SEZER SIGNS HARMONIZATION LAW
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer signed into law yesterday a harmonization bill which, following the lead of the Turkish Constitution, moves Turkey further into line with European Union norms. The law is to take effect after being published in the Official Gazette today. /Hurriyet/

SEZER TO VISIT EASTERN ANATOLIA
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer will travel to two provinces in eastern Anatolia this week to attend ceremonies as part of the “Campaign to Support National Education” as well as to hold a series of meetings with officials in the region. Sezer is expected to leave for Malatya today and to proceed to Elazig tomorrow. /All Papers/

CEM: “TURKEY WILL COMPLETE ITS REFORMS”
Speaking to the British Council in Turkey’s special bulletin yesterday, Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said that Turkey would complete all the reforms to which it has pledged. Cem also stated that Turkey would fulfill the Copenhagen criteria for full European Union membership but that the government would not compromise the nation’s interests for the sake of those criteria. This issue is also connected to Turkey’s profile on the world stage, Cem added. /Hurriyet/

DENKTAS: “DON’T IMPOSE TIMETABLE ON SETTLEMENT”
As part of the direct talks process which began this January to find a solution to the Cyprus issue, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas will meet today with Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides to start their third round of talks. Before the meeting, Denktas issued a written statement urging the United Nations not to impose a strict timetable on reaching a settlement. The UN has stated that it wanted the two sides to come to terms by this June. /Hurriyet/

IRANIAN AMBASSADOR LAVASANI MEETS AKP CHAIRMAN ERDOGAN
Iranian Ambassador to Turkey Muhammed Lavasani yesterday met with Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Remarking that relations between Turkey and Iraq were gradually improving, Lavasani stressed the importance of the natural gas pipeline agreement the two countries recently signed. Recalling Iranian President Mohammed Khatami’s recent visit to Greece, Lavasani stated that Turkey, Iran and Greece were planning to develop joint projects in the future which would help to improve their relations. Turning to the issue of the terrorist PKK, Lavasani underlined Iran’s recent decision to recognize the PKK as a terrorist organization in order to stress Iran’s resolve to combat terrorism. He also denied that PKK terrorist Cemil Bayik was taking refuge in Iran. /Cumhuriyet/

CHINESE PRIME MINISTER TO VISIT TURKEY
Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji is to visit Turkey on April 15-19 as an official guest of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. A statement by the Foreign Ministry said that the two prime ministers would discuss bilateral relations as well as recent regional and international developments. In addition, Yugoslavian Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovich is also scheduled to visit Turkey on April 11-12. /Cumhuriyet/

IRAQ CUTS OIL EXPORTS TO PROTEST ISRAEL
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein yesterday declared that he would cut oil exports from his country until Israel withdraws its forces from the occupied Palestinian territories. Stressing that the Iraqi people also felt pain from the bloodshed in Palestine, Saddam said, “We want to show our support for the Palestinian people by cutting oil production until the Zionist power halts its attacks.” The Iraqi leader noted that oil transfers from the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline were also being cut. Meanwhile, Kenan Veziroglu, director-general of the Turkish Petroleum Joint Company, said yesterday that the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline cutoff would hurt Turkey both by damaging the pipeline’s operations as well as through revenue losses. He also predicted that oil prices would rise in the wake of Saddam’s decision. /Turkiye/

IMF EXECUTIVE BOARD TO DISCUSS TURKEY THIS MONTH
The International Monetary Fund Executive Board is scheduled to convene on April 15. During the meeting, it is expected that the first review of Turkey’s economic program will be discussed and the additional Letter of Intent (LOI) that was sent to accompany it will be up for approval. In order to conclude the first review, Turkey’s government has fulfilled a number of requirements, including addressing the problem of nonproductive workers in state economic enterprises (KITs), enactment of a public financing and borrowing law, the appointment of a council on bidding and the closing of redundant regional government offices. Following the board’s approval of the additional LOI, the release of a first loan tranche to Turkey totaling $1.1 billion is expected. /Star/

CENTRAL BANK LOWERS INTEREST RATES
Amid expectations of a continuing downward trend in inflation, the Central Bank yesterday lowered overnight and weekly interest rates by 3 percentage points apiece. The former fell from 61 to 58 percent, while the latter went down from 55 to 52 percent.
In line with these changes, repo-reverse repo rates in Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB) and borrowing rates on the interbank money market were also cut by 3 points from 54 to 51 percent. In a written statement accompanying its decision, the CB noted the downward inflation trend in March on both the consumer price index (CPI) to 65.1 percent and on the wholesale price index (WPI) to 77.5 percent. The bank attributed these reductions to lowering prices trends of agricultural and food products, among other factors. Exceptions to this downward trend were attributed to recent crude oil prices increases on international markets as well as inflexible service sector pricing. The bank’s statement predicted that if government continues to decisively implement its economic program, the positive trend of reduced inflation would continue. /Hurriyet/

DSP ADANA DEPUTY RESIGNS FROM PARTY
Democratic Left Party (DSP) Adana Deputy Arif Sezer yesterday resigned from the party. Counting Arif Sezer, the number of independent deputies in the Parliament rose to 14, while that of DSP deputies fell to 128. /Turkiye/

TURKISH ENERGY COULD BE SOLD TO TRNC AND SOUTHERN CYPRUS
A project to sell electricity to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) via underwater cable is currently being investigated, sources said yesterday. Additionally, as part of ongoing efforts to bolster Turkish-Greek economic and energy cooperation, eventual sale to the Greek Cypriot administration is also being looked into, the sources added. The initial step in the investigation will explore the feasibility of laying 70 miles of cable between Anamur on Turkey’s coast to Girne in the TRNC. /Star/

TOURISM SPIKE SEEN IN MARCH
According to a statement issued by the Tourism Ministry, some 675,000 tourists visited Turkey this March. Foreign tourists from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) memeber countries made up 58.6% of this number, a 20.8% increase compared to the same month last year. Moreover, the number of visitors from eastern Mediterranean countries coming to Turkey rose by 26.9% compared to 2001 figures. /Cumhuriyet/

POLAND TO SPOTLIGHT TURKISH PHOTOGRAPHER
Works by Turkish photographer Cengiz Akduman will be exhibited in Warsaw, Poland, as part of “Turkish Week” events this month sponsored jointly by the Turkish-Polish Businessmen’s Association and Poland’s state television. Akduman’s exhibition entitled “Anatolia Isn’t That Far Away” will open on April 23. /Cumhuriyet/

SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION