Ankara - US military commander Admiral Mike Mullen on Monday said that NATO would respond to defend Georgia if it was attacked by Russia if and when Georgia becomes a member of NATO.

"Should Georgia become a member of NATO, NATO is committed to a collective defence when any country is attacked... if that happens, if and when they become members, and that is to be determined, NATO would respond in accordance with the alliance requirement," Mullen, the chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff told reporters during a visit to Turkey on Monday.

Ankara - One person was reported dead and more than 20 people were missing after a ferry sunk in the Marmara Sea late Sunday, the Anadolu news agency reported.

Coast Guard vessels were joined by local fishing boats in an attempt to rescue the more 100 people on board the ferry. As of early Monday, 72 people had been rescued or were able swim to shore.

Ankara- Turkish prosecutors may open their own inquiry into a scandal currently before a German court where an Islamic charity allegedly siphoned off donations, Hurriyet newspaper reported on Thursday.

There have been claims in Turkey that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was a beneficiary of the alleged scam.

Three former operators of the Deniz Feneri Foundation admitted to a court Frankfurt this month that they embezzled donations from devout Turks living in western Europe.

Istanbul, September 11 : A team of archaeologists has found ruins of the Temple of Athena in the popular resort town of Bodrum in western Turkey.

Profesor Adnan Diler, who leads the archaeological excavations in the ancient city of Pedasa, told Turkish Press, “We found the Temple of Athena, one of the most important works of arts in Anatolia, in Konacik hamlet in Bodrum.”

Ankara  - Turkish President Abdullah Gul left Ankara Saturday for an historic visit to Armenia in a trip that commentators have marked as a thaw in relations between the inimical neighbours.

Gul's day trip to Yerevan where he will meet his Armenian counterpart Serge Sarkisian and then attend a Armenia-Turkey World Cup qualifying match is the first visit by a Turkish head of state to Armenia since the country gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Ankara - Turkish President Abdullah Gul will on Saturday become the first Turkish head of state to visit Armenia in an important to normalizing relations between the two historic foes.

"An historic decision," read the main headline in Hurriyet newspaper. "The ice wall between Turkey and Armenia is being thawed through football diplomacy."

The opportunity to visit Armenia came after Armenian President Serge Sarkisian invited Gul to join him in Yerevan to watch a World Cup qualifying match.