VOA常速英语2007年-Northern Iraqis Call for Peaceful Solution betw

By Deborah Block
Zakho, Iraq
05 November 2007

Later Monday,Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is meeting with U.S. President George Bush in Washington. They are discussing Kurdish rebels, who have been conducting border raids from northern Iraq into Turkey. Turkey and the United States are pressuring Iraq to help end the attacks from the Kurdistan Workers' Party rebels -- the PKK. VOA's Deborah Block spoke¹ with people on the Iraqi side of the border about the situation.

Turkish warplanes recently shelled the Iraqi border village, Shiranish. No one was hurt, but a bomb left a gaping² hole on a road. Turkey says it is only attacking areas where the rebels are hiding. However, some villagers say they get caught in the cross-fire.

One year ago, shopkeeper Henna Mahti came to Shiranish, after fleeing religious persecution³ against Christians⁴ in Baghdad.

He says the situation is very difficult. He says the Turkish shelling does not differentiate⁵ between fighters and civilians⁶.

Maisan Jalil, 17,  also lives in Shiranish. She says her family's home was burned down in Baghdad, because they are Christians. Now, she tearfully says it is even more frightening in Shiranish, never knowing when the shelling will come.

She says she hopes everyone in the world will hear her that Iraqis have lost their patience -- that they canot wait for permanent peace. She says enough is enough.

West of Shiranish, Zakho borders both Turkey and Syria. Here, the border tension seems far away and people continue with their daily lives lives -- shopping, eating at restaurants and going to their jobs.

Turkey has threatened sanctions on exports to Iraq to pressure the Iraqi government to strike at the rebels. At this Zakho marketplace, security guard Hassan Gouli says economic sanctions will not solve the border problem.

He says economic sanctions by Turkey would not change lives in Kurdistan. He says Kurds are ready to rely on bread and water, rather than relying on Turkish imports.

Yusef Morcos is selling clothes at the market. He thinks the border problem is between Turkey and the PKK rebels and should not involve Iraq. But he says the people in Kurdistan will fight back, if Turkey crosses the border.

He says the Kurds will defend themselves.

Hogar Zakholi owns a small food market in Zakho. Like many Kurds in Iraq, he hopes dialogue will pave the way for peace.

He says the Turks and PKK rebels should cooperate , not fight. He says dialog can solve the problems.

As thousands of Turkish troops are massed on the border ready for a possible incursion into Iraq, people at the Iraqi border say they hope the situation will be resolved through negotiation⁷ rather than arms.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 gaping   

adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大

参考例句：

• Ahead of them was a gaping abyss. 他们前面是一个巨大的深渊。
• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

4 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

5 differentiate   

vi.(between)区分；vt.区别；使不同

参考例句：

• You can differentiate between the houses by the shape of their chimneys.你可以凭借烟囱形状的不同来区分这两幢房子。
• He never learned to differentiate between good and evil.他从未学会分辨善恶。

6 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

7 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。