ANKARA, May 17: Three homemade bombs exploded overnight in front of branches of a British bank in Turkey before a visit by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is to discuss the country's bid to join the European Union and the future of divided island of Cyprus.

Two of the blasts took place in the country's biggest city Istanbul on Sunday, causing minor damage to two HSBC branches. The third bomb went off outside another HSBC branch in Ankara, blowing out windows and causing minor damage to cars parked nearby. Nobody was injured in explosions.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the blasts. Police immediately stepped up security at other branches of the bank whose main office in Istanbul was targeted in a wave of suicide attacks along with two synagogues and the British consulate in November last year.

The carnage claimed more than 60 lives and was blamed on Turkish extremists linked to the Al-Qaeda network. The two countries agreed afterwards to hold regular talks and Blair's visit is the first since then.

Turkey's drive to become an EU member is expected to dominate the agenda of the one-day working visit, the first by a British prime minister in 14 years. Blair will meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and with with Erdogan.

Turkey has been a formal EU candidate since 1999 but has so far failed to begin accession talks with the European Union. It has since passed a series of reforms to meet the Union's political criteria which Turkish officials say are sufficient to get the greenlight for membership talks when EU leaders meet in December to assess Turkey's democratic progress.

In comments published in Turkey's mass-circulation Hurriyet daily newspaper, the British leader praised Turkey's reform drive and said his visit was aimed at encouraging Turkish leaders to keep up its efforts.

Asked whether Turkey could obtain a date in December to begin negotiations with the EU, Blair said: "Yes, if Turkey maintains the extraordinary speed of its reform programme."

"My conviction is that Turkey's accession will be a good thing for us all. I sincerely hope that there will be a positive decision for Turkey in December," he told Hurriyet.

On the issue of Cyprus, where the southern Greek Cypriot side became part of the EU on May 1, Ankara is expected to press Britain to lift its economic sanctions against the isolated Turkish north of the island.

The Turkish Cypriots had given overwhelming support to a UN plan to end the island's division - which aimed to reunify the island before it joined the EU - but the internationally-recognised Greek south rejected the proposal.

Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots have since launched a diplomatic offensive to break the international isolation of their enclave where they have maintained a breakaway state since 1983 - nine years after Turkey invaded and occupied the north of the island. -AFP