Ankara (Turkey), December 20 : Scientists have successfully sprouted a 4,000-year-old lentil seed that was unearthed in an archeological excavation, which might lead to invaluable data for comparisons between the organic and genetically engineered plants of today.

According to a report in Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review, project leader and Dumlupinar University archeology faculty Professor Nejat Bilgen said they found the seeds during an excavation undertaken last year in Kutahya province in Turkey.

Bilgen said that a layer from the container in which they found the seeds was determined to be from the middle bronze age.

Ankara, Dec 6 - One person was killed and another injured by an explosion in the Turkish capital city, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported Sunday.

The blast occurred in a working place ina industrial district in Ankara, Xinhua reported. (IANS)

Ankara, Dec 3 - Muslims should consider withdrawing their money from Swiss bank accounts in response to the country's ban on construction of minarets, a Turkish minister said.

"I am certain this (vote) will prompt our brothers from Muslim countries who keep their money and investments in Swiss banks to review their decision," said Egemen Bagis, cited by Turkish daily Zaman.

Bagis is the chief negotiator for Turkey's European Union accession as well as minister for European affairs.

Ankara  - Ahmed spent 19 years living in Germany's Ruhr District but now he is sitting in a cave in Cappadocia, a rugged part of the Turkish region of Anatolia, waiting for tourists to arrive.

Not many visitors venture as far as this part of the country despite the Rose Valley that lies just a few kilometres away from Goereme, the area's tourist capital.

Ankara  - The city of Bergama in western Turkey has just made a fortified tower dating back to the ancient Roman era accessible to the public after three years of restoration work.

The 13-metre-high round tower was built in the second century A. D. and according to the German Archaeology Institute (DAI) in Berlin is one of the best preserved Roman domed constructions in existence. "There is nothing like this to be found in the eastern Mediterranean region," says archaeologist Felis Pirson.

Ankara (Turkey), September 27 : A team of archaeologists has found a 5,000-year-old Venus figure as part of an excavation being carried out in Canakkale’s Ezine district in Turkey.

According to a report in Today’s Zaman, the excavation began in the field three weeks ago in cooperation with Germany’s University of Tubingen.

Assistant Professor Rustem Aslan, who is vice head of the excavation, told the Anatolia news agency that the aim of the dig is to find settlements outside Troy from the Bronze Age.

Some interesting findings have been unearthed during the excavation, according to Aslan.

Ankara (Turkey), Sep. 8 : India and Turkey can have strategic partnership for making inroads into third countries for trading goods, projects and investments, said visiting Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.

He further added that both countries have identified many new areas of cooperation such as contracting and consultancy, tourism, science and technology, energy, transportation and leather.

Ankara  - The Turkish government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan intends to relax restrictions on private Kurdish television channels, it was confirmed on Monday.

According to the Turkish High Council for Radio and Television (RTUK), discussions on the implementation of the plans are already under way.

The scheme is part of the "democratic opening" announced this summer by Erdogan, intended to strengthen the rights of Turkey's Kurds. The scheme will focus particularly on cultural rights.

Ankara - The Turkish parliament elected Wednesday a new speaker in its third round of voting, choosing veteran politician Mehmet Ali Sahin for the two-year position.

Sahin, 58, of the ruling Justice and Development Party AKP, got 338 ballots in the voting by 518 deputies, well ahead of his closest rival Ilhan Kesici of the opposition Republican Peoples Party CHP, with 103 votes.

Ankara  - The Turkish navy captured seven pirates in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somali, Turkish media reported Friday.

Turkey is part of the international naval deployment against piracy in the waters off the coast of Somalia, which are now considered the most dangerous in the world, with more than 100 merchant navy ships attacked and dozens hijacked this year.

Ankara  - A new Palestinian embssy building funded by the Turkish state was opened in Ankara Friday during a visit by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas, who was on a two-day visit to Turkey, expressed thanks on behalf of the Palestinian people to Turkish President Abdullah Gul, with whom he had talks earlier in the day.

Abbas also met the previous day with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.(dpa)

Ankara  - Four EU states plus Turkey signed a deal on Monday in the Turkish capital Ankara paving the way for the Nabucco pipeline to bring gas to Europe.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the basis for the construction of the pipeline has now been created.

The EU intends to use the pipeline to reduce its dependency on Russian gas, and has pledged nearly 250 million euros (348 million dollars) to support the project.

Ankara - Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi on Thursday warned the Kurdish Workers' Party in northern Iraq either to disarm or leave Iraq.

"The PKK will lay down its weapons or it will leave Iraq," the Sunni politician told Turkish state television TRT during a state visit to Turkey.

Al-Hashimi added that Iraq was prepared to support action against the PKK, but that Iraqi forces were too weak to move against the group.

Turkey and Iraq on Wednesday announced a military agreement that anticipates cooperation between the two countries in training and armaments.

Ankara  - European countries with ethnic Turkish residents should respect their identity and assure their rights in working life and in society, a top Ankara minister said Thursday.

Faruk Celik, the Turkish minister in charge of affairs of Turks living abroad, told an international experts' conference that assimilation of immigrants was denigrating to them.

Ankara - Three Kurdish separatists and two Turkish village guards were killed Friday in a fire-fight in southeastern Turkey, the Dogan news agency reported.

The clash took place at 1 pm (1000 GMT) in the Eruh region of Siirt province after a group of village guards, state-employed and armed villagers whose main task is to fight Kurdish separatists, found a group of Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) fighters.

Dogan reported that the PKK guerrillas opened fire after the village guards called on them to surrender.

Ankara- Turkey's new foreign minister has ruled out Turkey accepting anything but full membership of the European Union, Turkish newspapers reported on Friday.

"We will either become a full member of the EU or not become a member at all," newspapers quoted Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as saying in Stockholm on Thursday, referring to mooted moves by Germany and France to offer Turkey some sort of deal that falls short of full membership of the European Union.

Ankara - Turkey's first mosque designed by a woman was opened in Istanbul on Friday with the Grand Mufti of the city describing the Sakirin Mosque as both modern and respectful of Turkish culture.

"In this mosque, Turkish classical architecture has been protected but at the same time it is a modern building," Istanbul Grand Mufti Mustafa Cagrici told the German Press Agency dpa.

Ankara - Turkish military police have arrested eight people following Monday night's shooting at a wedding in the south-east of the country in which at least 44 people were killed, officials said Tuesday.

Interior Minister Besir Atalay also said that access to the village for all but emergency vehicles had been blocked.

Ankara (Turkey), May 5 : Unidentified gunmen killed 44 persons attending a wedding party in a village on Monday.

Reports from the village of Sultankoy in Turkey''s south eastern Mardin Province, quoted acting governor Ahmet Ferhat Ozen as saying that:"The assailants, wearing masks, stormed a building in the village of Sultankoy, some 20 km (12 miles) from Mardin, and opened fire on wedding guests."

Hospital officials said that apart from the 44 killed, at least 17 others were injured.

Ankara  - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reshuffled his cabinet on Friday in reaction to falling popularity of the government led by his Islamic conservative AKP party.

Erdogan changed seven ministries Friday, giving his former chief advisor Ahmet Avutoglu the foreign ministry portfolio, while former foreign minister Ali Babacan was moved to the economy ministry. A new finance minister was also named.

Though still the strongest political force in Turkey, the AKP has for the first time lost considerable ground in the latest local elections. (dpa)