Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's democratic reform package is facing criticism following the Justice Ministry's revelation that 20,000 people have been convicted under the country's anti-terrorism law during the last four years, 8,000 of whom were jailed just in the last 12 months. Most of them, including journalists and members of the country's legal Kurdish party, were jailed for non-violent offenses.
土耳其总理埃尔多安主导的国内改革一揽子计划受到批评，此前司法部公布的数据显示，在执行反恐法的过去四年期间，土耳其有2万人被判有罪，其中8000人是过去一年内被关入牢房的。这些人当中的多数都是因为非暴力罪名入狱，其中有记者和该国合法政党库尔德党的成员。
Turkey’s anti-terror law is facing growing national and international criticism. The law was introduced in 1991 to counter an insurgency by the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. But concerns have been growing that the law is increasingly used to target critics of the government.
土耳其的反恐法面临着来自国内和国际越来越多的批评。这项法律于1991年出台，目的是对付库尔德工人党(PKK)的暴乱。但是人们担心这部法律被越来越多地用来对付批评政府的人士。
Emma Sinclair Webb, senior researcher on Turkey for the U.S.-based organization Human rights Watch, says there has been an alarming increase in the use of the anti-terror law.
埃玛•辛克莱•韦伯(Emma Sinclair Webb)是总部在美国的人权组织“人权观察”的土耳其问题的高级研究员，她说，反恐法在土耳其的应用已经扩大到了令人惊讶的地步。
"According to official figures of the Justice Ministry, in the last four years an enormous number of people - somewhere around 40,000 - have been prosecuted for membership of armed organizations, and half of them have received convictions under that law. Now it applies disproportionately to Kurds in Turkey, but it also applies to other groups: it has been used against leftists, it has been used against journalists, students, for activities which could not in any way be counted as terrorism," said Webb.
韦伯说：“根据司法部的官方数据，过去四年有大批人士，大约在4万左右，都被政府以加入武装组织的罪名进行起诉。其中有半数人因为反恐法而被定罪。现在当局利用这部法律不成比例地针对土耳其境内的库尔德人，还特别针对其他人群： 如左派、记者、学生等，这些人的活动无论如何都跟恐怖主义扯不到一块儿去。”
The failure to reform the law in last month’s government democracy package was criticized domestically and internationally. Richard Howitt, a British member of the European Parliament’s foreign affairs and human rights committees, said the Turkish government had missed a "key opportunity" to change the anti-terror law. Adding to those concerns, the anti-terror law is now being used against those involved in last June’s anti government protests. The European Union’s annual progress report released this week strongly criticized Turkey over freedom of expression and assembly, and called for legal and judicial reform.
土耳其政府上个月出台的民主改革计划没能就这项反恐法作出改革，受到了来自国内和国际的批评。英国人李察德.豪威特(Richard Howitt)是欧洲议会外交事务委员会人权分委会的成员，他说，土耳其政府失去了改变反恐法的“关键时机”。除了上述关切，这项法律还被用来对付今年六月反政府的示威游行。本周公布的欧盟年度报告强烈批评了土耳其违反言论和集会自由的做法，并呼吁进行法律及司法改革。
In launching his democracy package, Prime Minister Erdogan tacitly acknowledged its shortcomings by acknowledging the need for further reforms.
总理埃尔多安在推出他的民主改革总揽计划时，默认这部法律有缺点，表示需要进一步改革。
"These reforms will never be the last and there will be other reforms to enhance freedom and democracy in Turkey. Opposition parties are trying to exploit the sensitivities and fears of the people over the reforms," said Erdogan.
埃尔多安说，“这些改革绝对不会是最终版本，还要进行其他改革才能加强土耳其的自由与民主。他说，反对党试图利用民众对改革的敏感性和担忧。
Observers say these popular sensitivities are especially important given the local, presidential and general elections scheduled to take place in Turkey over the next 18 months.
观察人士说，民众的敏感情绪对今后一年半当中要进行的地方选举、总统选举以及议会选举等都特别重要。
The image of being weak on terrorism is unlikely to win votes among the ruling AK Party’s core constituents, according to Cengiz Aktar, a political columnist for the Turkish newspaper Taraf.
土耳其报纸《塔拉夫》(Taraf.)的专栏作家真吉兹•阿克塔尔(Cengiz Aktar)认为，在反恐形象上的弱势姿态不太可能让执政党“正义与发展党”赢得该党核心选民的支持，从而会导致败选。
"The prime minister, like every other politician, wants to stay in power. He thinks the only solid constituency he can gain votes from is Turkish nationalist voters," said Aktar.
他说：“埃尔多安总理和其它政客一样，都希望继续掌权。他认为土耳其民族主义者是铁杆选民，是他赢得选举的唯一票源。”
The thousands of members of Turkey’s legal pro-Kurdish Party, the BDP, would be among the main beneficiaries of any reform of the anti-terror law. The BDP claims over 6,000 of its members are being held under the law, including dozens of mayors. Their release is a key demand of the PKK as part of the Kurdish rebel group's peace talks with the government. But those talks are currently stalled.
一旦对反恐法进行修改，在土耳其完全合法的、亲库尔德人的政党“和平与民主党”中成千上万的党员都将在改革的主要受益者范围之内。“和平与民主党”说，该党有超过6000名党员因为这项法律而遭到关押，包括几十名市长。将这些人释放出狱，是库尔德工人党这个反政府党派所提出的和政府进行谈判的关键要求的一部分。但是双方的和谈目前处于停滞状态。
According to international human rights groups, the anti-terror law is the reason why Turkey is the world’s biggest jailer of journalists. Award-winning journalist Ahmet Sik, who is facing 15 years in jail under the law, says it is a threat to democracy in Turkey.
据国际人权组织说，土耳其反恐法使该国成为世界关押记者最多国家的原因。屡获殊荣的记者艾哈迈德.西克根据反恐法被判处15年的监禁。人权组织说，这对土耳其的民主来说是个威胁。
"We live in a time in which students demanding free education are immediately labeled as terrorists. Journalists are also seen as terrorists. There is an incredible regime of suppression, he says: whoever raises their voice in opposition can be imprisoned on terrorism charges," said Sik.
西克说，现在的情况是，学生一经提出自由教育的要求，马上会被贴上恐怖分子的标签，连记者也被看成是恐怖分子。他说，政权的压迫令人难以置信，不论谁敢对政府提出批评，都可能因受恐怖主义指控而被关进监狱。
The government rejects such criticism, insisting that it has introduced unprecedented democratic reforms during its decade in power. But observers warn that the voices of journalists like Sik, who addressed the European Parliament last year, are expected to weigh heavily on EU leaders next month, when they are expected to decide whether or not to put Turkey’s membership bid back on track.
土耳其政府拒绝这种批评，并坚持认为当局在近十年的执政期间，已经推出了前所未有的民主改革措施。但是观察人士警告说，媒体人的呼声会决定土耳其的前途。例如去年在欧洲议会进行过演讲的记者艾哈迈德.西克的声音，预计会在下个月欧盟会议上受到格外重视，届时欧盟领导人将决定是否会将土耳其加入欧盟的申请重新纳入议程。(voanews)
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