Turkish officials said Friday a remote-control bomb explosion has killed one person and injured 25 others in southeast Turkey, Anatolia news agency reported, citing authorities.

A hand-made bomb, comprising five kilograms of TNT explosives, was set of in the center of the city of Hakkari on Thursday afternoon, as a police car was passing by, police told state-run Anatolia.

Turkey on Friday asked French senators to reject a bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian genocide, which comes before the French Senate next Monday.

"We expect (President Nicolas) Sarkozy, his party, and the French Senate to respect European values before anything else. Those who exploit history will themselves suffer from this exploitation," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in televised remarks.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denied he has cancer but does remain under doctors' orders not to overdo things after undergoing surgery in November, a report said Friday.

Following widespread speculation that the premier may have had cancer, journalist Mehmet Ali Birand revealed Erdogan had broken his silence about his health in an interview with him for an upcoming TV documentary.

At least one mortar round struck the outer compound wall of the Turkish embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday, but caused no casualties, an Iraqi official said, amid tensions between the two countries.

A mortar round struck the perimeter of the mission in Waziriyah, in north Baghdad and outside the heavily fortified Green Zone that is home to the U.S. and British embassies and parliament, an interior ministry official said.

A new round of talks on Iran's controversial nuclear program will "most probably" take place in Istanbul, Tehran's foreign minister said during a visit to Turkey Wednesday, Turkish media reported.

"I am not sure, but most probably it will be in Istanbul," Ali Akbar Salehi said, a year after the last round of talks collapsed.

Turkey summoned Iraq's ambassador to Ankara to protest claims that it has been meddling in its neighbor’s affairs by voicing concerns about a domestic political crisis, a diplomatic source said Tuesday.

Feridun Sinirlioglu, the foreign ministry's undersecretary, told the Iraqi envoy Monday that the accusation of interference was "unacceptable" and Turkey had a legitimate right to be concerned about events on the other side of its borders.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said on Tuesday that the ongoing Syrian crisis poses a threat to the neighboring countries and the region in general.

“The 10-month revolt in Syria, seems endless after President Bashar Assad’s speech… which threatens the neighboring countries and the region,” Geagea said in remarks published in An Nahar newspaper.

The political and military opposition to President Bashar Assad announced on Monday they have set up a hotline to coordinate their action aimed at bringing down the regime.

The Syrian National Council, an umbrella group, said in a statement the decision was taken in talks on Saturday night with the Syrian Free Army (SFA), formed of deserters from the military.

Hizbullah MP Mohammed Raad stressed on Saturday that any change in Syria should be made by the people without any foreign intervention.

Raad said after meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu that the two have different points of view over the developments in Syria.

A top Syrian army defector will announce later on Saturday the creation of a high military council that will oversee military operations against the embattled regime of Bashar Assad, his media advisor told Agence France Presse.

General Mostafa Ahmad al-Sheikh, the most senior commander to defect from the Syrian army, will make the announcement in Turkey, where he sought refuge earlier this month, Fahad Almasri said in a telephone interview.