Charlie Hebdo: Turkish court blocks websites showing Mohammed cover

A local Turkish court has banned websites from publishing the cover of the new edition of Charlie Hebdo, which has gone on sale just a week after several of its staff were massacred in Paris.

The court, located in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, made the ruling following a complaint about the cover, which features a weeping Prophet Mohammed holding the iconic "Je Suis Charlie" sign.

Charlie Hebdo, which usually sells around 60,000 copies per issue, decided to publish three million copies of its new edition in a show of defiance against the Islamists who perpetrated last week's attack.

The cover also features a tagline in French, which reads "All is forgiven".

The new ban comes after Turkey's pro-secular newspaper, Cumhuriyet, was strongly criticised for publishing four pages of cartoons and articles in support of Charlie Hebdo - even though editors said they left out the cartoons which Muslims may find offensive.

Earlier, Turkish police had stopped and searched trucks leaving the newspaper's offices to check that the controversial Mohammed cover was not published.

The country's deputy prime minister Yalcin Akdogan tweeted: "Those who disregard the sacred values of Muslims by publishing forms allegedly referring to our Prophet are clearly committing a provocation."

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu attended Sunday's unity march in Paris against terrorism and for freedom of expression along with other world leaders as a tribute to the victims of Paris attack.