VOA标准英语2008年-Turkish PM: Top Court Overstepped Role

By Dorian Jones
Istanbul
10 June 2008

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday the Constitutional Court must explain its decision to overturn the government's move to allow students to wear Muslim headscarves at university. Last week's Constitutional Court ruling was the most serious setback¹ for the Islamist-rooted AK Party since it came to power in 2002. Dorian Jones reports for VOA from Istanbul.
　

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses the lawmakers of his ruling party at the parliament in Ankara, Turkey, 10 June 2008

Addressing his parliamentary deputies, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave his first reaction to the overturning by the constitution court of the government decision to ease the headscarf ban in universities. Mr. Erdogan strongly condemned² the decision.

He said, nobody can put themselves in the place of the lawmaker. He added that blocking the will of the parliament through ideological³ legal interpretations⁴ is tantamount to going against the will of the people.

The prime minister then went on to criticize the court for not publishing its reasoning behind the verdict.

The judge's ruling has been condemned by some legal experts and the government for overstepping its powers.

Head of the court, Hasim Killic, speaking to reporters after the ruling, justified⁵ their decision because of intense pressure on the court.

He said the speculations⁶ made on our court in the recent months saddened us, and therefore, we decided⁷ to announce the ruling in such way.

Several judges have claimed they were intimidated⁸, with one accusing the police of following him.

Judge Killic said over the weekend that a full and detailed⁹ explanation of their verdict will be released soon.

In a separate case before the same court, Turkey's chief prosecutor¹⁰ is also seeking to disband Erdogan party on the grounds it is the focal point of anti-secular¹¹ activities. According to observers, the court's headscarf verdict makes it more likely that it will rule against the ruling AK party.

Modern Turkey has been a strictly¹² secular state since its founding by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk 83 years ago. Mindful of the rising polarization in the country Mr. Erdogan appealed to his supporters to act with restraint.

Mr. Erdogan said we need to act responsibly and we need to act with common sense. No one should forget the fact that both legislation and judiciary exist for the people. He said we cannot accept attempts aimed to harm legislation and judiciary. It is our common responsibility to further strengthen both of them.

The parliamentary speaker, Koksal Toptan, an AK member, was quoted by the Turkish media as saying it was the prime minister's responsibility to ease the rising tensions. Observers say Mr. Erdogan will also be aware he has to tread carefully, with the world economic credit crunch¹³ already making investors¹⁴ nervous, the Turkish economy could be hit hard by a further escalation¹⁵ in the political crisis.

1 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

2 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

3 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

4 interpretations   

n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解

参考例句：

• This passage is open to a variety of interpretations. 这篇文章可以有各种不同的解释。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The involved and abstruse passage makes several interpretations possible. 这段艰涩的文字可以作出好几种解释。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

6 speculations   

n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断

参考例句：

• Your speculations were all quite close to the truth. 你的揣测都很接近于事实。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• This possibility gives rise to interesting speculations. 这种可能性引起了有趣的推测。 来自《用法词典》

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 intimidated   

v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的

参考例句：

• We try to make sure children don't feel intimidated on their first day at school. 我们努力确保孩子们在上学的第一天不胆怯。
• The thief intimidated the boy into not telling the police. 这个贼恫吓那男孩使他不敢向警察报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

10 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

11 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。

12 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

13 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

14 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

15 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