ANKARA, Turkey — Hundreds of
Kurds had to flee their homes in the mountain village of Razqa,
Kurdistan-Iraq, when artillery shells came whistling down from Iran
early this month, blowing apart their homes and livestock.
In Turkey, meanwhile, armored personnel carriers and tanks rumble
along its remote border with Iraq's Kurdish zone. Turkey has sent
tens of thousands of fresh soldiers in the last few weeks to beef up
an already formidable force there.
The Kurdish provinces of northern Iraq are the country's most stable
and prosperous area. But to neighboring Iran and Turkey, both with
large Kurdish minorities, they are something else: an inspiration
and a support base for the Kurdish militants in their own countries.
So Iran and Turkey are sending troops, tanks and artillery to the
frontier to seal off the borders and send a message: If the
U.S.-backed Iraqi government doesn't clamp down on Kurdish
guerrillas who use Iraq as a base, they could do it themselves.
That has left the United States in a quandary. If U.S. forces take
action, they risk alienating Iraqi Kurds, the most pro-American
group in the region. And if they don't, they risk increased tensions
— and possibly worse — with two powerful rivals.
Just listen to Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.
"We would not hesitate to take every kind of measures when our
security is at stake," Gul said when asked whether Turkish troops
might cross into Iraq. "The United States best understands Turkey's
position. Everybody knows what they can do when they feel their
security is threatened."
Iran's artillery barrages could be warning shots, a crackdown on
Kurdish guerrillas now as a factor in the wrangling with the United
States over Tehran's nuclear program.
Kurds, who make up 14 percent of Iran's population, have long
complained of discrimination in Iran. Iraq's Kurds backed the U.S.
invasion of their country. Would the Kurds of Iran take the American
side if tensions escalated there?
"The Iranians are clearly very concerned over the mobilization of
their own Kurdish minority," said Toby Dodge, an Iraq expert at
Queen Mary College, University of London.
And Tehran may also be flexing its muscles to remind the United
States that it shares a long border with Iraq, and could cause
serious problems there for the United States.
The Iranians' policy is to warn that "we have the potential to run
you out of Iraq if you don't give us some slack over the nuclear
issue," Dodge said.
The traditional Kurdish region spans Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria
and the guerrillas are based in a mountain range of northern Iraq
that stretches into Turkey and Iran. They seem determined to keep up
their decades-long struggle.
Kurdish guerrillas of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan, or PEJAK,
have called on Kurds in western Iran to begin a campaign of civil
disobedience. In clashes with Iranian security forces last year,
dozens of PEJAK fighters and about a dozen Iranian soldiers were
killed, according to official Iranian reports.
This year, more than a dozen members of Turkish security forces in
southern Turkey have been killed fighting Kurdish guerrillas of the
Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which is closely allied with PEJAK.
After Iran shelled a village used by Kurdish guerrillas, the PKK
warned that it was "capable of responding to these attacks with more
strength then ever."
The attacks, which heat up in the spring when snow-covered mountain
passes clear, have led to the military buildups along the borders.
Turkey and Iran have both rushed tens of thousands of troops to the
area.
Iran has twice shelled Iraqi Kurdish villages believed to be
harboring PKK militants.
As the Iranians bombarded Razqa on May 1, hundreds of people fled.
The shelling killed some farm animals but there were no reports of
human casualties. Several homes could be seen severely damaged and
holes from shells cratered the streets.
Olla Hamad, a villager, said most of the guerrillas are hiding in
the mountains.
"PKK militants do not care about the bombings," he said, pointing
toward the heights near the village. "They hide in safe rocky places
in the mountains."
A Western diplomat said Turkish officials have hinted to the United
States that they are considering a large-scale military operation
across the border.
In a visit to Turkey in late April, Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice warned against any major strike.
"We want anything we do to contribute to stability in Iraq and not
to threaten that stability or to make a difficult situation worse,"
Rice said at a news conference with Gul.
The Western diplomat said Iranian troops on the border are not
front-line combat troops and Washington does not believe there will
be any Iranian cross-border operations. The diplomat agreed to
discuss the situation only if granted anonymity because of the
subject's sensitivity.
Some analysts say that besides sealing off their borders to the
guerrillas, both Iran and Turkey may be trying to intimidate Iraqi
Kurds. The Iranians and Turks fear Kurdish success in creating an
autonomous region in northern Iraq, and the prosperity of their
enclave, could encourage their own Kurdish minorities.
"The Iranians and the Turks do not want a free Kurdistan there,"
said Nazmi Gur, vice president of Turkey's pro-Kurdish Democratic
Society Party. "They are saying to the Kurds 'We are here.'"
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