This March edition of DİPLOMAT reaches you just as Spring arrives. The vigour of nature has somehow found its way into our pages, which are richer and more varied than ever.

Our guests this month include Maria SERENIUS, the Ambassador of Finland to Ankara, and Japan's Ambassador to Ankara, Tomoyuki ABE. Finland is now a highly respected member of the European Union. Speaking to Diplomat, Ambassador Serenius recalls the period when her country was still a candidate member, and expresses her views on Turkey's candidacy. Ambassador Abe, of course, represents one of the most important countries on the planet. He addresses three contemporary world issues: the reform of the United Nations, North Korea and Iraq. At the same time, he does not omit to comment on Japanese investment in Turkey.

Our travel pages this month take the reader to Qatar -- an intriguing Gulf country which offers some astonishing examples of how nature has been re-shaped by the human hand. We also visit a famous museum -the "Mosaic Museum" in Turkey's southernmost provincial centre of Antakya. After seeing these photographs, we are sure that a trip to Antakya to see the whole collection will feature highly in your travel plans.

The variety continues in our arts pages. Ankara-based painter Neşe Üçer uniquely combines proficiency in impressionist oil painting with a mastery of Chinese brushwork, which she studied for many years in the Far East. In a separate article, two other women artists speak of their devotion to ceramics, telling how they produce original objects from the most basic of raw materials: mud.

Do you like opera? If so, our story on the Ankara State Opera, set up in the early years of the Republic, is certain to capture your attention.

With the winter now behind us, my the Spring bring a fresh burst of energy and happiness to everybody !

Kaya Dorsan
publisher and editor-in-chief