Turkish President Abdullah Gul approved a controversial law expanding the powers of the spy agency, a move critics say will tighten the graft-tainted government's control over state institutions.

The new legislation, adopted last week by parliament after heated debates, provides expanded scope for the MIT agency to tap private phone conversations and collect intelligence related to terrorism and international crimes.

The head of Turkey's top court condemned Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's "excessive criticism" of the judiciary on Friday in the latest fallout from a huge corruption scandal that has pitted key state institutions against each other.

"In a state governed by the rule of law, courts do not work on orders or instructions, and cannot be manipulated by sentiments of friendship or enmity," Constitutional Court president Hasim Kilic said in a strongly-worded speech designed to counter accusations that the judiciary is biased against the prime minister.

Israel said on Thursday it was halting negotiations with the Palestinians following their unity deal with the Hamas rulers of Gaza, as faltering U.S.-backed peace talks approached their deadline.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the agreement between the rival factions as a move that "kills peace," but senior Palestinian official Saeb Erakat blamed the demise of the process on Israeli settlement activity.

Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian on Thursday accused Turkey of an "utter denial" in failing to recognize World War I mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide, apparently brushing off Ankara's first ever offer of condolences for the tragedy.

In an unprecedented move described by the United States as a historic gesture, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday offered condolences over the massacres, calling them "our shared pain."

Turkey's prime minister offered his condolences on Wednesday over the massacre of Armenians during World War I, calling it "our shared pain", the country's most significant overture yet over the deeply divisive episode.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statement, on the eve of the 99th anniversary of the start of mass deportations of Armenians in 1915, is the first such overt comment by a Turkish leader over the killings, considered by many as the first genocide of the 20th century.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday he would not allow May Day gatherings on Istanbul's Taksim Square, the scene of protests that have dogged the government for months. 

A similar decision in May last year to ban the use of the square -- a traditional and symbolic rallying point -- led to violent clashes between police and protesters which were followed by a wave of nationwide anti-government demonstrations in June.

Turkey's prime minister will tour several European countries next month, a government source said on Tuesday, as he reaches out to expat Turkish voters ahead of a possible run for the presidency.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is planning to visit Germany, France and the Netherlands in May, the source said. Each has a large Turkish population that he is hoping to court ahead of presidential elections in August.

The number of Syrian refugees in Turkey has reached "almost one million," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, while pledging to keep accepting those fleeing the war.

"Are we supposed to ask our brothers not to come, and to die in Syria?" Erdogan said as he addressed his party's lawmakers in parliament.

A Turkish university cancelled a panel on gay rights after it came under harsh criticism from Islamic extremists who branded the event as "immoral", a liberal daily reported Monday.

The Ilke news agency, which is close to Turkey's Islamist Hezbollah movement made up of ethnic Kurds, condemned the timing of the conference, which had been planned for last Thursday, because it coincided with a week of events dedicated to the birth of Prophet Mohammed, the newspaper Radikal reported.

Turkey has agreed "in principle" to increase shipments of natural gas from Russia via the Blue Stream pipeline, its energy minister said on Monday. 

The two countries will increase capacity through the pipeline, which crosses the Black Sea, from 16 billion cubic metres annually to 19 billion cubic metres, said Energy Minister Taner Yildiz.