US Defence Secretary Robert Gates will hold talks with Turkish leaders on Thursday to press for withdrawal of troops from Iraq despite the Turks refusal to withdraw its troops.

The Iraqi government has demanded the immediate withdrawal of Turkish troops, saying the five-day incursion is threatening their otherwise friendly relations.

After winning the presidential elections in Cyprus, communist-leader Demetris Christofias says he will try to restart unification talks on the divided island. Nathan Morley reports for VOA from Nicosia.

Turkish ground troops have entered northern Iraq in a drive against Kurdish separatists of the Kurdish Workers Party which Ankara accuses of using bases in Iraq to launch attacks against its forces in southeastern Turkey. Although Kurdish rebels say two Turkish troops have been killed in the fighting and another eight have been wounded, Turkey has not commented on those reports. Dorian Jones has more for the VOA from Istanbul.

The United States Friday called on Turkey to limit the scope of its ground incursion in northern Iraq and bring it to an early conclusion. The operation is apparently the biggest of several recent Turkish military strikes against Kurdish PKK rebels. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

A Washington-based organization is spearheading a drive to correct what it sees as common misconceptions about Turkey, hoping to change how Americans see the massacre of Armenians in World War I and educate them about Turkey’s role in rebuilding Iraq.

Dutch Integration Minister Ella Vogelaar has criticised Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent speech to Turkish immigrants in Germany.

A group of Turkish education experts will be visiting primary schools in the region this week [11 to 15 February] to gather information about Bristol University’s science engagement activities. It is hoped that the fact-finding exercise will help them develop their own outreach programmes to take back and employ in primary schools in rural parts of Turkey.

Turkey's parliament has approved controversial constitutional amendments that lift a decades-old ban on women wearing Islamic head scarves at universities.

Turkey's Islamic-rooted ruling Justice and Development party has won the first of two votes in parliament to change the country's constitution to lift a ban on the wearing of religious headscarves at universities. The move is proving deeply controversial with opponents of the reform who argue it threatens the secular foundation of Turkey. Dorian Jones reports for VOA from Istanbul.

In a friendly match ahead of the European Championships this summer the Swedish football team drew against Turkey.

For the first time in almost five decades, a Greek Prime Minister has arrived for an official visit in Turkey.