Turkey has shipped 47 tonnes of weapons to Syrian rebels since June despite repeated government denials, a local newspaper reported on Monday.

The Hurriyet Daily News, citing U.N. and Turkish Statistics Institute records, said 29 tonnes of military equipment were sent to opposition fighters in September alone.

One of five people living in Lebanon are refugees who have fled the conflict in neighboring Syria, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Monday.

The UNHCR says there are more than 842,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon but the actual figure could be even higher, Lebanese authorities believe.

Turkey on Monday signed a long-awaited deal with the European Union to repatriate those who enter the bloc illegally from its territory, in exchange for talks on visa-free travel for its citizens.

The EU has committed to ensuring visa-free travel for Turkish citizens in 2017 at the earliest in return for Turkey signing the agreement.

Turkish ambassador to Lebanon Inan Ozeldiz revealed on Monday that his country has steady contacts with Hizbullah, saying that the fate of the two kidnapped Orthodox bishops, who were seized in northern Syria in April.

“We don't agree with Hizbullah regarding the situation in Syria but it's a Lebanese party and we take it's point of view into consideration,” the ambassador said in comments published in As Safir newspaper.

Kurdish rebels on Sunday warned of retaliation over the deaths of three Kurdish protesters shot by Turkish police, heightening tensions in the fragile peace process between Ankara and the outlawed PKK group.

"The government should know that these attacks and killings eliminate the non-conflict environment and give guerrilla forces the right to reprisal," the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) said in a statement carried by Kurdish news agency Firat.

The prospects of a resumption of Cyprus peace talks dimmed Sunday after Turkey's foreign minister pressed Greek Cypriots to initiate any breakthrough during a visit to the breakaway north.

Turkey's Ahmet Davutoglu called on the Greek Cypriots to make "positive" contributions to revive the U.N.-backed talks aimed at reunifying Cyprus, in remarks on Saturday before meeting Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called on the Greek Cypriots Saturday to make "positive" contributions toward stalled UN-backed peace talks on the decades-old division of Cyprus.

Davutoglu spoke during a visit to the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as part of a recently intensified push to resume the talks.

Turkey on Saturday renamed a tiny island south of Istanbul which has for decades represented a powerful symbol in a country torn between secularism and Islamic traditions.

On Yassiada, now "Democracy and Freedom Island", prime minister Adnan Menderes, his foreign minister Fatin Rustu Zorlu and finance minister Hasan Polatkan went on trial before being hanged by the military junta after a 1960 coup.

A resumption of U.N.-backed Cyprus peace talks remains a long way off despite recent optimism, President Nicos Anastasiades said Friday.

He told reporters the rival Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides were nowhere near agreeing on a roadmap that would allow the long-stalled peace talks to resume.

Greece and Turkey's foreign ministers called for progress in peace talks between the leaders of divided Cyprus, following talks on Friday.

Hopes were high that the negotiations would resume last month but they 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.