VOA常速英语2008年-EU Officials Visit Turkey to Discuss Political

By Dorian Jones
Istanbul
10 April 2008

Two top European Union officials are visiting Ankara to discuss Turkey's failure to introduce reforms required for EU membership. Dorian Jones reports for VOA from Istanbul that European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Enlargement Commissioner¹ Oli Rehn want Turkey to re-embrace its commitment to EU reforms.

The EU officials expected to have a long list of demands. Brussels has become increasingly irritated over the failure of Ankara to introduce EU reforms, as part of Turkey's membership bid. Political columnist² Murat Yetkin says the concern is justified³.

"In political terms, it is not going anywhere," said Yetkin. "The reason why it is not going anywhere is primarily because of the divide in Europe. You have a French president and his German supporter saying, whatever Turkey does, it has no place here."

In the past few weeks, Turkish politics has been turned upside down.

The deputy head of Turkey's constitutional court Osman Paksut announced the court has agreed to hear the case to close the governing Justice and Development Party on the charge of undermining the secular⁴ state. Many analysts⁶ warn the party, known as the AKP, faces the real threat of being closed down and its leadership expelled from parliament.

Sabiha Senyucel, of the Turkish political think-tank Tesev, says the case has resulted in a dramatic change in government policy towards the EU membership process.

"If you want to save yourself in the country, then the EU is your only guarantee," said Senyucel. "The AKP knows very well that if they do not get back on track with the EU process, if they do not continue their commitment with the EU process, they are going to lose their support from the intellectuals circles from the business circles."

This week, the government announced plans for a democratization package, which includes many EU-demanded reforms. Among them is reform of the controversial Article 301 of Turkey's penal⁷ code, which criminalizes speeches and writings that are deemed to insult Turkish culture.

The law is a key point of tension between Ankara and Brussels. It is responsible for hundreds of cases against writers and journalists - most notably⁸ Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk.

According to analysts, the government's renewed commitment to EU membership reforms, has been inspired by Brussels' condemnation⁹ of the closure case against it. Both Rehn and Barraso have strongly criticized the case.

But analyst⁵ Senyucel warns such statements might backfire.

"It might have a negative effect on the constitutional court that, because they will take a more tough position saying that this is our domestic issue and we will going to decide on that," he said.

The visit of Barraso and Rehn was planned more than six months ago, and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul are anxious to re-state their pro-EU credentials¹⁰, at this critical time.

1 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

7 penal   

adj.刑罚的；刑法上的

参考例句：

• I hope you're familiar with penal code.我希望你们熟悉本州法律规则。
• He underwent nineteen years of penal servitude for theft.他因犯了大窃案受过十九年的苦刑。

8 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。

9 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

10 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。