KurdistanObserver.com
Kurds Report Turkish, Iranian Shelling in
Northern Kurdistan; Wider Conflict Feared
By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
June 8, 2007
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - Turkish artillery
shelled suspected positions of Kurdish rebels based across the border in
northern Iraq on Friday, according to reports. U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice warned Turkey that it risked expanding regional tensions with
any "robust" move of troops into Iraq.
Turkey has been building up its forces along the border with Iraq, and its
leaders are debating whether to stage a major incursion to pursue Kurdish rebels
from Turkey who rest, train and resupply at bases in Iraq. Such an operation
could ignite a wider conflict involving Iraqi Kurds, and draw in its NATO ally,
the United States.
Rice, speaking in New York to a panel of journalists and editors from The
Associated Press, said it's "not good for anybody for a robust move across the
border." She described it as "not good for Iraq and not good for Turkey."
The statement by Rice suggested Washington has acknowledged that Turkey might
conduct limited incursions across the rugged frontier against the separatist
Kurdistan Workers' Party, also known as PKK.
Iran has also clashed with Iranian Kurd fighters who have bases in remote,
mountainous areas of northern Iraq, and Iranian forces reportedly participated
in the overnight shelling.
Tension and violence involving Kurds, who have long sought autonomy, have ebbed
and surged in the past century in Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq. In Turkey, Kurds
make up about 20 per cent of the country's population of more than 70 million.
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, or PUK, the party of Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani, reported the overnight Turkish and Iranian shelling on its website.
Turkish military authorities at the General Staff in Ankara were not immediately
available for comment.
Iranian officials in Tehran could not be reached for comment late Friday.
Iranian media contained no reports on any shelling, and usually wait several
days to report such incidents.
The PUK said artillery shells overnight hit some areas in the Sidikan area in
Irbil province, where the borders of Turkey, Iran and Iraq converge, and that
nine villages were affected. It was unclear whether there was any degree of
co-ordination among Turkish and Iranian gunners.
"Huge damage was inflicted on the area," the PUK said, citing what it described
as an unidentified "source" in the area. "The source said that residents have
left their houses, fearing for their lives."
Lt. Ahmed Karim of the Iraqi border guards force told the AP that seven Turkish
shells landed on a forest near Sakta village in the Batous area, but no
casualties were reported.
Belgium-based Firat, a pro-Kurdish news agency that Turkey says is a rebel
mouthpiece, said Turkish forces shelled areas in Iraq for three hours beginning
at 11 p.m. Thursday. It said there were no reports of casualties.
On Friday, Turkey's military declared its "unshakable determination" to defeat
Kurdish rebels, and a fourth soldier died of injuries from a roadside bomb in a
new Turkish security zone north of the Iraq border. The bombing Thursday was
blamed on Kurdish separatists.
On Wednesday, Turkish security officials and an Iraqi Kurdish official said
Turkish soldiers had crossed into Iraq in pursuit of rebels based there. Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul denied such a raid took place.
Turkish forces occasionally have pursued Kurdish rebels just across the border,
but rarely announce the operations.
