Ankara, Turkey – Hundreds of Kurds had to flee their homes in the mountain village of Razqa, 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 past 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 seen as an inspiration for the Kurdish militants in their own countries.
So, Iranian and Turkish forces are sealing off the borders and sending a message: If the U.S.-backed Iraqi government doesn’t clamp down on Kurdish rebels 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 with two powerful rivals.
