AFTERMATH OF WAR : In the Mideast

TURKEY IS ANXIOUSLY WATCHING THE KURDISH REBELLION in neighboring Iraq, but it is not about to make good on its threat to invade to prevent the rise of a Kurdish state, a Foreign Ministry official said in Ankara. He added: “Of course, it gives us concern.” Iraqi Kurds in exile reported that Kurds have taken control of five towns in northern Iraq. The uprising came as troops were putting down a rebellion in southern Iraq involving pro-Iranian Shiites. Turkey is home to at least half of the 25 million people who live in Kurdistan, an area including southeastern Turkey and parts of Iraq, Iran, Syria and the Soviet Union. Ankara fears that a Kurdish state might encourage Kurdish separatism in Turkey.