オリンピックに向けて、職場で開かれている英語研修。毎週の宿題は、英字新聞から記事を一つ選んで読解すること。
今日選んだのは、トルコの変革の動き。
しかし、トルコの自主的な変革ではなく、リビアの外交的な干渉で足元をすくわれた話題。その奥にはアメリカの思惑が見え隠れ。

In the bizarre piece of political theater, Libya’s quixotic Moammar Gadhafi seems to have delivered a significant political blow to the standing of  Turkey’s first Islamist prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan, who had openly sought to relieve Gadhafi’s isolation and to sharply improve Turkey’s relation across the board with all Muslim countries.

• bi・zarre [ bɪzάɚ ] 奇怪な　a bizarre rumor 妖言
• standing 地位、 名声　people of high [good] standing 身分の高い人々
• quix・ot・ic [kwìksάṭɪk ] ドンキホーテ流の、非現実的な
• seek [ síːk ]  <過去形・過去分詞 sought [ sˈɔːt ]>  …を捜す《 look for のほうが口語的》、(+to do)  …しようと努める 《 try のほうが一般的》I sought to persuade him, but in vain. 彼を説得しようとしたがむだだった。

 

Gadhafi shocked an unwary Erbakan and his entourage at a news conference in Libya with a public call for a Kurdish separatist state in Turkey and for Turkey to abondon its ties to NATO and the West. This reference to Ankara’s greatest single internal problem greatly embarrassed Erbakan and has prompted calls for his resignation.

• un・war・y [`ʌnwé(ə)ri] 油断のある　some thieves prey especially on unwary travelers 一部の泥棒は、特に不注意な旅行者を餌食にする
• en・tou・rage [ὰːntʊrάːʒ] 側近
• Kurdish [ˈkɝdɪʃ] クルド人
• a・ban・don [əbˈændən]  <他動詞> 見捨てる
• tie [tάɪ] …を結びつける　Tie the horse to a tree.  馬は木につないでおきなさい.
• ref・er・ence [ réf(ə)rəns ]  言及(すること)、参照(すること)
• em・bár・rassed [ɪmˈbær.əst] きまり悪がる、当惑した、<叙述的用法>…にきまり悪い思いをして，まごついて　I was embarrassed by [at] his unexpected question.  私は彼の意外な質問にどぎまぎした.
• prompt [ prάm(p)t ] <形容詞>機敏な <他動詞>駆り立てる，That has prompted me to this conclusion. そういうことが元となって私はこの結論に達した。
• res・ig・na・tion  [rèzɪgnéɪʃən] 辞職

 

Washington can probably ill conceal its glee that the leader of Turkey’s Islamist Welfare Party may be in a process of self-destruction. Indeed, Erbakan created controversy with a trip to Iran that flew in the face of Washington’s strict policies on isolating Tehran.

• ill [ íl ] <叙述的用法の形容詞>  病気で　<限定用法の形容詞> 悪い　<副詞> 悪く，不十分に、ほとんど…なく.　I can ill afford the expense. その費用は出しかねる.
• glee [ glíː ]  歓喜　in high glee 上機嫌で.
• self-destruction 自滅
• in・deed [ ɪndíːd ]　<副詞>まったく、本当に、実際に、いやそれどころか、いかにも(…だがしかし)
• con・tro・ver・sy [kάntrəv`ɚːsi] 論争
• I・ran [ ɪrάːn ] イラン
• Teh・ran [tèɪərˈæn ] テヘラン 《イランの首都》

 

One can only speculate why Gadhafi chose to embarrass an Islamist  leader coming from a NATO country willing to assist in alleviating Libya’s isolation in a U.S.-backed embargo. Gadhafi may have wished to avoid dealing with Ankara’s request for some $300 million that he owes Turkish contractors. More likely, he could not resist slammig even a sympathetic Turk for Ankara’s decades of pro-Western policies and its more recent limited defense agreement with Israel.

• spec・u・late [ spékjʊlèɪt ] 思索する
• al・le・vi・ate [ əlíːvièɪt ] 緩和する  A cold compress often alleviates pain. 冷湿布をするとよく痛みがやわらぐ.
• em・bar・go [ ɪmbάɚgoʊ ] 通商停止
• con・trac・tor [ kάntræktɚ ] 契約者、
• slam [slˈæm ] バタンと閉める、…にドンと置く。He slammed his book (down) on the desk. 彼は机の上に本をどさりと置いた。
• Turk　 [ tˈɚːk ] トルコ人
• pro-Western 親西欧の

 

By any standard, however, Gadhafi has not helped his own cause by rejecting this notable olive branch. Erbakan’s own ideologically driven policies now look amateur and foolish and have sparked a political crisis in Turkey.

• no・ta・ble [ nóʊṭəbl ] 注目に値する <叙述的用法の形容詞> 〔+前+(代)名〕…として 顕著で，This house is notable as the site of a famous murder. この家は有名な殺人事件があった場所として有名だ.
• olive branch  平和・和解の象徴としてのオリーブの枝
• i・de・o・log・i・cal・ly [ aɪdiʌˈlɑdʒɪkli ] イデオロギーに関して　Today, it can be a politically or ideologically controversial subject. 現在では政治的、思想的な論争の対象となることがある。

 

Firmly secular policies had dominated Turkey’s political system for more than 70 years, until this past summer, when Erbakan’s party, based on a 21 percent plurality, formed its first coalition government. It was an extraordinary first in Turkish politics in creating a new “culture war” between ideological secularists and Islamists in Turkey, traditionally a close ally of the United States.

• sec・u・lar [ sékjʊlɚ ] <霊的な (spiritual) と区別して>俗界の、世俗の、非宗教的な　secular affairs 俗事。
• dom・i・nate [ dάmənèɪt ] …を支配する　A man of strong will often dominates others. 意志の強固な人はしばしば他人を支配する.
• plu・ral・i・ty [ plʊ(ə)rˈæləṭi ] 大多数、過半数
• ex・traor・di・nar・y [ ɪkstrˈɔɚdənèri ] とっぴな、異常な

 

But apart from the amusing diplomatic gaffe afflicting the Welfare Party’s early fomal forays into international relations, much broader  forces are at work in Turkey today, with major consequences. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Turkey’s geopolitics have been transformed. Once almost isolationist and oriented toward the West, Tuekey now has new options in the Balkans, Caucasus and Central Asia, long frozen under Soviet rule.

• apart from (1) …から離れて (2) …は別として, …を除いて,  Apart from baseball, I don’t watch TV. 私は野球(の放送を見る)以外はテレビを見ない.
• dip・lo・mat・ic  [dìpləmˈæṭɪk ] 外交上の
• gaffe [gˈæf]  失言
• af・flict [əflíkt] 悩ます
• for・ay [fˈɔːreɪ]   略奪、ちょっとした介入  a foray into politics 政治へちょっと手を出すこと。
• broad [brˈɔːd] 広々とした
• con・se・quence [kάnsɪkwèns] <可算名詞> 結果，成り行き　This had the unexpected consequence that everybody resigned. このことから皆が辞職するという思いもよらぬ結果になった.
• gèo・pólitics [dʒioˈpɑlʌtɪks] 地政学

 

At the same time, Turkey has been facing a growing domestic crisis from its own sizable Kurdish population, which demands recognition of its identity.

• siz・a・ble [sάɪzəbl] 相当の大きさの、かなり(多く)の
• rec・og・ni・tion [ rèkəgníʃən ] 認識
• i・den・ti・ty [ɑɪdénṭəṭi] 独自性

However much fiasco Erbakan’s Libya trip may have been, Washington would be ill-advised to imagine these events as just an aberration from the traditional realities in Turkey. Turkey is gradually being transformed in ways that directly affect U.S. interests in the region. The U.S. can no longer count on Turkey’s automatic acquiescence. Turkey’s relations with its neighbors are now much more vital to Ankara. While Erbakan is driven by a clearly Islamist political agenda that downplays the West, he is almost surely establishing new markers in independent foreign policy for his country.

• fi・as・co [ fiˈæskoʊ] 大失敗
• ab・er・ra・tion [ `æbəréɪʃən ] 脱線行為
• ac・qui・es・cence [`ækwiésns ] 不本意な同意
• vi・tal [ vάɪṭl ] 生命の、活力に満ちた
• dówn・plày [ˈdaʊˌnple ] 軽視する
• es・tab・lish [ɪstˈæblɪʃ ] 創立する、成立させる、establish a school 学校を設立する.  establish diplomatic relations with… …と外交関係を確立する.

 

Even Erbakan foces an early vote of no confidence in Parliament, a major precedent has been set. The first democratically elected Islamist government in the Middle east  will have demonstrated that Islamist parties can play by the rules of democratic policies. It is important that the mystique of Islam in politics among the common people be lifted so that Islamist parties can  be seen for what they are, no better and perhaps no worse than many other parties that are voted in and out of power.

• pre・ce・dent [présədnt ] 先例、 判例.
• dem・on・strate [démənstrèɪt] <+that>〈事物が〉〈…ということを〉証明している.　This demonstrates that he’s honest. このことが彼が正直であることを証明している。
• mys・tique [mɪstíːk ] 神秘性