Turkey's government is under pressure for its response to the earthquake

 

Turkey's government is under pressure for its response to the earthquake

Transcript¹

Rescue efforts are turning up grim results after Monday's earthquake devastated² vast areas in Syria and Turkey. Some people in Turkey are criticizing their government's response.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

In Turkey and Syria, rescue efforts are turning up grim results four days after an earthquake devastated large parts of both countries. The death toll³ is now more than 19,000. Tens of thousands more are injured, and no one knows how many more people are still buried under the rubble⁴. Meanwhile, many survivors⁵ are sleeping in makeshift shelters or outside in the cold. Any country would strain to cope with a disaster on this scale, but some are starting to criticize the Turkish government's response. NPR's Peter Kenyon joins us now from Adana in southern Turkey. Peter, before we get to the politics, rescues and the conditions there, what have you been seeing?

PETER KENYON, BYLINE⁶: Well, I watched rescue workers making huge efforts, trying to work their way through piles of concrete rubble to reach survivors now trapped for a fourth day. Yesterday, rescuers in one Adana neighborhood finally pulled enough rubble away to reach a place where they had been hearing voices of survivors calling for help. But by the time they got there, they had died. The job is immense - I mean, thousands of buildings destroyed over hundreds of miles, damage to infrastructure⁷. There's the need for safe drinking water, food and shelter. It's just a massive task.

MART?NEZ: Now that it's been a few days, though, are relief efforts starting to get momentum⁸ at all?

KENYON: Yes, it's beginning to take effect - aid and offers of help beginning to arrive, including international rescue efforts. Field hospitals are being set up both here and in northern Syria. In Syria, local media say some 300,000 people are displaced. The U.N. says it may be able to get supplies into even parts of northern Syria held by anti-government rebels.

MART?NEZ: Peter, there's been a debate about the response of the Turkish government. Tell us about that.

KENYON: Well, yes. Amid the desperate struggle to survive, there are criticisms being leveled at the government. After two days of relative silence, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited some hard-hit areas yesterday. He's due to visit more today. In Hatay Province, where entire neighborhoods were reduced to rubble - more than 3,300 people confirmed dead so far - Erdogan did acknowledge, quote, "shortcomings" in the government's initial response, but he also blamed winter weather conditions and destroyed infrastructure, including airport runways.

MART?NEZ: When it comes to Erdogan, I mean, does all this pose a threat to his longtime political dominance?

KENYON: Well, that is an interesting question that will probably rise higher once this recovery is more underway. The opposition⁹ secular¹⁰ party's already taking direct aim at the president. The mayor of Istanbul called it a fear of truth and weakness, the government response. Opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu was even more harsh. Here's part of what he said in a video posted to Twitter.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KEMAL KILICDAROGLU: (Speaking Turkish).

KENYON: He's calling the government a failure, saying, quote, "they don't know how to run a state. I swear they don't know how. They don't know how. Let me be very clear," he goes on. "If there's one person responsible for this process, it is Erdogan." Meanwhile, the government is starting to build cases against people who criticize the government response. And as we go down the road, more questions will rise. What does this mean for presidential elections due in a matter of months? Will they be held? Will they be postponed¹¹? If so, what does that mean for Erdogan's political future and the future of Turkey's democracy?

MART?NEZ: That's NPR's Peter Kenyon in southern Turkey. Peter, thank you.

KENYON: Thank you.

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 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

3 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

4 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

5 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

8 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

10 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。

11 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。