VOA标准英语2014--Missing Kurdish Children Stir Claims, Concern in Turkey

 

Missing Kurdish Children Stir Claims, Concern in Turkey

DIYARBAKIR, TURKEY —

A growing number of Kurdish families in Turkey are calling for the return of their children who they say have been abducted¹ by the Kurdish rebel group, the PKK. The PKK denies the claim, but with the Turkish prime minister stepping in, the dispute is putting pressure on an already stalled peace process.

In the sweltering summer heat, a group of families hold a daily vigil for their children who they say were kidnapped by the PKK in recent months.  Each carries a photograph of their child. Some were as young as 14 when they disappeared.

Sureyya Toklar, whose son disappeared three months ago, says she is convinced her son was kidnapped by the rebel group.

"My son couldn't have gone on his own will," she said. "He didn't have such love for them. I am sure he was tricked and didn't go on his own will."

The families claim the rebels are holding their children in mountain bases just across the Turkish border in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Throughout three decades of conflict, thousands of young Kurdish men and women have "gone to the mountains," a euphemism² for joining the PKK. Until now, there have been few voices claiming any were kidnapped.

But Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stepped in and taken up the families’ cause. The dispute comes at a delicate time in the government-initiated peace process with the rebel group.

According to Fatma Oncu, a member of the ruling AK Party's national committee from Diyarbakir, the peace process has allowed people to start speaking out against the PKK.

"Women are now coming out to the streets and voicing that their children are being kept in this way [by the PKK]," she said. "As a party we are supporting these women in this process in every way, she said.

But many pro-Kurdish political groups back the PKK in dismissing claims of abduction. They say all those who join the PKK are volunteers and accuse the government of generating the controversy³ as a distraction⁴ over the lack of progress in the peace process.

Edip Yasar of the Democratic Society Congress, a pro-Kurdish movement, says the claims of abduction are groundless.

"Who would believe in such claims of abduction? Even the crows will laugh at these statements by the government," he said.

Yasar says the PKK has stated no one under 16 will be given positions in its armed structure, and that the group says it will send back children who want to go home.

Back at the families' vigil, the PKK pledge is being met with both skepticism and guarded optimism, according to Sureyya Toklar.

She says the mothers are determined⁵ and won't be going anywhere until their children come back.   

"My son is 14 years old, God willing he'll be sent back," Toklar said. "We are waiting, let's see."

No date has been given by the PKK to return any of the children. Observers say the families could well be pawns⁶ in a wider struggle between the government and the pro-Kurdish movement over the stalled peace process.

1 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

2 euphemism   

n.婉言，委婉的说法

参考例句：

• Language reflects culture and euphemism is a mirror of culture.语言反映文化,而婉语则是各种文化的一面镜子。
• Euphemism is a very common and complicated linguistic phenomenon.委婉语是一种十分常见而又非常复杂的语言现象。

3 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

4 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

6 pawns   

n.（国际象棋中的）兵( pawn的名词复数 )；卒；被人利用的人；小卒v.典当，抵押( pawn的第三人称单数 )；以（某事物）担保

参考例句：

• The hostages are being used as political pawns. 人质正被用作政治卒子。
• The allies would fear that they were pawns in a superpower condominium. 这个联盟担心他们会成为超级大国共管的牺牲品。 来自《简明英汉词典》