Ankara - Turkey on Monday repeated its call for Israel to halt ground operations immediately in Gaza, with Foreign Minister Ali Babacan once again condemning what he described as a humanitarian tragedy.

"Many civilians, many women, many children have been killed. We condemn the ground operations ... We cannot stand by and watch," Babacan said after talks concerning events in the Israel with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moallem.

"The first thing that must happen is an immediate end to this humanitarian tragedy," Babacan said.

Ankara - Prosecutors in Turkey are seeking to increase a jail sentence that was handed down to Leyla Zana, a former parliamentarian and winner of the European Parliament's 1995 Sakharov Peace Prize, from 10 to 45 years, the Anadolu news agency reported on Friday.

A court in the south-eastern city of Diyarbakir last month ruled that Zana had spread "terrorist propaganda" in a number of speeches made in recent years, and that she was a member of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), sentencing her to ten years in prison.

Ankara  - Turkish state televison (TRT) launched a new Kurdish-language station Thursday evening, in a move that the government hopes will see Kurdish-speakers reject Roj TV, a satellite television station run by the separatist Kurdish Workers Party (PKK).

The TRT 6 station was launched with a live concert in Ankara by Kurdish performers. A pre-recorded message by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was also broadcast with the prime minister saying that the Turkish state was inclusive and belonged to all citizens.

Ankara - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday warned of the Middle East getting trapped in a "spiral of violence" ahead of a regional tour aimed at exerting pressure on Israel to stop its military operations in Gaza.

"Developments in the Gaza Strip are very dangerous for regional peace ... we cannot remain silent," Erdogan said before leaving for Syria.

"We are concerned that the Middle East will become trapped in a spiral of violence. The aim of this tour is to bring about an end to this dangerous situation," Erdogan said.

Ankara - The Turkish General Staff on Friday expressed opposition to an internet campaign in which almost 14,000 people have apologized for the "great catastrophe" during the First World War when hundreds of thousands of Armenians died at the hands of Ottoman Turks, NTV television reported.

"We do not find it right and this may lead to Turkey being hurt," NTV quoted General Staff spokesman Metin Durak at a media briefing.

The "I apologize" campaign was initiated by Turkish journalists and academics and was launched on Monday.

Ankara - An armed attack outside the US consulate in Istanbul in July was carried out by members of al-Qaeda, the private Dogan news agency reported on Wednesday.

The claim was made in an indictment released Wednesday in which prosecutor Fikret Secen said he would be seeking jail terms up to 15 years for two people allegedly connected to the shoot-out that left three police officers and the three attackers dead.

Witnesses of the July 9 attack said a car slowed down and stopped outside the main gate of the consulate in the suburb of Istinye. Three men got out of the car and fired at police, starting a firefight that lasted between seven and eight minutes.