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Turkish warplanes and troops attacked Kurdish rebels inside Iraq this week, security sources said on Wednesday (October 24), but Ankara wants to hold back from any major incursion for now to give diplomacy a chance. Turkey moved more troops to the mountainous Iraqi border, keeping up pressure on Baghdad to honour promises to crack down on an estimated 3,000 rebels of Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who use northern Iraq as a base. Security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed a series of sorties between Sunday (October 21) and Tuesday (October 23) evening in which Turkish warplanes flew 20 km (12 miles) into Iraq and some 300 ground troops advanced about 10 km. "Further 'hot pursuit' raids into northern Iraq can be expected, though none have taken place so far today (Wednesday)," a military official told Reuters. The sorties killed 34 PKK rebels and all the Turkish troops involved in the operations were now back in Turkey, he said. But Abdul Rahman Jaderji, a PKK spokesman in northern Iraq, told Reuters there had been no direct fighting between the two sides since clashes on Sunday in which 12 Turkish soldiers died. He said Turkish troops had been shelling areas of northern Iraq, but little new shelling had been reported on Wednesday. Baghdad has pledged to act against the rebels. A Turkish official on Wednesday quoted Iraqi President Jalal Talabani as saying Iraq might hand over PKK militants to Turkey, but Talabani denied it. "We have said many times that the PKK leadership does not exist in Kurdish cities but are living with thousands of their fighters in the Qandil mountains, so it is not possible for us to arrest and hand them over to Turkey," he said in a statement. The Turkish official described as a "final chance" for diplomacy a planned visit by an Iraqi delegation to Ankara on Thursday. At Turkey's request, the team will be headed by Iraqi Defence Minister General Abdel Qader Jassim. It will also include Iraqi National Security Minister Shirwan al Waeli. Turkey, which has NATO's second biggest army, has deployed as many as 100,000 troops, backed by tanks, heavy artillery, F-16 fighter jets and helicopter gunships, along the mountainous border in preparation for a possible large-scale strike. Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the group launched its armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984. Turkey's powerful National Security Council (MGK) said on Wednesday (October 24), it would recommend the government take economic measures against groups which aid separatist Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq. The call from the MGK, which comprises political leaders and army top brass, comes amid growing Turkish pressure on northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdish administration to act against the rebels in order to stave off a major Turkish military incursion. "The MGK has made a recommendation to the cabinet concerning economic measures that should be taken...against groups which directly or indirectly support the separatist terrorist organisation in the region," a MGK statement said. The statement did not say what measures should be taken or which groups would be targeted, but Ankara has strongly criticised the Iraqi Kurdish administration for failing to tackle the rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan mooted the possibility of economic sanctions against northern Iraq in a news conference on Wednesday (October 24). "If they will keep on feeding the terror group in Northern Iraq, and if they do not keep up the promises that they give, than we have our international rights. We will definitely use those rights, and noone can stop us," said Erdogan and added, "In the statement of the National Security Council, it is advised to our cabinet the kind of steps that will be taken in the way of not only politics and military but also in the economic way". His ruling AK Party has said this could include cutting off electricity supplies to northern Iraq and closing down or slowing down traffic at the Habur border gate. Northern Iraq depends heavily on Turkey for power, water and many food supplies. Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani has infuriated Turkey by refusing to act against the PKK. He has said his peshmerga fighters will resist any Turkish incursion. The parliament of Iraq's largely autonomous region of Kurdistan met in special session on Wednesday and appealed to the U.N., United States and Britain to stop Turkey invading. It also called on the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organisation by the United States, Turkey and the European Union, to respect Iraqi sovereignty.