Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be an "active" head of state if he wins presidential elections in August and will play a particularly strong role in foreign policy, one of his government's most senior ministers said.

In an interview with Agence France-Presse, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc signaled that Erdogan would be a stronger president than previous holders of the hitherto ceremonial post but insisted he would always act within the framework of the law.

Turkey's foreign minister flew into Qatar Friday amid mounting U.S. calls on the two Western allies to use their influence with Palestinian movement Hamas to end the bloodshed around Gaza.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been spearheading Western efforts to end the Palestinian territory's deadliest violence since 2008-9, has repeatedly telephoned both Qatari and Turkish leaders in an effort to broker a truce.

Iraq exported 2.42 million barrels of oil per day in June, the month of a jihadist offensive, the oil ministry said, falling far short of a budgeted projection of 3.4 million bpd.

Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said June exports generated revenue of $7.47 billion, or $600 million less than in May, despite higher oil prices.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke Thursday to his counterparts in Qatar and Turkey, which support the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, as he pressed for a Gaza ceasefire.

Kerry -- who is in Egypt, which has drafted a truce proposal for the Israel-Hamas conflict -- spoke by phone with the foreign ministers of Qatar and Turkey, a U.S. official said.

Turkish authorities were on Wednesday hunting for nine police intelligence officers still on the run after a massive operation against suspected illegal wire-tapping resulted in the arrest of over 100 people.

A total of 105 serving and former top police officers have so far been detained since early morning raids were launched on Tuesday in Istanbul and other cities, including the capital Ankara as well as Izmir and Diyarbakir.

Turkish authorities on Tuesday arrested scores of senior police officers on suspicion of illegally eavesdropping on top officials, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

A total of 100 serving and former top police officers were arrested as part of two probes, prosecutors said in a statement.

Two Turkish soldiers and at least six Kurdish rebels were killed in clashes in southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border, the Turkish military said Tuesday.

The clashes erupted on Monday after Kurdish rebels attempting to cross from Turkey into Syria started firing at a patrol team in Turkey's Sanliurfa province, the army said in a statement.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sacrificed any possibility of Turkey playing a mediation role in Gaza in favor of seeking to impress voters ahead of presidential polls with the toughest ever anti-Israeli rhetoric from a Turkish leader.

Before the rise to power of Erdogan's Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) over a decade ago, NATO member Turkey was Israel's key ally in the Islamic world, a policy enthusiastically cheered by the United States.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he has stopped talking to U.S. President Barack Obama on the phone, amid growing strains between Ankara and Washington over Syria and the Gaza conflict.

Turkey, a fierce opponent of Syrian President Bashar Assad and an open supporter of armed rebel fighters, felt betrayed when the United States backed away from military action against Damascus in September.

Turkish authorities on Tuesday arrested 55 senior police officers in a criminal probe over alleged corruption and abuse of office, the latest apparent crackdown on opponents of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of presidential polls.

Forty serving and former top police officers were arrested in Istanbul, including the former head of the anti-terrorism unit of Istanbul police, Omer Kose, television reports said.