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 - Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert arrived in Ankara Monday for talks with Turkish leaders that are expected to concentrate on bilateral and regional issues, including developments in the Middle East peace process.

Olmert spokesman Mark Regev confirmed that indirect negotiations between Syria and Israel that are being hosted by Turkey will also be on the agenda during talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul.

Istanbul - The Turkish shoe company that produces the brand of footware used by an Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at US President George Bush has seen a surge in orders in the past week.

Ramazan Baydan, owner of the shoe factory in Istanbul of the same name, told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that he had received orders for some 300,000 pairs of the model that was thrown at the US president.

"Someone even came from America seeking distribution rights," Baydan 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 - Turkey's nuclear energy board on Friday gave the green light to the Russian firm Atomstroyexport to build Turkey's first nuclear power plant, the Anka news agency reported.