A court in Turkey has issued a formal warrant for the arrest of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who the government accuses of being behind the failed coup that left more than 270 people dead.

A bird flu outbreak that killed four children in Turkey this month seems to have stabilised after authorities destroyed 1.5 million fowl to contain the virus, and no human cases have been reported since January 18.

A five-year-old boy battling the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain in Turkey was reported to be in a critical condition today as experts awaited test results on three others admitted to hospital with symptoms at Europe’s doorstep.

Local officials in Turkey’s stricken south-east today accused the government of moving too slowly to combat bird flu when it was still confined to fowl as the number of people infected with the deadly H5N1 strain climbed to 18.

A third child from the same family died of bird flu at a hospital within a week in this eastern Turkish city today, doctors said.