The Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) has alleged that aTurkish army patrol, operating inside Iran, killed seven of itsmembers in an unexplained encounter, despite the fact that theKurdish group made its non-hostile intentions known to the Turkishofficers in charge of the operation.
The clash occured at approximately 3 PM on Saturday, June 22, whenan armed patrol of Iranian Kurdish activists on a political missionwas intercepted by Turkish army troops in northern Iran. According toa KDPI statement issued in Europe on June 29, two members of theKurdish patrol approached the Turkish forces unarmed when contact wasmade, to announce their non-hostile intentions. The two Iranian Kurdshad been instructed to convey to the Turkish officers that they wereIranian nationals, and were in no way involved with the KurdistanWorkers Party (PKK), the Turkish terrorist group that has been thetarget of Turkish military operation in northern Iraq and the borderzone inside Iran. Despite these instructions, the two emissaries were"executed on the spot," the KDPI claims.
Turkish troops allegedly then attacked the Iranian Kurdish group,killing five more and taking one person prisoner, the KDPI claims.KDPI sources said that the area where the attack took place was"extremely remote," and survivors had no communications equipment,which is why it took a week to get the information out.
If confirmed, this attack, and the alleged attack by a Turkishhelicopter on an Iranian village near the border zone city ofUrumiyeh on Wednesday, June 26, constitute an unacceptable violationof Iranian territorial sovereignty and an intervention in domesticIranian affairs.
The Foundation supports the legitimate, non-violent expression byall Iranians of their political views, and strong opposes the use oradvocacy of violence as a means of effecting political change.Without condoning the possible military activities of the KDPI, theFoundation is concerned that the Turkish government may havecooperated with the Islamic Republic authorities in deliberatelyattacking the KDPI because of its opposition to the Tehran regime.The Foundation is also concerned that the Islamic Republic may beplanning further unprovoked military attacks against the KDPI.
The Foundation calls on the government of Turkey to fullyinvestigate these two alleged incidents to determine what exactlytook place, and if the attacks are confirmed, to take appropriateaction against those responsible.
The Foundation for Democracy in Iran is a private,non-profit corporation registered in the State of Maryland.Contact: Kenneth R. Timmerman, Executive Director (exec@iran.org).FDI materials, including the FDI Newswire, are availablefree-of-charge via the Internet at http://www.iran.org/.