TRILATERAL SUMMIT BEGINS IN CESME TODAY
The presidents of Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria are to attend today a trilateral summit in Cesme. According to a statement issued by the Presidential Press Office, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer is to travel to Cesme today for the summit. Romanian President Ion Iliescu and Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov are also to attend the gathering. /Star/

ECEVIT DELAYS RETURN TO OFFICE
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said yesterday that he would spend two or three more days away from the Prime Ministry office to recover from his illness. "I'm getting better every day, but so as not to set back that process, I plan to spend two or three days more working at home," Ecevit said in a written statement. The prime minister was hospitalized a week ago due to an intestinal infection and has been working at home since then. /All Papers/

CEM TO MEET WITH ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTERS
Th foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia will tomorrow attend a NATO meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland. Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Vilayat Guliyev and Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian are to discuss "Peace and Partnership" with the permanent members of NATO. Turkey is a founding member of NATO, while the two ex-Soviet republics do not belong to the alliance. /Hurriyet/

ANNAN VISITS CYPRUS
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan will arrive in Cyprus today in order to contribute to the direct talks between Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas and Greek-Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides. After meeting with Denktas and Clerides separately, Annan will bring the two leaders together at a dinner. Annan told reporters that he hoped that his visit would contribute to the process of finding a settlement to the Cyprus issue. /Turkiye/

CAKMAKOGLU TRAVELS TO BELGIUM FOR DEFENSE MINISTERS MEETING
Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu left for Brussels, Belgium, yesterday to attend a European Union defense ministers meeting. Before his departure Cakmakoglu told reporters that in addition to EU member countries' defense ministers, six candidate countries' ministers would attend the meeting, including Turkey's. After his visit to Brussels, Cakmakoglu will proceed to Rome on Thursday to attend a Western Europe Armament Group's defense ministers meeting. /Turkiye/

IMF DELEGATION TO VISIT TURKEY
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation headed by Turkey Desk Chief Juha Kahkonen is to arrive in Istanbul tomorrow as part of the IMF's second review. The delegation will stay in Turkey for two weeks, and will hold meetings with high-level officials and private sector representatives. Following the meetings and implementation of the necessary pre-conditions, the IMF Executive Board is to meet in June to evaluate the second review and is expected to extend a $1.150 billion loan tranche to Turkey. /Turkiye/

COUNTRIES PLEDGE SUPPORT FOR TURKISH-LED ISAF
A meeting was held at the Office of the Chief of the General Staff late last week in Ankara with the participation of 26 countries to discuss recent developments concerning the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Even as current participating countries stated that they wanted to continue to support the force, a number of predominantly Muslim countries such as Malaysia and Bangladesh also conveyed the message that they wanted to contribute to the ISAF. Diplomatic sources remarked that the number of countries supporting the ISAF might increase and that another meeting to discuss the technical details would be held this Friday, May 17. Most of the countries agreed to continue to take part in the ISAF under the leadership of Turkey. /Cumhuriyet/

VURAL RECEIVES WORLD BANK'S CHHIBBER
Transportation Minister Oktay Vural yesterday received World Bank Turkey Director Ajay Chhibber. Among the major issues discussed at the meeting were the rehabilitation of the state railways and the privatization of state landline monopoly Turk Telecom. /Cumhuriyet/

GOVERNMENT PREPARES FOR IMF REVIEW
While an International Monetary Fund team is expected to arrive in Turkey tomorrow for its second review visit, Turkey's economic administration is trying to fulfil its commitments to the body. Those commitments need to be fulfilled in due time and policy implementation must begin before the end of the May to forestall any possibility of a hitch. State Minister Kemal Dervis said yesterday that there had been two meetings with the finance minister and high-ranking economy bureaucrats to make preparations. The due commitments on structural reforms before the economy bureaucracy are bank recapitalization, corporate debt restructuring (Istanbul Approach), a Public Procurement (Bidding) Law, determining the number of redundant staff in public enterprises, privatization in the energy sector, improved conditions for foreign investment, and transparency of resource allocations in public administration. The IMF officials will also focus on the achievements of government budget and monetary policy targets to date, which make up the other leg of the commitments. /Milliyet/

THEATRE GROUPS TO MEET IN TRABZON
The Black Sea city of Trabzon is set to host the weeklong third "International Black Sea Theatre Assembly" beginning tomorrow. Culture Minister Istemihan Talay will preside over a ceremony to open the festival, which runs through May 23. /Cumhuriyet/

ISTANBUL WELCOMES FRANCO MORETTI
Istanbul Bilgi University is set to host prominent man of letters Franco Moretti today and tomorrow. Moretti, a well-known critic in the field of comparative literature, is currently working at California's Stanford University in the United States. Among his notable works are "The Way of the World," "Signs Taken for Wonders" and "Atlas of the Novel." /Cumhuriyet/

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