VOA常速英语2008年-Court Case Against Ruling Party Divides Turks

By Dorian Jones
Istanbul
02 April 2008

Turkey's ruling AK party is facing the prospect¹ of closure, after the country's Constitutional Court agreed to hear a case accusing it of undermining secularism³. The prime minister and president also face a five-year political ban. The case, as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, has plunged⁴ the country into a political crisis.

 

Constitutional Court Deputy Chairman Court Osman Paksut announced the high court would hear the case against the ruling Justice and Development Party.

The AK party, as it is known in Turkey, is accused of undermining the secular² state. If the prosecutor⁵ wins the case, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul along with 69 other members of the ruling party face a five-year political ban.

In last year's general election, the party with Islamic roots won nearly two-thirds of the seats in parliament with 47 percent of the vote.

Some political observers say that following his recent victory, Prime Minister Erdogan abandoned the conciliatory approach to the divisive issue of religion, which characterized his previous administration.

"With that 47 percent, he thinks he can rule the world," said Ppolitical columnist⁶ Murat Yetkin.

On the other hand, some political scientists, like Soli Ozel, accuse the secularists of mounting an attack on Turkish democracy. "In political terms there is no question of one of the last struggles of the truly corroded⁷ established orders, which sees this country as their own patrimony⁸... And looking at their mindset, I am afraid they are so closed to the rest of the world and what goes on in the world, and what Turkey actually means to the rest of the world, that they push for the closing of the party and then we will be in for a long period of turbulence⁹."

The case has put the issue of religion in public life front and center, and is already dividing the country.

On the streets of Istanbul there are strong views on both sides. "... The general people does not think Turkey has to be a Muslim, religious country. Turkey has to be a republican country," said one person.

But a shopkeeper disagrees, saying the closure case is bad for Turkey and that, God willing, it will not happen.

The parliament's election of President Gul, who was a prominent member of Islamist parties, last year polarized the country and laid the foundation for the current crisis, according to analyst¹⁰ and government adviser¹¹ Nuray Mert.

 

"The whole atmosphere was changed with the nomination¹². Why? Because he was seen as a figure of challenge for the republican ideology¹³, with a wife with a headscarf, at the same time coming from the leadership of the ex-Islamist party, ex-Islamist movement. He tried to re-invent himself as a neutral politician, nothing to do with Islamist past, but it did not work at the end."

Mr. Gul has a made a record number of appointments to key positions, fueling fears among secularists that the AK party is seeking to sabotage¹⁴ the secular principles of the state.

Some local authorities controlled by the AK have sought to restrict the sale of alcohol, seen as an important right linked to the secular identity of the country.

But it was parliament's decision to ease the ban on religious headscarves in universities that, observers say, triggered the court case. The case is expected to last several months.

 

Prime Minister Erdogan has indicated he may try to change the constitution to block the case, although opposition¹⁵ parties are against such a move.

Mr. Erdogan has enough votes in parliament to put a constitutional change to a national referendum, but most observers warn that such a vote risks further polarizing the country.

Mert says that is a real danger. "If they are ready to fight with each other by all means, this is frightening, if both parties see the situation as a dead end, a point of no return, and the crisis will deepen and it will be even more difficult to foresee the outcome."

Turkey is no stranger to such a crisis. In 1998, the AK party's predecessor¹⁶, the Welfare Party, then the country's largest party, was also closed down on similar charges. The case was upheld by the European Court of Human Rights.

Ozel says that experience may offer hope. "... One net result was to allow the Islamist movement to break and to allow the new generation with a more open ideological¹⁷ framework to actually start the new party and move on."

If the AK party is shut down and its leadership banned, the party can reform itself and change its name, but analysts¹⁸ question whether Turkish society will be able to heal as easily.

1 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

2 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。

3 secularism   

n.现世主义；世俗主义；宗教与教育分离论；政教分离论

参考例句：

• Unless are devoted to God, secularism shall not leave us. 除非我们奉献于神，否则凡俗之心便不会离开我们。 来自互联网
• They are no longer a huge threat to secularism. 他们已不再是民主的巨大威胁。 来自互联网

4 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

5 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

6 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

7 corroded   

已被腐蚀的

参考例句：

• Rust has corroded the steel rails. 锈侵蚀了钢轨。
• Jealousy corroded his character. 嫉妒损伤了他的人格。

8 patrimony   

n.世袭财产，继承物

参考例句：

• I left my parents' house,relinquished my estate and my patrimony.我离开了父母的家，放弃了我的房产和祖传财产。
• His grandfather left the patrimony to him.他的祖父把祖传的财物留给了他。

9 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

10 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

11 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

12 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

13 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

14 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。

15 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。

16 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

17 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

18 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。