On Sunday (16th April) -- the penultimate day of his one week visit to Turkey -- President Nikolai Podgorny of the Soviet Union viewed the suspension bridge over the Bosphorus that will link European and Asiatic Istanbul when completed next years.

Security arrangements were tight during the visit to the bridge. Since last April Istanbul -- together with ten other major Turkish centres -- has been under martial law. The President's visit comes at a time when the Turkish government is poised for a new crackdown on the political left, and interest of Turkish press and public in the visit has been polite but restrained
Turkey as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) foresaw only a possible increase in trade and aid as a result of the Soviet President's visit, as opposed to any positive non-agre???ion treaty. However, today (17th April) it was announced that Turkey and the Soviet Union would release of principles on "good neighbourly relations between the two countries."
It was also announced today that Turkish Prime Minister Nihat Erim, with whom President Podgorny had talks at the beginning of his visit, will resign. The political crisis -- involving the threat of direct military rule -- was frozen for the duration of the Soviet President's visit.

SYNOPSIS: In Istanbul on Sunday, a motorcade arrived bringing Soviet President Nikolai Podgorny to one of the last engagements of his week-long Turkish visit.

The crowds at the site of the new Bosphorus bridge he had come to see, were polite and inquisitive -- their usual enthusiasm restrained. Many Turkish newspapers, echoing public opinion, felt that a better time could have been chosen for the President's visit. At present the Turkish government is preparing to crack down heavily on left-wing elements in the country.

On Sunday, however, President Podgorny had come only to express his personal admiration at the bridge that will soon become one of the most impressive features of Istanbul. Security was strict while he viewed the construction site, and a Turkish naval gunboat lay at anchor near at hand.

On completion next year, the British-designed bridge will span the Bosphorus, linking European and Asistis Istanbul. Projects to replace the traditional ferries with a more permanent means of access to the interior of Turkey have been put forwa??? for the last half-century. After inspecting the bridge, President Podgorny later attended a banquet given by Prime Minister Dr. Nihat Erim, the President's last official engagement before leaving for Moscow the next day