BERLIN (AFP) - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder flies to Turkey on Sunday in a landmark visit seen as reinforcing his support for Ankara’s bid to join the European Union and lending weight to efforts to reunify Cyprus. It is the first trip to Turkey by a German chancellor since Helmut Kohl in 1993. Schroeder will meet with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President Necdet Sezer and opposition leader Deniz Baykal. The chancellor will hail Erdogan’s “constructive contribution” toward the Cyprus talks, German government sources here said. Ankara has made “significant progress,” notably on its laws, in meeting EU criteria, the sources added, but said the reforms “need to be strengthened.”

ISTANBUL (AP) - A military helicopter crashed in eastern Turkey yesterday, killing five soldiers. The crash of the Sikorsky helicopter occurred in a rural part of eastern Bingol province, 900 kilometers (550 miles) southeast of the capital Ankara, the military said in a statement. The helicopter had been taking two soldiers with health problems for medical help when it crashed, the Anatolia news agency reported. The helicopter’s pilot and co-pilot, a technician, and the two patients were killed, the agency said. The military was investigating the cause of the crash.

A suspect in the trial of the alleged assassins of Serbia’s reformist prime minister said yesterday that one of Zoran Djindjic’s top associates was linked to the criminal gang accused of masterminding the slaying. Former special policeman Sasa Pejakovic, who has served as a security officer for both government officials and crime bosses, told the court that Deputy Prime Minister Cedomir Jovanovic had often met with the leaders of the Zemun Clan, the gang allegedly behind the March 12, 2003 slaying. (AP)

An influential committee of European Union legislators yesterday warned Romania it must speed up democratic reforms to stand any chance of meeting a 2007 target for joining the EU. The European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee stopped short, however, of recommending suspension of EU membership talks as demanded by some members. “Romania faces serious difficulties fulfilling the (membership) requirements.. and becoming a member in 2007 is impossible unless Romania fully implements” more reforms, said a report approved in a vote by the 138-member committee. It said Romania must do more to fight corruption, end political interference with the justice system, ensure media freedom and prevent police brutality. (AP)

A member of a long-awaited new Serbian ruling coalition said yesterday that its members had finalized a Cabinet lineup. “Everything is agreed upon,” said Velimir Ilic, leader of a monarchist group in a likely minority Cabinet led by moderate nationalist Vojislav Kostunica and expected to be backed by the Socialist Party of jailed ex-leader Slobodan Milosevic. “We accepted last night’s offer,” Ilic was quoted as saying by the Beta news agency. (Reuters)