A suicide bomber suspected to be a militant from an outlawed leftwing group blew himself up at the U.S. embassy in Ankara on Friday, killing a Turkish security guard and wounding three other people, officials said.

The bombing at the entrance to the highly-fortified embassy in an upmarket area of the capital was the latest in a series of attacks on American missions in the Muslim world, highlighting the vulnerability of the country's 70,000 diplomats.

Turkey's outlawed Kurdish PKK rebel group denied Thursday reports that its militants would withdraw from positions in the country as part of a planned truce, saying they were false and part of a "deliberate psychological war".

Pro-government Sabah newspaper reported that the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan would declare a truce "within 10 days", followed by the withdrawal of the rebels from positions on Turkish soil by March 21.

Turkish exports to Iran almost tripled in 2012, in large part owing to gold sales, the Turkish statistics agency TUIK said Thursday as Tehran struggles with heavy international sanctions owing to its controversial nuclear program.

Iran took in 6.5 percent of neighboring Turkey's total exports, worth $9.9 billion (7.3 bln euros), to become its third-biggest trade partner, with gold shining as a key item of interest.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Wednesday held talks in Ankara with Turkey's President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, requesting that Turkey pressure the abductors of the nine Lebanese Shiite pilgrims in Syria's Aazaz to secure their release.

After his meeting with Erdogan, Miqati expressed satisfaction with the talks, calling for "full cooperation between the two countries in all fields in a manner that would serve them both."

At least six people were killed and 15 others injured on Wednesday in an explosion at a chemical factory in southeastern Turkey, the local mayor said.

"Six workers were blown up," Asim Guzelbey, mayor of Gaziantep province where the incident took place, said in televised remarks, amid fears that the number of dead could increase.

Already known the world over for its baths, coffee and sweet Turkish delights, Turkey is on the road to adding another item to its roster of specialties: the moustache.

Lip whiskers remain a highly sought-after mark of manliness in Turkey and the Middle East to the point that the naturally less hairy are increasingly seeking out moustache transplants at the hands of Turkish cosmetic surgeons.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati is scheduled to visit Ankara on a one-day visit Wednesday for discussions that will include the case of nine Lebanese pilgrims kidnapped in Syria, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said.

Charbel told As Safir daily published Tuesday that Miqati will discuss with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other officials several issues, including the latest negotiations on the Lebanese hostages, who are held by rebels in the Aleppo town of Aazaz that lies near the Turkish border.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Sunday discussed with the Saudi crown prince his country's intervention in Mali and military cooperation between Paris and Riyadh, a French diplomat told Agence France Presse.

"The meeting focused on the intervention in Mali" and both men also "discussed (the situation in) Syria, Iran and Yemen," the diplomat said, adding the visit was planned before French intervention in Mali that began this month.

The first of six batteries of Patriot missiles deployed in Turkey to protect against a spillover of the conflict in neighboring Syria became operational on Saturday, NATO said.

The battery, provided by The Netherlands, "will help to protect the (southern) city and people of Adana against missile threats," it said in a statement.

Turkey's parliament passed a law late Thursday giving Kurds the right to use their own language in court, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

The right to give testimony in their mother tongue was one of the key demands raised by hundreds of prison inmates who went on a 68-day hunger strike that ended in November.