The eight-member delegation included Iraq's intelligence chief and senior officials from the Iraqi interior and foreign ministries, an Iraqi diplomat told AFP on the condition of anonymity.

It also included two representatives of the two major Iraqi Kurdish parties in northern Iraq.

The diplomat could not say whether the talks would start immediately, but added that the delegation was expected to leave Ankara at midday Friday.

Turkey has stepped up attacks on Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) bases along the Iraqi frontier since parliament last week authorised sending troops to northern Iraq to strike at the separatist outfit's bases.

Tensions rose with a PKK ambush Sunday of a Turkish military patrol that left 12 soldiers dead and eight captured by the rebels.

The PKK has been waging a separatist campaign in southeast Turkey that has claimed 37,000 lives since 1984.

The Iraqi delegation's visit follows a trip to Baghdad on Tuesday by Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, who said after his return that he expected strong action from Iraq.

"I told Baghdad that the delegation must come with concrete proposals, that the visit would be futile otherwise," Babacan said. "We need more than just words."

Iraq has since banned PKK activities on its territory and said it has closed down the offices of the group, considered a terrorist organization by much of the international community.

Turkey's National Security Council, meanwhile, recommended Wednesday that Turkey slap economic sanctions on Kurdish-administered northern Iraq.