Ankara - The presidents of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey were set to hold talks in the Turkish capital Ankara on Wednesday, with the topic of security set to top the agenda.

Presidents Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan are expected to commit to sharing intelligence and cooperating more closely in dealing with the Taliban extremists who freely cross the porous border between the two neighbours.

Ankara  - Six people were killed and around 100 injured as a number of clashes broke out during Turkey during Sunday's local elections, the CNN-Turk news channel reported.

Fighting was reported at a number of polling booths in eastern and south-eastern Turkey with two deaths reported in Diyarbakir and one each in Sanliurfa, Kayseri, Van and Kars.

Ankara  - Four people were killed and more than 50 injured as a number of fights broke out in Turkey during Sunday's local elections, the Dogan news agency reported.

Fighting was reported at a number of polling stations in eastern and south-eastern Turkey with two deaths reported in Diyarbakir province and one each in the provinces of Sanliurfa and Kars.

Ankara  - Voting began Sunday in Turkish local elections with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expecting to sweep most municipalities.

Whilst polls vary, the AKP is once again set to win a plurality of votes in the polls to elect mayors and municipal assembly across Turkey's 81 provinces.

Ankara - Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) looks set to sweep local elections on Sunday which are seen as a barometer of the strength of national political parties.

While polls vary, the AKP is once again set to win a plurality of votes in the balloting for mayors and municipal assembly members across Turkey's 81 provinces.

A poll released this week by the A&G research company put the national vote of the AKP at 39.1 per cent, well ahead of the main opposition Republican People's Party
(CHP) with 26.8 per cent.

Ankara - Search and rescue teams Thursday were scouring snow-covered mountains in central Turkey for of a helicopter crash with hopes of finding any of the six on board alive falling fast.

The private helicopter carrying Muhsin Yazicioglu, leader of Islamist far right Grand Unity Party (BBP), crashed in the province of Kahramanmaras on Wednesday afternoon.