土耳其警告美俄不要武装叙境内库尔德人

AS IT IS 2015-10-17 Turkey Warns US, Russia Not to Arm Kurds in Syria 土耳其警告美俄不要武装叙境内库尔德人

Turkey is warning the United States and Russia against arming Kurdish fighters in Syria. It says the fighters are linked to what it calls Kurdish terrorists in Turkey. But some observers say the West believes the Kurds can help in the fight against the Islamic State group, also known as ISIL.

Kurdish forces in Syria have captured territory from Islamic State militants¹. The Kurds made the territorial² gains with the help of U.S.-led coalition³ air strikes. A few days ago, the United States said its military had dropped ammunition⁴ into Syria. But the U.S. government did not say which groups it is helping⁵.

Turkish officials say the West should not arm Kurdish fighters in Syria. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says the fighters are allies of Kurdish separatists in Turkey.

“This stance was communicated to the United States and Russia. It means Turkey cannot accept any cooperation with groups that are waging a war against Turkey.”

Ranj Alaaldin is with the London School of Economics. He studies conflicts in the Middle East. He says the alliance between the West and Kurdish leaders in Syria will probably become stronger. Kurds in Syria are known as the PYD.

“They’ve constituted a very effective, pro-Western, secular⁶ force fighting ISIS. And at a time like this, with the Russians intervening, with the conflict getting more and more complicated, I think the U.S. and the West in general will keep the PYD onside.”

Kurdish commanders say they had formed an alliance with Arab rebel groups to launch an attack on the Islamic State’s self-declared capital, Raqqa. The Reuters news service reported their comments. But Mr. Alaaldin says the Kurds and Arabs will probably only work together for a short time.

“Given that they do have a common goal -- that is the, the end and the, and the defeat of ISIS. But I’m not that optimistic when it comes to the longer, or the bigger scheme of things, given that these are groups that in the past have been in confrontation⁷ with one another.”

Robert Lowe teaches at the Middle East Center of the London School of Economics. He says ethnic⁸ disputes may make a Kurdish-led attack on Raqqa difficult for many Arabs to accept.

“In Arab-dominated parts, there would be considerable opposition⁹ to the Kurdish militia¹⁰ controlling their towns, even if it meant getting rid of IS, because there are deep-rooted tensions there between the communities.”

Mr. Lowe says Turkey fears Kurdish groups in Syria want to control territory further west along the border and over the Euphrates River. He also says that Turkey believes the Kurds will receive air support from Russia.

“I think the Turks would like to have the, the freedom to attack inside Kurdish parts of Syria, but I don’t think they currently do. The wider alliances with international powers makes that very awkward, because they cannot be seen to be striking one of the few forces on the ground which does have popular support and does have a measure of legitimacy¹¹ (and) who has been successful against (the) Islamic State.”

On Wednesday, Turkey said it has evidence linking Kurdish PKK militants and Islamic State terrorists to the deadly bombing last Saturday in Ankara. The bomb exploded at a peace demonstration¹². Many Kurdish groups say the Turkish government was responsible for the attack. Turkish officials strongly deny their claim.

Words in This Story

constitute – v. to make up or form something

secular – adj. not religious; non-religious

complicated – adj. hard to understand, explain or deal with

optimistic – adj. having or showing hope for the future;  expecting good things to happen

scheme of things – expression in a general view of the situation

confrontation – n. a situation in which people or groups  fight, oppose or challenge each other in an angry way

considerable – adj. large in size, amount or quantity

deep-rooted – adj. existing for a long time and very difficult to change; firmly established

awkward – adj. not easy to deal with; uncomfortable

1 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

2 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 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。

7 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

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 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

11 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

12 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。