President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday called on the European Union for dialogue, warning the bloc not to become a tool for enmity during escalating tensions over the eastern Mediterranean.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed ways of enhancing ties with King Salman of Saudi Arabia, in a rare phone call since the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, his office said.

Turkish authorities have issued arrest warrants for 101 people including lawyers in a wide-scale operation aimed at outlawed Kurdish militants, a judicial source said on Friday. 

Turkey's interior ministry has banned smoking in public places across the country to curb the spread of COVID-19.

In a statement late Wednesday, the ministry said smoking would be banned in busy streets, bus stops and public squares when necessary. It said the nationwide mask mandate in public spaces, which has been in effect for several months, must be followed at all times and smokers were routinely violating the mask rule.

With Joe Biden, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will probably be unable to influence US policy with a simple phone call, as he had occasionally done with Donald Trump.

France on Thursday condemned what it said were "declarations of violence" by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and raised the possibility of new sanctions against Ankara.

Turkey on Tuesday strongly condemned the deadly shooting spree in Vienna, saying it stood in "solidarity" with the Austrian people and was waging its own campaign against terror.

Rescuers pulled two children from the rubble in a town in western Turkey on Monday, nearly three days after a powerful earthquake hit the Aegean, killing 85 people.

Rescue teams on Saturday plowed through concrete blocks and the debris of eight collapsed buildings in search of survivors of a powerful earthquake that struck Turkey's Aegean coast and north of the Greek island of Samos, killing at least 28 people. More than 800 others were injured.

The quake hit Friday afternoon, toppling buildings in Izmir, Turkey's third largest city, and triggering a small tsunami in the district of Seferihisar and on Samos. The quake was followed by hundreds of aftershocks.

Turkey on Wednesday vowed to take "legal and diplomatic actions" over a cartoon in the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo mocking Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"We assure our people that necessary legal and diplomatic actions will be taken against this cartoon," the Turkish presidency said in a statement.