Turkey and Iran Preparing for Operation in N. Iraq: Zaman Daily Newspaper

The Israeli website DEBKA, known for its connections with sources from the Israeli intelligence agency the Mossad, claimed Turkey and Iran are prepared for an operation in northern Iraq.

A new war in the Middle East war is pending, according to DEBKA’s exclusive military sources, which revealed that Turkey and Iran are poised for an imminent and coordinated invasion of the northern Iraq Kurdish dominated autonomous province.

The sources pinpoint the target of the combined Iranian-Turkish offensive as the Kandil Mountains, where some 5,000 Kurdish rebels from Turkey and Iran, and members of the PKK and PJAK respectively, are holed up.

The same sources reported Turkey aims to seize northern Iraqi oil fields centered in the oil-rich town of Kirkuk.

Joseph Ralston, recently appointed by the Bush administration as the special U.S. coordinator in Ankara for the PKK issue, was claimed to be attempting to delay Ankara’s military operation against Iraqi Kurdistan. The website also wrote the United States reported Turkey’s decision of obtaining Kirkuk will damage the interest of the U.S. in Iraq.