The "DİPLOMAT" team is very happy right now.

We were frankly delighted with warm welcome which the first edition of "DİPLOMAT" received from diplomatic community. Both the content of the magazine and its visual quality were widely appreciated. The number of subscribers is now increasing slowly day by day, and offers of co-operation are coming in from various embassies. In the months ahead, we will be including more analyses of international affairs by different commentators.

The first edition of "DİPLOMAT" contained an interview with the doyen of the corps diplomatique, Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Ankara Fouad Yaseen. This month, you will be able to read the views both of Ambassador Jonuz Begaj of Albania, one of the important states of the Balkans, and of Ambassador Kaldone Nweihed, one of the world's most important oil states.

Many more interesting articles are to be found within these pages. Among those interested in arts and culture, an article about Yalçın Gökçebağ - one of the most popular modern Turkish painters - will, I think, attract particular attention.

It is a special pleasure for us to be able to report on the wide-ranging activities of the embassies in Ankara and to publicise them for the benefit of our other readers. Naturally, we can only report on these activities if we hear about them in time. We would therefore very much welcome any and all information which embassies are able to provide.

Meanwhile, it seems the winter has come to Ankara. Winters in Ankara are cold but when it snows they can be beautiful. Enjoy it and take care.

Kaya DORSAN
publisher and editor-in-chief