ISTANBUL (AP) – A Turkish court yesterday pressed charges and ordered the arrest of a man it had previously questioned and released in connection with the killing of an ethnic Armenian journalist, the Anatolia news agency reported. The arrest raised the number of suspects charged in the killing to 10. The Istanbul court had questioned the man earlier in the week but let him go without charges, Anatolia reported. It ordered him arrested yesterday on a petition from a prosecutor, the agency said. It identified the man as Osman Altay, but gave no other information. Ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was killed outside his newspaper’s offices on January 19.

ISTANBUL (AFP) – Internet users in Turkey regained access to the popular video-sharing website YouTube yesterday when a court revoked a ban imposed because a clip was judged to have insulted the country’s founder. “Once we received the court decision revoking the ban, we allowed access to YouTube,” Ahter Kutadgu, corporate affairs director of Turkey’s main Internet provider, Turk Telekom, was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency. The company had blocked access to YouTube on Wednesday on a court order following press reports over a video, submitted by a Greek user, that allegedly insulted the country’s founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Ataturk, who proclaimed modern day Turkey in 1923, is seen as a national hero by secular Turks and his legacy is protected under a special law.

A Kurdish guerrilla and three pro-government village guards have been killed in clashes in mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey, an army source said yesterday. “A group of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants attacked army troops based in the mountains in Sirnak province and a PKK militant was (killed) after clashes on Thursday,” said the army source, who wished not to be named. The guards, who were fighting alongside Turkish troops, were killed in clashes with PKK rebels in Siirt province on the Iraqi border, the source said. (Reuters)

Bulgaria will hold its first direct elections to the European Parliament on May 20, authorities said yesterday. The election of 18 lawmakers will be the first test of popularity for the coalition government which has been in office since August 2005. Bulgaria’s current 18 representatives to the EU parliament were provisionally appointed by the government. Thirteen belong to the socialist, liberal and Turkish coalition parties, with another four right-wingers, and one representative of the ultra-nationalist Ataka party. The Socialists are set to win the largest share of the vote. (AFP)