'Foreign-backed terrorists' are behind protests in Kazakhstan, ambassador says

搜索

复制

'Foreign-backed terrorists' are behind protests in Kazakhstan, ambassador says

Transcript¹

Kazakhstan remains² in a state of emergency. NPR's Rachel Martin speaks to Yerzhan Ashikbayev, Kazakhstan's ambassador to the U.S., about the bloody³ crackdown on protesters in his country.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

A state of emergency is still in effect in Kazakhstan after anti-government protests there. The president says his government has survived a coup⁴ attempt. Dozens of people have reportedly been killed, thousands detained. A former prime minister in exile has claimed the protests were orchestrated by the country's former leader as part of an effort to retake power. And Russian troops have been called in to help quell⁵ the demonstrations⁶. I asked Kazakhstan's ambassador to the U.S., Yerzhan Ashikbayev, how he would characterize what's happening in his country right now.

YERZHAN ASHIKBAYEV: Well, undeniably, those are the darkest days, the most tragic⁷ days in the history of my nation. We have never experienced such violence. But indeed, we've been badly hit by those terrorist groups, by different types of extremists who tried to destabilize, really destabilize the situation and who tried to overthrow⁹ the government by violent means.

MARTIN: What evidence do you have that these are terrorists and not just citizen protesters? There has been a broad rejection¹⁰ of rising fuel prices in Kazakhstan that takes a real hit on people's pocketbooks, also real complaints about rising unemployment and widespread political corruption¹¹. Do you believe any of these protests were legitimate¹²?

ASHIKBAYEV: Let me be clear from the outset - the government of Kazakhstan has no problem with peaceful protesters. Peaceful protesters are not attacking security, law enforcement entities¹³. Peaceful protesters are not beating first-line responders, as ambulances or firefighters. They've been doing exactly what is not associated with peaceful demonstrations.

MARTIN: Former President Nazarbayev was, up until last week, running the country's Security Council. He has since been pushed out. What is the relationship between your government and the former president?

ASHIKBAYEV: Well, by stepping down and transferring powers of the head of Security Council, the first president effectively completed the transfer of power to the current president, President Tokayev.

MARTIN: Do you have any reason to believe that Nazarbayev is stoking the protests for his own political motives¹⁴?

ASHIKBAYEV: No. I don't have reasons to believe. I don't see any grounds for such an action.

MARTIN: Russian troops are now on the ground in Kazakhstan. Why would you need another country, in this case Russia, to bring in military force?

ASHIKBAYEV: Let me clarify and be very precise. It's not only Russian forces. Those are peacekeeping forces of the CSTO, Collective Security Treaty Organization. They are used to back up the military forces of Kazakhstan.

MARTIN: Because your military is not able to manage this.

ASHIKBAYEV: The situation was grave enough for my president to request such an assistance.

MARTIN: What message does that send to your own people?

ASHIKBAYEV: Well, now the government is in full control of the situation on the ground in all of the cities, and this was also done thanks to the support by peacekeeping troops. Because of that, we had enough resources to stabilize⁸ the situation and now to be in full control of the situation on the ground.

MARTIN: I mean, we can't ignore the fact that we are now three decades after Kazakhstan's independence from the former Soviet¹⁵ Union. I want to play a clip of tape from the U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken, last week. He had this warning to Kazakhstan about the presence of Russian troops.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ANTONY BLINKEN: One lesson of recent history is that once Russians are in your house, it's sometimes very difficult to get them to leave.

MARTIN: Are you on a dangerous course here when it comes to maintaining your independence from Russia?

ASHIKBAYEV: We've seen so many different speculations¹⁶ over the role of Russia, but any knowledgeable¹⁷ expert on Kazakhstan would definitely identify internal domestic triggers for the conflict, for this tragedy. And we're not afraid of Russia. For almost three decades, we are in the same Collective Security Treaty Organization. And we don't have those fears.

MARTIN: When will the Russian troops leave?

ASHIKBAYEV: As soon as the situation is stabilized¹⁸, they will immediately leave.

MARTIN: I thought I heard you earlier say that the situation had now been stabilized.

ASHIKBAYEV: It's being stabilized. And that's a matter of several weeks, probably, when Russian and, obviously, CSTO member nation troops will leave the country.

MARTIN: Kazakhstan's ambassador to the United States, Yerzhan Ashikbayev, thank you so much for talking with us.

ASHIKBAYEV: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

4 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

5 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

6 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。

7 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

8 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

9 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

10 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

11 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

12 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

13 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

14 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

15 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

16 speculations   

n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断

参考例句：

• Your speculations were all quite close to the truth. 你的揣测都很接近于事实。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• This possibility gives rise to interesting speculations. 这种可能性引起了有趣的推测。 来自《用法词典》

17 knowledgeable   

adj.知识渊博的；有见识的

参考例句：

• He's quite knowledgeable about the theatre.他对戏剧很有心得。
• He made some knowledgeable remarks at the meeting.他在会上的发言颇有见地。

18 stabilized   

v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The patient's condition stabilized. 患者的病情稳定下来。
• His blood pressure has stabilized. 他的血压已经稳定下来了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》