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Erdogan Says Press an Accomplice in Prosecutor Killing

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday launched one of his bitterest tirades against journalists, accusing the press of being an accomplice in the killing of a prosecutor in Istanbul last week.

The government has reacted furiously to the publication of images showing prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz held captive by a left-wing group with a gun held to his head earlier this week, temporarily blocking access to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

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Turkish Prosecutor Requests Acquittal of Dutch Reporter

A Turkish prosecutor on Wednesday requested the acquittal of a Dutch journalist specializing in Kurdish issues who was accused of "terrorist propaganda" for the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Frederike Geerdink, who is based in the Kurdish-majority southeastern city of Diyarbakir, had been briefly detained in January after authorities raided her home.

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Erdogan Son-in-Law among Turkey Parliament Candidates

Turkey's main political parties on Tuesday submitted to the election authorities their lists of candidates for June parliamentary polls, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's son-in-law among those standing.

Berat Albayrak, husband of Erdogan's elder daughter Esra, is one of the candidates of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for Istanbul, the party announced.

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Two UK Teens May Have Joined IS in Syria

British police said Tuesday they were investigating a report that two teenagers, who come from the same town as one of the 2005 London suicide bombers, may have joined Islamic State jihadists in Syria.

The two 17-year-olds from Dewsbury in northern England are believed to have boarded a flight from Manchester to Dalaman in southwest Turkey on March 31, the regional police force said in a statement.

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U.N.: Cypriots Ready to Resume Peace Talks, no Date Set

Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders are ready to resume peace talks after a seven-month hiatus, UN envoy Espen Barth Eide said Tuesday, but no date has been agreed.

The two sides have agreed to start UN-brokered talks "within weeks not months," the Norwegian diplomat said.

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Turkey Restores Access to Social Networks after Images Pulled

Twitter, Facebook and YouTube were functioning normally in Turkey on Tuesday after Ankara lifted a ban it imposed on them over images of a Turkish prosecutor killed in a hostage standoff.

The popular social media sites were blocked for several hours on Monday after a court ordered a ban on websites that published images of the prosecutor, who was taken hostage by leftist militants at an Istanbul court last week.

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Derbas Optimistic on Result of Donors Conference, Throws Weight behind Salam

Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas has said he was optimistic that Lebanon would receive a good share of pledges made by international donors at a conference that was held in Kuwait last week.

“We are optimistic. Lebanon's share is good,” Derbas told al-Liwaa newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday.

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Turkey Blocks Twitter, Facebook, YouTube over Images of Slain Prosecutor

Turkey on Monday blocked access to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube over the publication of images of a Turkish prosecutor killed by leftist militants during a hostage standoff last week.

The online sites were inaccessible for many users in Turkey, with the Hurriyet newspaper saying that service providers got an order from prosecutors to block those three internet giants as well as other websites.

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Kurds Accuse Turkey's Erdogan of 'Constitutional Dictatorship'

The co-chair of Turkey's main Kurdish party has accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of wanting to set up "a constitutional dictatorship", vowing his movement will strongly oppose moves to impose one-man rule.

Selahattin Demirtas of the People's Democratic Party (HDP) told Agence France Presse that his party hoped to turn Erdogan's political calculations "upside down" in June 7 legislative polls.

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Head of Turkish Grid Operator Resigns after Massive Power Cut

The head of Turkey's national grid operator has resigned after a crippling nationwide power cut, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said Monday, blaming the company for having taken "too many risks".

"We have found out that five power distribution lines as well as the lines between the east and the west were disabled within microseconds," Yıldız told a news conference in Ankara a week after Turkey's worst power outage in 15 years.

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