Kurdish rebels will begin a stalled withdrawal from Turkey into their safe haven in northern Iraq after parliament passes reforms aimed at ending a decades-long insurgency, local media reported on Saturday.

In an apparent bid to secure votes from the Kurdish community ahead of presidential polls in August, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government submitted a bill to parliament last week that would remove a number of barriers to a final agreement. 

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised to represent all Turks as he declared he would stand for president, but critics fear his assumption of a powerful presidency risks further polarizing an already divided country.

Erdogan, 60, who has already been premier for 11 years, made clear in his announcement on Tuesday that he intended to be a much more powerful president than the largely ceremonial role performed by past incumbents.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Tuesday he would stand in August's presidential election, paving the way to become the country's longest and most dominant serving leader since Ataturk.

Erdogan -- who is expected to win the poll despite a turbulent year that saw unprecedented protests against his rule -- declared the election would mark the start of a "new Turkey".

Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party on Monday announced it was fielding Selahattin Demirtas, the party's co-chair, as its candidate for the presidential election in August to challenge Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The August 10 vote is shaping up as a two-horse race between Erdogan and opposition candidate Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu.

Turkey's two main secular opposition parties on Sunday formally backed a devout Muslim to challenge an expected bid for the presidency by the country's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who heads an Islamic-rooted party. 

The Republican People's Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) submitted a joint application to parliament to nominate Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, an academic and career diplomat, as their candidate in August presidential elections.

Turkey's ruling party is expected to name Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its candidate in August presidential polls on Tuesday, potentially extending his dominance to become the longest serving leader since Ataturk.

Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) is due to end months of speculation by announcing its candidate at Ankara's Chamber of Commerce, but there is little suspense left. 

The Turkish government said Wednesday it will present a bill to parliament aimed at reviving stalled peace talks with Kurdish rebels, in an apparent bid to win presidential election votes from Turkey's biggest minority.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is widely expected to be unveiled on July 1 as the ruling party's candidate for the August polls and support from the Kurdish minority could ease his path to a near certain victory.

Turkey on Tuesday said it has banned entry to more than five thousand foreign jihadists suspected of seeking to head to Syria to join radical Islamist groups fighting the Syrian regime.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his Islamic-rooted government was taking "all the measures" to stem the flow of jihadists from abroad, who were "using Turkey as a transit point" to enter war-torn Syria.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is widely expected to run for president in August, said Sunday he has no concerns over the future of his Islamic-rooted governing party.

"The AK Party is not one man's party... (it) has its own rules and mechanisms," Erdogan told a party meeting in Istanbul. 

As many as 10,000 people demonstrated in Vienna on Thursday in protest at a visit by Turkey's strongman Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, organizers and police said.

Erdogan has been accused of autocratic tendencies in his home country and a similar trip to Germany last month ruffled feathers after he spoke out against assimilation of Turkish immigrants.