Turkey has proposed to the European Union to open a port and an airport to Cyprus in return for opening a port and an airport in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state, the state-owned Anatolia news agency reported today.

The Turk who hijacked a Turkish Airlines plane to Italy feared for his safety because he converted to Christianity and wanted to deliver a message for Pope Benedict XVI but had no physical letter, Italy’s interior minister told politicians in Rome today.

Fifteen people have died in south-eastern Turkey after they fell from rooftops while sleeping, the state-owned Anatolia news agency reported today.

Turkey has destroyed 9.7 million fowl to fight an outbreak of deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, the Anatolia news agency reported today.

Turkish police shot and killed a suspected leftist suicide bomber who tried to detonate his bomb inside the Justice Ministry today and then fled.

Turkish troops killed four Kurdish rebels in four days of clashes in south-eastern Turkey, a news report said today. Three soldiers were also killed.

Explosions rocked two small hotels and a gas plant in Istanbul early today in apparent terrorist attacks, killing two people and injuring seven others.

Syria has handed over 22 people suspected of involvement in Turkey’s quadruple suicide bombings, authorities said.

Syria today handed over 22 people suspected of involvement in Turkey’s quadruple suicide bombings, authorities said.

Four Turkish children were killed and seven others injured today after they accidentally set off an explosive device in south-eastern Turkey, officials said.

A Turkish Airlines flight with 72 people on board has crashed as it tried to land at an airport in south east Turkey.

A man who tried to storm the cockpit during an Israeli airline flight to Istanbul told interrogators today that he attempted to “create fear” aboard the plane in protest at the treatment of Palestinians.