A Turkish court on Wednesday handed life sentences to two ageing generals behind a 1980 military takeover, the bloodiest in Turkey's coup-ridden history.

Kenan Evren, 96, and Tahsin Sahinkaya, 89, were found guilty of setting the stage for a military intervention, ousting the civilian government by force and committing acts against the forces of the state.

A Turkish court on Tuesday imposed a blackout on media coverage of the kidnapping of dozens of Turks by Islamist militants in northern Iraq, the television watchdog said.

The Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTUK) has delivered the court ruling to Turkish newspapers, televisions and websites, which were banned from reporting on the abductions and could face penalties if they violate the ban.

Turkish police on Tuesday detained 11 people, including former top officers, in a probe into illegally wiretapping Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, local media reported. 

Police raided the homes of a dozen people in the capital Ankara, including the prime minister's former chief of guard and an ex-police chief, who could face charges of espionage for eavesdropping on Erdogan's office in 2012. 

Turkey's two main opposition parties backed an Islamic-leaning intellectual on Monday to challenge an expected bid by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the presidency.

The Republican People's Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) threw their support behind Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, an experienced academic and diplomat, to run against Erdogan in Turkey's first democratic presidential vote on August 10.

Austria warned Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday not to say anything that may "split" Austrian society when he visits next week following a contentious visit to Germany.

The strongman leader ruffled feathers last month when he made disparaging remarks about a German opposition leader of Turkish origin and spoke out against "assimilation" in a speech in Cologne.

The United States on Thursday condemned the kidnappings of Turkish citizens in an attack by Islamist militants who have seized swathes of  northern Iraq, and called for their immediate release. 

Samantha Power, the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, said the actions of the jihadist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were a threat to the region.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reacted with fury on Monday to the removal of a Turkish flag from a military base by a Kurdish protester, during a weekend of clashes that left two dead.

Protesters in the Kurdish-dominated southeast, angry over what they see as an overbearing and ever-growing military presence, clashed with Turkish soldiers on Saturday, leading to the deaths of two Kurdish demonstrators.

Austrian far-right leader Heinz-Christian Strache told Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday to "stay at home," ahead of a controversial election rally planned in Vienna later this month.

"We don't need Erdogan in Vienna. I'll tell him right now: 'Erdogan, stay at home'," Freedom Party (FPOe) leader Strache told the daily Oesterreich.

Kurdish rebels in Turkey's southeast are ramping up attacks in a bid to pressure Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to speed up reforms ahead of presidential elections, analysts say.

A recent spate of ambushes, kidnappings and roadblocks by Kurdish militants threatens to further erode the fraught relationship between Ankara and the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) ahead of Turkey's first direct presidential election in August.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to announce his candidature for presidential elections in August despite deepening concern over his polarizing rule. 

Already in his third term as prime minister -- the maximum permitted under his Justice and Development Party (AKP)'s rules -- Erdogan has made no secret of his ambition to run for president.