THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary - August 1, 2018 - Topic 2
Talks between representatives of Syria’s Kurdish
rebels and President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Damascus bring a ray of hope
to hundreds of thousands living in the country’s north and east. After the
talks last week, leaders of the Syrian Democratic Council, the political wing
of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said they were ready to work with
the regime towards creating “a democratic, decentralised Syria with a new
system and a new form”. This was the first time since the outbreak of war that a
delegation was sent by Kurdish rebels to Damascus.
During the course of the
war, both sides have more or less refrained from targeting each other. While
the Assad regime withdrew troops from the Kurdish areas in the early days of
the civil war to defend its
coastal stronghold against the rebels, Kurdish fighters consolidated their
position to establish autonomous rule. When the Islamic State moved to Kurdish
towns in 2015, the rebels, with help from the U.S., successfully resisted them.
Now they control almost a third of Syria, the largest chunk of territories
outside government rule. The talks also took place after the regime recaptured
Deraa in the south, the birthplace of the Syrian rebellion, after the rebels,
apparently abandoned by their regional and western backers, agreed to surrender
as part of a Russia-mediated deal. Most of Syria’s population centres are now
controlled by the regime. In the south, rebels retain some presence in parts of
Quneitra. In the north, rebels and al-Qaeda-linked jihadists run the Idlib
province, while in the east the Kurds are in control.
Damascus’s strategy appears to be to seize the
entire south and then move north. Before attacking Idlib, the last stronghold
of anti-regime rebels, the government is seeking to engage the Kurds, and
Kurdish militias say they could join the Idlib offensive with the government.
Their political leaders have also made it clear they are not seeking
independence from Syria, and only want to
protect their autonomy. A recapture of the Kurdish areas by force is not a
feasible option for the regime. Some 2,000 U.S. soldiers are deployed in the
Kurdish autonomous areas, and both Russia and Syria would prefer not to get
into a direct exchange of fire with U.S. soldiers. However, a deal with the
Kurds could upset Turkey, which sees Syrian Kurdish rebels as an extended arm
of the Kurdistan Workers Party, which it calls “terrorist”. The Syrian regime
therefore has to do a balancing act here, with support from Russia. In the
battle for Deraa, Russia managed to convince the U.S., Jordan and Israel that
the regime’s capture of the province was the best-case scenario for the region.
Likewise, it could bring the U.S. and Turkey into a larger diplomatic attempt
to end the war in the east and the north, which would more or less stabilise
Syria.
Vocabulary
Representative: an
example of a class or group.
Example: Fossil
representatives of lampreys and hagfishes
Synonyms: example, specimen, exemplar, exemplification
Regime: a
system or planned way of doing things, especially one imposed from above.
Example: Detention
centers with a very tough physical regime
Synonyms: system, arrangement, order, pattern, method, procedure, routine
Outbreak: the
sudden or violent start of something unwelcome, such as war, disease, etc..
Example: The
outbreak of World War II
Synonyms: eruption, flare-up, upsurge, groundswell, outburst, rash
Delegation: a
body of delegates or representatives; a deputation.
Example: A
delegation of teachers
Synonyms: deputation, legation, mission, diplomatic
mission, commission
Refrained: stop
oneself from doing something.
Example: She
refrained from comment
Synonyms: abstain
from, desist from, hold back from, stop oneself from
Consolidate: combine
a number of things into a single more effective or coherent whole.
Example: All
manufacturing activities have been consolidated in new premises
Synonyms: combine, unite, merge, integrate, amalgamate, fuse, synthesize
Resist: withstand
the action or effect of.
Example: Antibodies
help us to resist infection
Synonyms: withstand, be
proof against, combat, weather, endure, be resistant to
Apparent: clearly
visible or understood; obvious.
Example: It
became apparent that he was talented
Synonyms: evident, plain, obvious, clear, manifest, visible, discernible
Offensive: causing
someone to feel deeply hurt, upset, or angry.
Example: The
allegations made are deeply offensive to us
Synonyms: insulting, insolent, derogatory, disrespectful, hurtful, wounding, abusive
Autonomous: having
self-government, at least to a significant degree.
Example: The
federation included sixteen autonomous republics
Convince: cause
someone to believe firmly in the truth of something.
Example: Robert's
expression had obviously convinced her of his innocence
Synonyms: make
certain, persuade, satisfy, prove to, assure, put/set
someone's mind at rest
Scenario: a
written outline of a movie, novel, or stage work giving details of the plot and
individual scenes.
Example: Imagine
the scenarios for four short stories
Synonyms: plot, outline, synopsis, storyline, framework, screenplay, script, libretto, diegesis
