VOA标准英语2008年-Blast Kills 5 in Mainly Kurdish City in Turkey

By Dorian Jones
Istanbul
03 January 2008

In southern Turkey, an explosion has killed at least five people and injured 70. The explosion occurred in the main city in the predominantly Kurdish southeast of the country, where Turkey accuses rebels from the outlawed¹ Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, of launching attacks. Dorian Jones reports for VOA from Istanbul, no one has claimed responsibility for the blast.

In the center of the city of Diyarbakir, authorities say a car bomb exploded near a Turkish military bus, which burst into flames.

The explosion occurred near a large shopping mall and luxury hotel.

 

Emergency services rushed to the scene.

The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned² the bombing.

He said terrorism has reared its ugly head again. But he said such attacks will not affect Turkey's determination to fight terrorism, both at home and abroad.

 

Turkish authorities say they suspect militants⁴ belonging to the Kurdish Workers Party, or PKK, of being behind the blast, although no claim of responsibility has been made.

The PKK has been fighting for autonomy in Turkey's mainly-Kurdish southeast since 1984. That violence has killed more than 30,000 people.

Last week, police say, a PKK member was caught in Istanbul carrying a bomb while en route to attack a large shopping center. Security forces have been bracing⁵ themselves for potential attacks by the PKK, following Turkish air strikes against Kurdish militant³ bases in neighboring northern Iraq.

The air strikes were in retaliation⁶ for a series of PKK attacks in the last few months, which killed scores of Turkish soldiers and civilians⁷.

Turkey has massed around 100,000 soldiers along the Iraqi border.

The United States and European Union have designated the PKK a terrorist group.

On Tuesday, U.S. President George Bush is scheduled to host his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul, in Washington. According to Turkish officials, top of the agenda will be Turkey's fight against the PKK.

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 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 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

4 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。

5 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

6 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。