Turkish riot police on Thursday fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse some 2,000 protesters demanding the release of army officers jailed for plotting a coup.

"Freedom to patriots, end conspiracies," the protesters shouted as police blocked them from marching to parliament in the capital Ankara.

A senior Israeli minister on Thursday accused Turkey's prime minister of blocking a compensation deal for those killed in a 2010 raid on an aid flotilla by demanding Israel end the Gaza blockade.

Israel and Turkey have been locked in 11 months of talks over compensation for nine Turkish nationals killed in a deadly Israeli raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla in May 2010, with officials on both sides recently confirming they were close to a deal.

A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced a group of protesters to two years in jail for chanting slogans deemed insulting to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, local media reported on Wednesday.

The decision comes as Turkey is being criticized at home and abroad for adopting new Internet restrictions seen as a fresh assault on freedom of expression.

Turkey vowed Tuesday to press ahead with the construction of what could become one of the world's busiest airports despite a court order halting work.

A court last month suspended work on Istanbul's third airport after local residents and environmental groups filed a lawsuit, arguing that the operations caused serious damage to the environment, the Hurriyet newspaper reported.

Turkey's prime minister hit back at suggestions that new Internet regulations will limit freedom of expression, ahead of a planned demonstration in Istanbul against the curbs on Saturday.

"These regulations do not impose any censorship at all on the Internet ... On the contrary, they make it safer and freer," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in Istanbul.

Turkey has deported an Azeri journalist for tweets criticizing the government, his newspaper reported Friday, as concerns grow about state efforts to muzzle the media.

Mahir Zeylanov's expulsion has yet to be officially confirmed, although a photo doing the rounds on Twitter appeared to show him being escorted by police through an airport.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Tuesday after talks with the visiting Turkish prime minister for a more united U.N. Security Council response to the "inconceivable" humanitarian plight of Syrian refugees.

Talks with Russia and China should be held as well as with non-Security Council member Iran to help people fleeing the nearly three-year-old conflict, Merkel told a joint press conference with Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Germany Tuesday to step up support for Turkey's European Union entry bid but acknowledged his country must also press on with reforms.

Erdogan told a Berlin think tank on a visit to Europe's top economy that the EU could also benefit from Turkey's presence at the bloc's table such as in regional conflict resolution.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ally-turned-rival Fethullah Gulen is suing him in the wake of a deeply damaging corruption scandal, a newspaper close to Gulen's movement reported Tuesday.

Gulen, an Islamic preacher living in self-imposed exile in the United States, is claiming 100,000 lira (32,700 euros, $44,200) in damages from Erdogan for allegedly denigrating and insulting remarks, the Zaman daily said.

Four Turkish policemen on Monday denied beating to death a 19-year-old student in mass anti-government protests that rocked the country last June, as they went on trial amid heavy security.

The high-profile murder case comes as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan battles his biggest political crisis in 11 years in power, which has hit the economy and is threatening the strongman's presidential ambitions.