2007年VOA标准英语-Turkish Generals Press for Move Into Iraq

By Simon Marks
Turkey-Iraq border
18 April 2007
 

Fears are growing that Turkey may take unilateral military action in northern Iraq against the outlawed¹ Kurdistan Workers Party, the PKK, whose fighters have been staging cross-border attacks.  Turkey's most senior general wants to send his armed forces into northern Iraq to disrupt the safe haven² the PKK has enjoyed since Saddam Hussein's ouster, but civilian³ leaders in Ankara have so far declined to approve any intervention⁴.  The United States is urging Turkey to exercise restraint.  Correspondent Simon Marks reports. 

The PKK is operating inside Iraq on the Turkish border

It is in the mountains where Turkey's most senior military figure now wants to deploy⁵ his troops.  They overlook predominantly Kurdish areas of southeastern Turkey, but lie in Iraqi terrain⁶. 

The PKK – the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party – has continued to launch cross-border attacks from Iraq into Turkey.  The PKK says it is fighting for Kurdish independence, but the group is branded a terrorist organization by the Turkish government and by the United States. 

The Turks say the PKK is operating with virtual impunity⁷ from inside Iraq, just across the border. 

General Yaser Buyukanit, the chief of the Turkish army, says it is time for his country to take action. "Yes, an operation should be ordered.  Would it be useful?  Yes, it would." 

This is the first time the Turkish military – a powerful political force in its own right – has publicly called on the government to authorize⁸ cross-border operations. 

It puts pressure on Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.  Publicly, he has been very critical of the Kurdish leadership in northern Iraq for failing to crack down on the PKK, but so far he has held back from endorsing⁹ military intervention. 

The United States is urging Turkey not to send troops into northern Iraq.  Washington fears relative tranquility in southern Turkish cities like Diyarbakir may be threatened if Iraqi Kurds retaliate¹⁰ against any Turkish military maneuvers¹¹. 

But retired¹² general Edip Baser, Turkey's special envoy¹³ on the PKK, says the Turkish military is not sympathetic to U.S. calls for restraint. 

"It's hard to understand why we should not use one of our international rights, as this terrorist organization is still active and coming into my country, and acting¹⁴ in my country, killing¹⁵ people and then going back to northern Iraq,” says the general. “Why I shouldn't go after them?" 

The U.S. argues any upheaval¹⁶ along Turkey's border with Iraq threatens to create instability, not resolve it. 

The U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Ross Wilson, spoke¹⁷ on the issue in an interview late last year. 

"We have felt for a long time that foreign intervention, foreign actions in Iraq would probably be more destabilizing than they would do good, first.  And second, we thought that if we have a cooperative effort with Turkey and with the Iraqi authorities, we could accomplish the same objective of ensuring that northern Iraq is not a base for PKK attacks to be launched on Turkey." 

But the Turkish military says those cooperative efforts are failing to make progress and the public call for military action raises the stakes in Turkey and beyond. 

1 outlawed   

宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Most states have outlawed the use of marijuana. 大多数州都宣布使用大麻为非法行为。
• I hope the sale of tobacco will be outlawed someday. 我希望有朝一日烟草制品会禁止销售。

2 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

3 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

4 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

5 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

6 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

7 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

8 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。

9 endorsing   

v.赞同( endorse的现在分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• Yet Communist leaders are also publicly endorsing religion in an unprecedented way. 不过，共产党领导层对宗教信仰的公开认可也是以前不曾有过的。 来自互联网
• Connecticut Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman is endorsing Republican Senator John McCain. 康涅狄格州独立派参议员约瑟夫。列波曼将会票选共和议员约翰。麦凯恩。 来自互联网

10 retaliate   

v.报复，反击

参考例句：

• He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
• It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。

11 maneuvers   

n.策略，谋略，花招( maneuver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He suspected at once that she had been spying upon his maneuvers. 他立刻猜想到，她已经侦察到他的行动。 来自辞典例句
• Maneuvers in Guizhou occupied the Reds for four months. 贵州境内的作战占了红军四个月的时间。 来自辞典例句

12 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。

13 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

14 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

15 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。

16 upheaval   

n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱

参考例句：

• It was faced with the greatest social upheaval since World War Ⅱ.它面临第二次世界大战以来最大的社会动乱。
• The country has been thrown into an upheaval.这个国家已经陷入动乱之中。

17 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。