ANKARA (A.A) - Turkey's parliament speaker receivedJapan's ambassador in capital Ankara on Wednesday.The meeting between Turkish Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek and JapaneseAmbassador Kiyoshi Araki was held at the Turkish parliament.The gathering was closed to press.(DO-MS)

ANKARA (A.A) - Turkey on Wednesday strongly condemned asuicide attack on a mosque in Pakistan during Friday prayers last week.A suicide bomber blew himself up in a packed mosque last Friday, killing atleast 40 worshipers and injuring scores in Khyber.In a statement, Turkish Foreign Ministry expressed deep sorrow over thedeath of Pakistani people and said Turkey strongly condemned the attack which itsaid targeted peace, stability and prosperity of Pakistan.The ministry said Turkey shared the pain of Pakistani government and people,adding that such a heinous attack on prayers in holy month of Ramadan causedindignation in public.Foreign Ministry concluded that Turkey would continue to support Pakistan inits fight against terrorism and extremism.(TÇ-MS)

MERSIN (A.A) - The head of a Turkish-Arab businessassociation said on Wednesday that Turkey's active mediatory role in Syria wouldcontribute remarkably to the commercial ties between the two countries in thecoming term.Speaking to AA, Turkish-Arab Countries Businessmen's Association (TURAB)head Dogan Narin said Turkey's trade with Syria had improved significantly in thelast 4 years despite the recent unrest in this country.Narin said Turkey's"zero-problem"policy with its neighbors and lifting ofvisas between Turkey and Syria had had a positive effect on trade volume."Turkey's playing an active role in the solution of the problems in Syriawill make important contributions to the trade between the two countries. Syrianshave a growing sympathy towards Turkish people,"he said.Describing Syria as Turkey's door to the Middle East and Arab countries,Narin also noted that Turkish entrepreneurs could especially take part ininfrastructure and construction projects in Syria in the upcoming term.(DO-MS)

ANKARA (A.A) - Turkey has condemned an attack on theBritish Council compound in the Afghan capital, Kabul, last week that killed 12people."Our belief is solid that no act of violence targeting the establishment ofpermanent peace and stability in Afghanistan could yield result,"the TurkishForeign Ministry said in a press release on Wednesday.At least eight Afghan policemen and a New Zealand special forces soldier,and three security guards were killed when a suicide car blasted the compound'swall and gunmen stormed inside."We offer our country's condolences to the families of all those killed andwish speedy recovery for those who were injured. We reiterate our resolve andsolidarity to work with the Afghan government for peace and prosperity in thecountry,"the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.(Ä°MB-MS)

ANKARA (A.A) - Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry hasallocated the highest amount of the budget for Turkey's promotion in Germany in2012.According to a budget table of the ministry, 7.5 million U.S. dollars of thebudget was allocated for promotion and advertising in Germany which sent 4million tourists to Turkey last year. The table foresees a 45 million USD budgetfor promotion of Turkey abroad in 2012.$5 million of the budget was allocated for Russia, $4.5 million for Britain,$4 million for the United States, $1.7 million for Ukraine, $1.4 million forBulgaria and $1.3 million for the Netherlands.Turkey's image in the world tourism market would be strengthened withpromotion activities, the ministry said in its promotion strategy.Meanwhile, 3.1 million Russian tourists and 2.6 million Britons visitedTurkey in 2010.(EÖ-MS)

ISTANBUL (A.A) - As part of"Ramadan Fest"that aimed toincrease tourist numbers from Middle East countries to Istanbul, Turkish touroperators started Ramadan tours in Istanbul.The initiative was launched jointly by some Turkish tour operators andTurkey's national air carrier Turkish Airlines, or THY, which increased flightnumbers between Turkey and the Middle East and offered up to 60 percent cheaperflights for Ramadan tourists.Every year, Turkey hosts nearly 1.3 million tourists from Middle Eastcountries, especially from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.Baran Balavi, official of a Turkish tour operator carrying Middle Easterntourists to Turkey, said that the turmoil in Arab countries caused a shift intourist destinations."Turkey is now seen as an alternative after the turmoil in the Middle East.Usually, Arab tourists had preferred Egypt and Tunisia. However, riots in thesecountries led to higher Arab visitors to Turkey,"Balavi said.A two or three-day tour to Istanbul starts at $600 including flights, hotelaccommodation and transfers. Tour operators also carry tourists to severaltourist attractions in Istanbul, including Sultanahmet and Feshane, where Muslimtourists can enjoy the Ramadan spirit.Khalid Alshamari, a Saudi tourist visiting Istanbul with his family, saidthat it was his sixth time in Turkey but first time during Ramadan."The weather is not very hot in Turkey and there is democracy in thiscountry. There are people who are fasting and who are not. In our country, youcannot see that, everybody must fast,"he said."But we are free here. We fast whenever we want,"he added.Alshamari added that he would go shopping with his family for the Eid ulFitr, the three-day Muslim holiday that marks the end of the holy month ofRamadan, and then return home.(TÇ-MS)

ANKARA (A.A) - Turkey's Banking Regulation and SupervisionAgency, or BDDK, and its German counterpart, the Federal Financial SupervisoryAuthority-BaFin have signed a memorandum of understanding to devise ways forcooperation, BDDK said Wednesday in a statement.The protocol aims at sharing accurate information on operations of the twocountries'banks and other financial institutions abroad.The protocol also eyes developing cooperation on cross-border regulation andsupervision as well as sharing corporate experiences and technologies, BDDK said.(Ä°MB-MS)

ZAWIYA (A.A) - A team of Anadolu Agency (A.A) reportersreached Zawiya city near Libyan capital Tripoli where opposition forces aretrying to take control of the city completely.Opposition forces keep extending their area of control while clashes arestill continuing.On Tuesday night, opposition took control of the city of Aziziyah which wasone of the most important bases of Gadhafi.Opposition forces said that they would remove Gadhafi forces from Tripolisoon.Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met Libyan InterimTransitional Council Chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil in Benghazi on Tuesday.Davutoglu said,"first of all, it is necessary to build a democratic andfree Libya in line with the demands of Libyan people. Secondly, it is necessaryto protect unity and integrity of Libyan state which should take the place itdeserves in international community. The new and free flag of Libya should waveat all international institutions. Thirdly, Libya should be re-built as a whole.I'm sure when these three goals are fulfilled, Libya, with its rich naturalresources, will be among the emerging and important countries of the world."We trust in leadership of Mr. Abdul Jalil, and we support them till the end,he added.Meanwhile, Libya Contact Group will convene in Istanbul, Turkey on politicaldirectors level this week.(GC-MS)

ISTANBUL (A.A) - The Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) indexwas up at the closing of the morning session on Wednesday.The benchmark National-100 index rose 200.38 points and closed at 52,611.86points.Stocks gained 0.38 percent in value.(GC-MS)

IZMIR (A.A) - Turkey's Aegean province of Izmir hosted1.037 million tourists in the first seven months of 2011.According to figures of Izmir Culture&Tourism Directorate, the number oftourists visiting Izmir in the first seven months of 2011 increased 21.85 percentwhen compared to the same period of 2010.Mostly German tourists preferred to visit Izmir, and they were followed bytourists from France, Italy and Britain.The number of German tourists visiting Izmir in the first seven months of2011 increased 46.8 percent while number of French tourists rose 48.92 percentand Italian tourists increased 11.89 percent when compared to the same period of2010. The number of British tourists dropped 11.17 percent.The city earned the highest revenue from the visits to Ephesus Ancient Citywhich hosted 868,870 tourists in the first half of 2011.(GC-MS)