the Islamic rooted AK party, Turkey's main Kurdish party is turning to religion in its battle to re-establish itself as the region's main political power. But there are concerns about the direction the movement is going. For VOA, Dorian Jones has this report from Diyarbakir in southeast Turkey.
　

Turkish Kurds hold flags of a pro-Kurdish party as they dance during the celebrations for Nowruz in Diyarbakir (File)

At a public meeting of the Democratic Society Party or DTP, in Diyarbakir, leaders address their supporters.

Standing¹ at their sides are religious elders. The retired² Imams, while religiously conservative, are staunch supporters of Kurdish nationalism. But in last year's general election they didn't give their traditional support to the DTP. That lack of support coincided with a victory for the Islamic rooted AK party, which stood on a platform of Islamic solidarity³. Head of Diyarbakir's religious elders, Zait Citiran, says the DTP had to be taught a lesson.

He said the DTP made a great mistake not understanding that 97 percent of Kurdish people are Muslim and have Islamic sensitivities and he says that is why they lost last year's general election. But he says the DTP mayors and members of parliament are now going to mosques⁵ to pray and they are inviting⁶ religious elders to their meetings. Citiran says he and the religious elders are now pleased to support the DTP.

But there are concerns about this embrace of Islam by political leaders.

Publisher and writer Kawa Nemir has devoted⁷ his life to the struggle for Kurdish rights both politically and culturally. He believes many of the gains of the last few decades of the Kurdish movement are at risk.

"We have a literary political movement of modernizing⁸ Kurdish society and modernizing Kurdish literature for the last 30 years," said Nemir. "There has been a guerrilla war , also there has been a legal movement, legal struggles, and at the beginning it was leftist, it was Marxist. There were some liberals, some villagers, some progressive people. Intellectuals were supporting that movement. Secularism¹⁰ was very important for the Kurdish movement. But now this movement is being more religious day by day. Fifty years ago it was conservative , but it had started to change but now there is a reverse."

The Friday sermon at the Olu Cami, Diyarbakir's main mosque⁴, is a tirade¹¹ of anti-Semitism particularly aimed at Israel. It says Jews are murderers of Palestinian children and are agents of the devil.

Kurdish nationalists are traditionally sympathetic to Israel because of its support for the semi autonomous¹² Kurdish state in neighboring Northern Iraq.

The Friday sermon, according to head of the DTP in Diyarbakir, Nectar Atalay, is just another example of the Turkish state and the ruling Justice and Development Party, using religion to undermine his party's support.

He says they are always trying to use religion against the DTP, saying the DTP is an atheist¹³ party. He says they especially attack the DTP for the prominent role of woman in the DTP movement and that many of the women don't wear head scarves. Atalay says the DTP is now being more successful in showing the people that it is a party of faithful people that respects Islam.

Last March, tens of thousands of people attended a meeting to celebrate the birth of Mohammed. It was organized by supporters of the DTP in the neighboring city of Batman. The increasing embrace with Islam, is causing particular concern among woman.

The DTP has a strong secular⁹ tradition and commitment to woman's rights. It has a 45 percent quota¹⁴ for positions for women in the party.

S?lan Eser, is a popular singer in Diyarbakir and a leading official in the DTP. She is the modern face of the party. Eser says while she understands the motives¹⁵ behind the party moving towards Islam, she thinks it is a dangerous game.

Eser says the recent move toward Islam by the DTP does not bode¹⁶ well for women in the party. Up until now, she says, the DTP movement has been very positive for women and has always challenged conservatism in the region.

She says that's why women make up the majority of the party activists¹⁷. Eser says these women will not allow Islamic ideals to become too powerful in the party and, she says, women will protect all the achievements they have won.

Supporters of the party's stance towards religion are arguing it is a question of fighting fire with fire. But critics are warning that people who play with fire invariably end up with burnt fingers. For the Kurdish movement it could well be the women who suffer first.

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

4 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

5 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

6 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

7 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

8 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”。

9 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

10 secularism   

n.现世主义；世俗主义；宗教与教育分离论；政教分离论

参考例句：

• Unless are devoted to God, secularism shall not leave us. 除非我们奉献于神，否则凡俗之心便不会离开我们。 来自互联网
• They are no longer a huge threat to secularism. 他们已不再是民主的巨大威胁。 来自互联网

11 tirade   

n.冗长的攻击性演说

参考例句：

• Her tirade provoked a counterblast from her husband.她的长篇大论激起了她丈夫的强烈反对。
• He delivered a long tirade against the government.他发表了反政府的长篇演说。

12 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。

13 atheist   

n.无神论者

参考例句：

• She was an atheist but now she says she's seen the light.她本来是个无神论者，可是现在她说自己的信仰改变了。
• He is admittedly an atheist.他被公认是位无神论者。

14 quota   

n.（生产、进出口等的）配额，（移民的）限额

参考例句：

• A restricted import quota was set for meat products.肉类产品设定了进口配额。
• He overfulfilled his production quota for two months running.他一连两个月超额完成生产指标。

15 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

16 bode   

v.预示

参考例句：

• These figures do not bode well for the company's future.这些数字显示出公司的前景不妙。
• His careful habits bode well for his future.他那认真的习惯预示著他会有好的前途。

17 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》