ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday rejected speculation the government could be moving toward early elections after a string of resignations from his ruling party. Asked by a reporter if early elections could undermine Turkey’s economic recovery, Erdogan was quoted by the state-run Anatolia news agency as saying: “To me, using the term ‘early elections’ at this point is treacherous. The most important thing for economic stability is security (and political) stability.”

SOFIA (AP) - Bulgarian officials yesterday sought to counter newly revived suspicions that the Balkan country’s former communist regime was implicated in the 1981 assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II. Italian newspapers reported earlier this week that documents discovered recently in the archive of the Stasi, the secret police of former East Germany, appear to link Bulgaria to the attack. “Bulgaria has proved that all such allegations are completely inaccurate,” Deputy Foreign Minister Gergana Grancharova said in a statement.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will pay a visit to Turkey on May 3-4 for talks expected to focus on the country’s bid to join the European Union, Turkish government sources said yesterday. Schroeder is scheduled to meet with his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Ahmet Necdet Sezer in Ankara and also attend a meeting of Turkish and German businesspeople in Istanbul. (AFP)

A small plane crashed in western Serbia yesterday, killing two people and injuring another, police said. The Piper PA-28 plane was flying from Belgrade to Valjevo, 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of the capital, when it crashed, the private Beta news agency said. A police official in Valjevo confirmed the crash and said two people, including a flight instructor, were killed and one was injured with severe skin burns. The plane caught fire before it crashed, Beta said. It wasn’t clear what caused the crash and no other details were immediately available. (AP)

Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has vetoed a law authorizing the full sale of a private television network to foreign investors on grounds that the transaction was contrary to national interests, his press service reported yesterday. It said he rejected the measure, approved by the legislature on March 16, late on Thursday. “This situation is consistent with neither the national interest nor that of a public utility,” the president argued in a 12-page statement. The legislation had been introduced by the ruling Justice and Development Party. (AFP)