German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday urged the Turkish government to renounce violence against protesters, after deadly unrest in the country.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan "already told his people that he understands that there are certain problems in the country," she told reporters after talks with Tunisian leader Ali Larayedh.

The economic outlook for Germany is brightening, its central bank said Friday, as improved trade and rising industrial output suggested Europe's biggest economy is slowly leaving recent weakness behind it.

"The outlook for the German economy has become brighter again following the slowdown towards the end of 2012," the Bundesbank wrote in its June monthly report.

France on Thursday denounced a police crackdown on protesters in Turkey, urging restraint and the respect of the right to demonstrate.

"The police repression has claimed two lives, wounded 2,000 and led to 1,700 arrests, it's too much!" European Affairs Minister Thierry Repentin told the Senate, France's upper house.

Germany's Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Monday that an international Syria peace conference may have to be delayed until July to give more time for preparations.

"It would be better that it takes place in July than never," Westerwelle said at the U.N. headquarters where he signed an international arms trade treaty. The United Nations had wanted to hold the conference this month, but mounting obstacles have appeared.

Germany called on Monday for calm and for dialogue in Turkey after days of clashes between anti-government protesters and police.

"In the current heightened situation, it's important that all parties demonstrate calm," government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a news conference, adding that Berlin was following events "with concern".

The Czech capital Prague was on high flood alert Monday with businesses shut and transport coming to a halt after torrential rains left at least six people dead and forced thousands from their homes across central Europe.

Czech rescue crews were searching for four others believed to have died in the flooding which cut power to tens of thousands of households across the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany.

Germany's "baby hatches", where women can safely leave their unwanted newborn, have come under fire as the government pushes a new law to guarantee a child the right to eventually know its mother's identity.

At a Berlin clinic, a discreet path winds through springtime flowerbeds to a sign that simply directs visitors to the "Baby Crib" -- a steel hatch that opens onto a heated cot where an infant can be left.

Germany and Canada on Thursday called on the Syrian opposition to take part in a U.S.-Russian peace initiative after rebels said they would enter no talks until Hizbullah withdraws from the war.

"The best chance for a lasting solution to the conflict in Syria is a sustainable political process," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said during a visit to Canada.

An increase in spending by consumers and households offset sagging exports and falling investment in Germany in the first quarter, allowing Europe's biggest economy to narrowly avoid recession, official data showed Friday.

The federal statistics office Destatis calculated in final data that Germany's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.1 percent in the period from January to March following a contraction of 0.7 percent in the preceding quarter.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle supports an initiative for the EU to list the military wing of Hizbullah as a terrorist group, a spokesman said in Berlin Wednesday.

Britain has filed a request to blacklist Hizbullah, which is to be discussed early next month. The United States has labelled Hizbullah a terrorist group for decades.