Ankara - Turkish police on Tuesday arrested at least 12 people suspected of links to al-Qaeda in operations in three Turkish provinces, the NTV private television station reported.

The suspects were arrested in dawn raids on homes in the central Anatolian city of Konya and in the south-eastern Turkey provinces of Sanliurfa and Gaziantep.

Gaziantep was the scene in January last year for a shootout between militant Islamists with links to al-Qaeda and police that resulted in the deaths of one police officer and four militants.

Bodrum, Turkey  - As the evening wind begins to wane, the yacht glides past a rusting wreck beside a rocky outcrop.

"Make ready to anchor," calls the skipper. But hardly anyone on board can take their eyes off the ruins of an ancient temple and theatre basking in the sunshine on the cliffs above Knidos.

In its heyday, Knidos was home to 20,000 fishermen and traders who lived on the slopes above its double harbour. In ancient times, both the Greeks and Romans used Knidos as a naval base for their galleys.

Nicosia/Ankara - The conservative National Unity Party (UBP) won government in elections held in Turkish Cyprus on Sunday, taking 26 seats in the 50-seat parliament, the Turkish Anadolu news agency reported on Monday.

With almost 100 percent of the vote counted, the UBP had won around 44 per cent of the vote, easily defeating the former governing left-wing Republican Turkish Party
(CTP) which received just 29 per cent, winning 15 seats.

Three smaller parties shared between them the remaining nine seats.

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.