Report: Turkey's Gul Spurns Vienna Lunch with Barak

Turkish President Abdullah Gul went sightseeing in Vienna rather than take part in a lunch in the Austrian capital also attended by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, a report said Saturday.

Both men, in town for the two-day World Policy Conference, were on Austrian President Heinz Fischer's lunch guest list on Friday.

Instead Gul took in the sights with Turkey's ambassador Ayse Sezgin before visiting a mosque for Friday prayers, the Austria Press Agency (APA), reported, citing the chief editor of Turkish language Austrian newspaper Zaman.

Contacted by Agence France Presse, neither the Austrian president's press office nor the Turkish embassy were immediately available for comment.

Relations between Turkey and Israel have deteriorated sharply since over an Israeli raid last year on a flotilla of ships heading for Gaza in which nine Turks died.