Ankara - Human rights group Amnesty International in a report published Wednesday called on Turkey to completely overhaul its asylum procedures to bring them in line with international norms,

Asylum seekers were often denied their rights and many were forcibly returned to their country where they were at risk of serious human rights abuses, the non-governmental organization said.

Ankara  - Turkey has recalled its ambassador to Canada in protest at a number of Canadian government ministers attending an event marking Canada's recognition of the massacres of Armenians during World War I as genocide, CNN Turk reported on Wednesday.

Ankara - Thousands of people gathered in Ankara on Saturday in support of a number of academics who were charged on Friday of being members of the so-called Ergenekon conspiracy to overthrow Turkey's moderate Islamist government.

Waving Turkish flags and shouting slogans such as "Turkey is secular and will remain so," the group filled the large open square outside of the mausoleum of the founder of the Turkish republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Ankara - A group of academics and others have been formally charged with being members of the so-called Ergenekon conspiracy to overthrow Turkey's moderate Islamist government, local media reported Friday.

Ankara - Turkish Cypriots go to the polls on Sunday in parliamentary elections with surveys predicting a change in government that could hurt re-unification talks with the Greek south.

According to a poll carried out by KADEM, the conservative National Unity Party (UBP) is 19 points ahead of the governing left-wing Republican Turkish Party (CTP) which currently has 25 seats in the 50-seat parliament.