VOA常速英语2007年-PKK's Violent Struggle for Kurdish Independence

By Margaret Besheer
Washington
16 November 2007

Tensions continue along the Turkish-Iraqi border as Turkish security forces pursue rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who have used safe havens² in northern Iraq to launch attacks inside Turkey.  VOA's Margaret Besheer has more on the rise of the group considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and Europe.

In 1978, a group of young left-wing Kurds, led by Abdullah Ocalan, founded the PKK. They were seeking to raise the issue of Kurdish rights in Turkey, where millions of ethnic³ Kurds live. For decades, Turkish Kurds were denied many political and cultural rights, including the right to speak their own language.

Convinced that armed struggle was the only way to achieve its goal of independence, the PKK turned to violence in 1984. Edmund Ghareeb is a professor of Kurdish studies at the American University in Washington, DC and the author of The Historical Dictionary of Iraq.

"At that time they were looking for independence, not only independence of Turkish Kurdistan, but of all Kurdish areas in the neighboring states," he noted⁴.  "This was a pan-Kurdish movement. That is what they tried to achieve. Ultimately, they were able to increase and escalate⁵ their activities, leading to fierce clashes with Turkish state security forces, and to a great deal of violence."

As many as 40,000 people, most of them Kurds, have been killed since the conflict began in 1984.

The PKK won respect from Kurds because it dared to fight Turkey.  The group was well organized and well financed, and counted Kurdish women among its fighters.  Aliza Marcus, author of Blood and Belief, a book about the PKK, says the organization also put down roots in civil society during the 1990s, which helped to expand its influence among Kurds.

"It was more than just a rebel force. It had a newspaper, it had links to a political party inside Turkey, it had cultural clubs, it has a dance troupe⁶, it has music groups, publishing houses, all this has helped the PKK maintain a foothold, has given it a certain respect, has given it influence, more importantly influence inside Turkey, to the extent that no other Kurdish group can actually challenge it," she explained.

But in the late 1990s, the Turkish government scored some successes in undermining the PKK.

Ankara pressed neighboring Syria to expel Abdullah Ocalan who had sought safe haven¹ there. After searching for asylum⁷ in several other countries, the PKK leader was abducted⁸ by Turkish special forces in Kenya and returned to Ankara. In 1999, he stood trial and was sentenced to death for treason. But because of Turkish aspirations⁹ to join the European Union, where the death penalty has been banned, his sentence was commuted¹⁰ to life. Today, he sits in a prison on a Turkish island.

After Ocalan's arrest, the PKK called a five-year unilateral cease-fire and began to shift its demands away from an independent Kurdish state to self-rule within Turkey.

In 2003, the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq presented the PKK with a new situation and new opportunities for pressing its cause.

The group resumed its violent campaign inside Turkey in 2004, with some fighters operating from across the border in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. Tensions have steadily¹¹ escalated¹². Two PKK attacks last month that killed 13 Turkish soldiers and 12 civilians¹³ outraged¹⁴ Ankara and the Turkish public.

Iraqi Kurds and the Baghdad government have called for a political solution to the problem, pointing out that past Turkish military operations have failed to resolve the conflict. The Bush administration, which considers the PKK a terrorist group, is concerned about the Turkish military buildup along the border. It says it is seeking a long-term solution to the problem, but has refused Ankara's demands that American troops pursue the PKK in northern Iraq.

Frustrated¹⁵, Ankara has stepped up military operations against the PKK in southeastern Turkey, and the parliament has authorized¹⁶ cross-border raids into northern Iraq. Turkey's prime minister recently said the struggle against the PKK would continue until the PKK threat is eliminated.

1 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

2 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

3 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。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

6 troupe   

n.剧团，戏班；杂技团；马戏团

参考例句：

• The art troupe is always on the move in frontier guards.文工团常年在边防部队流动。
• The troupe produced a new play last night.剧团昨晚上演了一部新剧。

7 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

8 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

9 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

10 commuted   

通勤( commute的过去式和过去分词 )； 减（刑）； 代偿

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment. 他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• The death sentence may be commuted to life imprisonment. 死刑可能減为无期徒刑。

11 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

12 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

13 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。

14 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

15 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。