The influence of Zn, Si and Te diffusion on the interdiffusion in $GaAs-Ga_1_-xIN_xAs_1__yP_y$and InP$Ga_1__xIn_xAs_1__yP_y$ heterostructures was studied. The heterostructures were grown by liquid phase epitaxy, and the impurity diffusion into the heterostructures was carried out using metal compound or element sources. The extent of interdiffusion for both group III and V atoms was observed by depth profiling of matrix elements with secondary ion mass spectrometry and Auger electron spectroscopy. Selective enhancement of cation interdiffusion was observed by the concurrent Zn diffusion in both the GaAs based-and InP based-crystals. In contrast to the Zn diffusion, the Si diffusion in the GaAs based-crystal and the Te diffusion in the InP based-crystal enhanced both cation and anion interdiffusion to the same extent. A kick-out mechanism is proposed to explain the selective enhancement of the cation interdiffusion due to Zn, and a single vacancy mechanism is proposed for the interdiffusion due to Si and Te.