VOA标准英语2013--Turkey's PM Hits Back at International Critics of Crackdown

 

Turkey's PM Hits Back at International Critics of Crackdown

After weeks of anti-government demonstrations¹ in cities across Turkey, there was a moment of quiet as demonstrators staged silent protests.  In Istanbul's Taksim Square - where the protests began as an environmental campaign but swelled² into anti-government demonstrations - the peace was short-lived.

Police detained dozens of demonstrators in the early hours of Tuesday.

In a statement the U.N. Commissioner³ for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, described her concern over what she called an extremely heavy-handed police response to the three-week long protests and called for a transparent⁴ investigation⁵.

Union of Turkish Bar Associations President Metin Feyzioglu told VOA on the phone from Ankara the U.N. intervention⁶ was welcome.

"Police were shooting peaceful protesters with tear gas shotguns and they took aim deliberately⁷ at persons.  So they were using these tear gas shotguns as real shotguns," said Feyzioglu.

Prime Minister Erdogan has reacted angrily to his critics, telling a meeting of his AKP party Tuesday the police had an incontestable right to use tear gas on protesters.

"It is out of the question to show any tolerance⁸ to anybody or any organization that uses violence and uses it as an instrument from now on, my dear friends and my mighty⁹ nation," said Erdogan.

The government response is causing alarm beyond Turkey, says Fadi Hakura of policy institute Chatham House.

"In particular, the disproportionate security response to these protests.  And I think that this realization¹⁰ has begun to diminish the positive reputation that the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan enjoyed up until now," said Hakura.

Germany has the biggest Turkish expat community in the world.  German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle gave this reaction to the protests Monday.

"We would have hoped that the Turkish government had opted¹¹ for dialogue.  And so we criticize the decisions of the Turkish government," said Westerwelle.

The European Parliament passed a resolution expressing concern at the police response, and has canceled a planned visit by lawmakers this week to Turkey.

Turkey has long harbored ambitions to join the European Union, but the crackdown could prove a big setback¹² politically and economically, says analyst¹³ Hakura.

Meanwhile,  Erdogan vowed¹⁴ to increase police powers to deal with unrest, and the government is working on legislation to restrict the use of social media it blames for fueling the demonstrations. 

1 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

2 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

3 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。

4 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 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。

7 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

8 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

9 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

10 realization   

n.实现；认识到，深刻了解

参考例句：

• We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
• He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。

11 opted   

v.选择，挑选( opt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was co-opted onto the board. 她获增选为董事会成员。
• After graduating she opted for a career in music. 毕业后她选择了从事音乐工作。

12 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。

13 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。

14 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。