Diplomatic activity was as intense in March as it had been the previous month. Hawing visited Turkey's western neighbour Bulgaria in February, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer travelled to eastern neighbour Georgia. Prime M inister Recep Tayyip Erdogan represented Turkey at the Arab League meeting in Sudan, and Speaker ol Parliament Bulent Arinc was in the Finnish parliament. Meanwhile, Ankara welcomed a string of foreign guests, and the diplomatic community made the acquaintance of a new ambassador from the Republic of Korea.

Some of our readers have remarked that the content of DIPLOMAT is becoming richer and richer. Among those adding value to our pages this month is the Ambassador of Kuwait to Ankara, Abdullah al-Duwaikh, who appears on the Interview page. The highly experienced ambassador answers DIPLOMAT's questions not only on ties between Turkey and Kuwait but on topical issues related to Iraq and Iran, and on his country's oil price policy.

Another guest in this edition is Polish Ambassador to Ankara Grzegorz Michalski. An expert on Turkey, Ambassador Michalski has been coming and going since 1985, during which period he has represented his country at various levels. He draws some interesting parallels between Poland and Turkey as the latter prepares for full EU membership - a path also trodden by Poland within the past few years. In the light of his own country's experiences, he has some keen observations and recommendations to make.

Our Speaking Out pages are once again devoted to a non-government organization. Dr. Akkan Suver, president of the Marmara Foundation, which is organizing the Eurasian Economic Summit In Istanbul in May, gives detailed information about the event This year, the conference will focus on energy, on commerce and industry, and on terrorism and security. High-level participation is expected from 31 countries. Some of our readers, too, may have the opportunity to attend.

Born in the year of the foundation of the Republic, artist Kayihan Keskinok was raised amid the excitement of those early years by educators who perceived the passage from monarchy to the Republic as a revolution. Today he is one of Turkey's leading artists. The story of this typical product of the Republican regime is told on our arts pages this month, accompanied by some of his striking pictures.

Turning to travel, DIPLOMAT allows the reader to join a rapid tour of Morocco, an exotic North African country where Arab and European cultures live side by side.

If you are unable to travel so far over the next few weeks, don't forget how beautiful many rural areas of Turkey become at this time of year, as wildflowers carpet the entire land. You may be surprised to know that there are around 3,000 wild flowers indigenous to Turkey. Professor Erdogan Tekin presents a selection of them within these pages. So dont forget to take DIPLOMAT with you if you go out and about next weekend, and see if you can spot some of the wild flowers in our pictures.