A group of nationalist Turkish youths on Wednesday attacked three visiting U.S. sailors in Istanbul, trying to force sacks on their heads in an assault angrily condemned by the U.S. embassy.

Several dozen members of the nationalist youth group Turkiye Genclik Birligi (Turkish Youth Union/TGB) attacked the sailors in the Eminonu district on the Istanbul waterfront, a popular tourist hub.

Turkey could scrap a controversial plan to buy missile defense systems from China that alarmed the United States and its Western allies, Turkish and European sources said Wednesday.

Key NATO member Turkey said in September last year it was entering negotiations with the China Precision Machinery Export-Import Corporation (CPMIEC) to acquire its first long-range anti-missile systems.

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi vowed to object on a condition set by Syrian authorities which demanded the Lebanese state to “officially appeal Damascus for help” to engage in a prisoners swap with jihadists to guarantee the safe release of the abducted Lebanese soldiers and policemen.

Rifi stressed in comments to al-Liwaa newspaper on Wednesday that Syria's conditions are “completely rejected.”

Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas said the number of Syrians seeking refuge in Lebanon has been dropping although a decision on not to accept more refugees hasn't been fully implemented yet.

The UNHCR reports show that the number of refugees in Lebanon began to decline, Derbas told An Nahar newspaper in remarks published on Tuesday.

Turkey needs to develop a strategy to counter pressure to acknowledge the World War I killings of Armenians as a genocide as the 100th anniversary of the massacres looms, a top Turkish diplomat said Monday.

Altay Cengizer, director general for policy planning at the Turkish foreign ministry, told the Hurriyet daily that U.S.-based Armenian diaspora groups saw the centenary as an opportunity to prove that genocide was carried out and planned by the Ottoman authorities.

The popular Turkish resort of Antalya has barred unauthorized refugees from conflict-torn Syria in a bid to prevent a possible refugee wave, local media reported on Saturday. 

The city asked to be exempted from a government decree that grants all Syrian refugees a number of rights such as access to education and health care, as well as work permits. 

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades on Saturday accused Turkey of "provocative actions" that he said are hindering the island's peace talks and compromising security in the eastern Mediterranean.

Last month Cyprus suspended its participation in U.N.-led peace talks with Turkey amid tensions over Ankara's determination to search for oil and gas in the same region where the Cypriot government has licensed exploratory drills in an exclusive economic zone.

Pope Francis was urged Friday to use a visit to Turkey later this month to press for the liberation of two orthodox bishops kidnapped in Syria in April 2013.

Theophilos Kuriakose, head of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Europe, called on Francis to raise the issue during a scheduled visit to Ankara on November 28.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Friday called on Turkey to allow stalled U.N.-led talks to resume by removing tensions in the east Mediterranean over energy spoils.

After talks with Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, he said Athens could neither "ignore nor reward Turkish provocations".

For critics, it is the latest excess of an authoritarian ruler, a folly comparable to the notorious Palace of the People of deposed Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

Even the Turkish deputy prime minister admits the costs ran a little high.