Posted on 05/06/2006 6:47:43 AM PDT by Flavius
Kurdish villagers are fleeing their homes in northern Iraq after shelling and incursions by Iranian forces and a massive build-up of Turkish troops as both countries move to crush separatist guerrillas. Government leaders in Iraqi Kurdistan say Iran has attacked Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas in Iraq three times in the past two weeks, and Turkey insists it has the right under military law to carry out cross-border operations if need be.
The PKK, seeking a Kurdish homeland including southeastern Turkey, accuses Ankara and Tehran of mounting coordinated operations against the group and its Iranian wing, PJAK.
About 60 of the 70 families in the village of Razaga, 10 kilometers from the Iranian border, fled after almost four hours of shelling on Monday, local people told visiting reporters later in the week. Iran denies hitting targets inside Iraq.
"We were sleeping and a shell landed behind our house," said 53-year-old shopkeeper Van Hama Ameen, speaking in a nearby village where she had sought shelter.
"We woke up in horror and ran away screaming," she added. "The shelling was random and we left our house without taking even a scrap of spare clothing. Then we walked three hours to reach another, safer village."
Turkey, which traditionally launches a spring offensive against the rebels, has sent 40,000 troops to its own Kurdish areas to reinforce the 220,000 already there, the biggest build-up in years after an increase in PKK attacks.
NATO member Turkey also has 1,500 special forces troops stationed in northern Iraq.
On Wednesday, a senior rebel commander threatened to retaliate if Turkey or Iran attacked PKK bases.
The president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, Masoud Barzani, has also warned of a tough response if outsiders move in.
"If some people imagine they can threaten us in Kurdistan, let them know we will disturb their peace in their regions - and I mean what I say," he told al-Arabiya television.
Barzani enjoys widespread sympathy among Turkish Kurds. http://www.dailystar.com.lb
However, a top Iraqi Kurdish official on Friday warned rebels from the PKK against waging a war on Turkey or Iran from inside Iraqi territory.
"They (PKK) are in our land. We want them to respect the law and not use our territory to stage attacks" against Iran or Turkey, said Imad Ahmed, deputy prime minister of northern Kurdistan's Suleimaniyeh province. "We want them to leave our country but in peace, not in war. If they want to stay they have to use politics, not weapons."
Ahmed, a member of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party, said the region hoped to have good relations with neighboring Turkey and Iran.
"We do not want any problems with Iran or Turkey and I condemn any attacks on the two from Iraqi territory," Ahmed told AFP in an interview.
Ahmed issued a softer condemnation for the military incursions by Iranian forces into Iraqi territory to shell suspected PKK positions.
"Their forces attacked some Iraqi vans, but we hope this ends soon and we would like to have good relations with our neighbors," he said.
More than 30,000 people have been killed since the PKK began its fight in 1984. It has in the past launched bomb attacks in Turkish cities and tourist resorts as well as fighting troops.
Turkey and Iran are wary of the autonomy Iraqi Kurds have consolidated since the 2003 Iraq war and fear it might lead to more unrest among their own large Kurdish populations.
About 5,000 PKK fighters are believed to be operating out of camps in Iraq's Kurdistan.
Turkey has voiced concern that the conflict in Iraq is allowing the PKK to be more active and has asked the United States to do more.
Some analysts say the massing of Turkish troops on the border is partly aimed at putting pressure on Washington.
Kurds make up the majority in three adjacent areas within Iraq, Iran and Turkey.
I think Turkey and Iran both need a few bombs dropped on them.
We should sell weapons to the Kurds they are our only real idealogical allies in the region and should be defended against such attacks.
I agree...we should give them 100% support. They deserve their own country after what they have been through since the "allied" geniouses screwed that entire region up after WW1.
"They (PKK) are in our land. We want them to respect the law and not use our territory to stage attacks" against Iran or Turkey, said Imad Ahmed, deputy prime minister of northern Kurdistan's Suleimaniyeh province. "We want them to leave our country but in peace, not in war. If they want to stay they have to use politics, not weapons."
I think many people don't understand that the PKK are communists.
I hope the Iraqis can do something to get them under control.
That includes many on FR.
Bears repeating a little louder.
PKK = COMMUNISTS
So we should bomb a fellow NATO country in support of some communist / muslim terrorists ?
Wow, i don't think you thought this through very well.
Yup
Jesse, got any comments on this?
Thanks
The US isn't going to attack a NATO country for an islamic terror group. Sorry.
But we may take action to maintain the integrity of Iraq.
Iraqi integracy is not worth the paper the Europeons wrote it on.
Iraq is a artificial post war construct of the europeons, we need to leave it to the people who actually live there to decide where the borders will fall. If it spilts up along ethnic lines the short term pain will be worth the long term stability.
And no, as long as Turkey makes no long term incursions into Kurdistan, the US isn't going to attack a NATO country in order to do the fighting for an islamic terror group, under the pretence of Iraq integrity or no.
Oh, that makes it alright then LOL
Its members are Muslim, regardless of their political leanings. Even the Soviets didn't iradicate the church, even in times of war.
A BUMP for your thoughts. - OB1
The terrorists are going to be eradicated, and the Kurds are going to live in peace with the Turks, Iranians, Syrians, Arabs and Israelis as millions of them have been side by side prospering and expanding their influences together into their common future. That's what's going to happen.
The US won't be negatively influenced by one Chalabi after another, especially a Chalabi off of this here forum calling himself by n different names..
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.