A prominent Turkish-Armenian blogger accused a Turkish court on Friday of issuing a "politically-motivated" verdict after being sentenced to jail on charges of illegal construction.

An appeals court in the western coastal city of Izmir sentenced Sevan Nisanyan to two years in prison on charges of building without a permit.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu described the deportation of Armenians under the Ottoman empire as "inhumane" during a fence-mending visit to Yerevan this week, Turkish media reported Friday.

Davutoglu made the comments to Turkish journalists traveling with him to Armenia Thursday on his first visit since moves to open diplomatic ties between the neighbors failed four years ago.

The top military commander of the Western-backed Syrian opposition is in Turkey for talks with rebels, a spokesman said Thursday, denying reports that he had fled Syria.

The Wall Street Journal reported that General Selim Idriss, the head of the Free Syrian Army's Supreme Military Council, had been forced to flee after the rival Islamic Front overran key FSA bases near the border with Turkey.

A resumption of stalled Cyprus peace talks appears "imminent" after the divided island's leaders made progress in resolving a standoff, a Turkish official said on Thursday.

Hopes were high that the negotiations would resume last month but they have stuttered over the wording of a joint statement due to be made by the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities outlining basic principles for the new talks.

A former Turkish army chief denied Thursday that the military overthrow of the country's first Islamist prime minister in 1997 was tantamount to a coup.

General Ismail Hakki Karadayi, who has been charged with 102 others, appeared in court in Ankara for the first time since the start of the trial in September over what has been dubbed Turkey's "post-modern coup."

Britain said Wednesday it has suspended non-lethal aid to the opposition in northern Syria after Islamist rebels seized key bases belonging to the Free Syrian Army, following a similar move by the United States.

"We have no plans to deliver any equipment while the situation remains unclear," a spokesman for the British embassy in Ankara told Agence France Presse.

A Kurdish protester who was seriously wounded during fierce weekend clashes with police in southeast Turkey died of his injuries in hospital on Wednesday, medics said.

Bemal Topcu, 25, was allegedly struck on the head by a tear gas canister fired by Turkish riot police during demonstrations in the town of Yuksekova on Saturday.

Syria's largest Islamist rebel force seized a crossing on the Turkish border Tuesday from other rebels, including brigades loyal to the Western-backed Free Syrian Army, a monitoring group said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Islamic Front, a new grouping of the most powerful Islamist rebel groups battling to overthrow President Bashar Assad, seized the Bab al-Hawa crossing in northwestern Syria.

Turkish prosecutors have charged 255 protesters, including seven foreigners, over the mass demonstrations that swept the country in June, local media reported on Tuesday.

Those indicted face a range of charges including violating laws on demonstrations, damaging a place of worship and protecting criminals, Hurriyet newspaper said.

A fracas erupted in Turkey's parliament on Monday between nationalist and pro-Kurdish lawmakers over the use of "Kurdistan," long a taboo word in the country.

Lawmakers from the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) submitted a motion demanding that the word "Kurdistan" be removed from the parliamentary minutes when referring to Iraq's autonomous northern region.