Cyprus News Agency: News in English (AM), 97-11-25

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From: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>

CONTENTS

[01] US supports UN efforts for Cyprus settlement

[02] Cyprus demographic statistics

[03] Neurology and Genetics Institute must benefit both communities

0920:CYPPRESS:01

[01] US supports UN efforts for Cyprus settlement

US State Department Spokesman Jim Foley said Monday that Cyprus coordinator, Tom Miller, is visiting Athens within this framework.

"I am not familiar with his agenda...", Foley said, but added the US continues "to support the UN process and coordinate closely with the UN and our European partners and certainly Mr Miller is doing that today in Athens."

Miller met Greek Foreign Under-Secretary, Yiannos Kranidiotis, and opposition party leader, Costas Karamanlis, in the Greek capital on Monday.

He added the US is aware that the UN Secretary-General's advisor on the Cyprus problem, Diego Cordovez, was in Cyprus last week and plans to return in March "to resume UN-sponsored settlement talks" between the two communities.

Cordovez, who chaired two rounds of failed Cyprus peace talks this summer, visited the island last week, for the first time since his appointment earlier this year.

President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash agreed the UN envoy should visit the island after the presidential elections to be held February 1998, to resume the peace process.

UN efforts for a settlement in Cyprus, divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37 percent of its territory, have so far failed due to the Turkish side's intransigence, Government Spokesman Manolis Christofides told his daily briefing yesterday.

CNA DA/MA/GP/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

0930:CYPPRESS:02

[02] Cyprus demographic statistics

It is estimated that 68,9 per cent of the population resides in urban areas while in the rural areas lives 31.1 per cent of the total.

According to the 1996 Demographic Report, published by the official Department of Statistics and Research, the crude birth rate in 1996 was 14, 9 per thousand inhabitants, compared to 15,4 in 1995.

Fertility indicators are higher in Cyprus than in the European and other developed countries, the report says.

Expectation of life at birth for the period 1994-1995 was 75,3 years for males and 79,8 years for females. These numbers compare favourably with those of more developed countries.

There has been a continuous rising in the age at first marriage, according to the report.

Specifically, in the 1993-1996 period, mean age of men at first marriage increased to 27,7 compared to 25,7 in the 1974-1977 period, while for females the respective ages were 25,1 and 22,9.

There has also been a rising trend in the number of divorces in recent years. The total divorce rate was 144 in 1996, compared to only 42 in 1980.

Total divorce rate shows the number of marriages per thousand marriages, expected to end up in divorce.

Referring to migration, though accurate figures are not available, the report says indications are that as from 1989 there is a flow of Cypriot emigrants returning to the island.

CNA GG/GP/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1420:CYPPRESS:03

[03] Neurology and Genetics Institute must benefit both communities

According to an announcement issued by the Institute today, a RTK delegation, headed by its president Mehmet Ali Talat, visited on Monday the Institute, located near the line dividing the capital Nicosia.

The delegation said it believes Turkish Cypriot patients and scientists should have free access to the Institute and pledged to offer its assistance so the Turkish Cypriot community will enjoy the benefits the Institute has to offer.

Institute head, Dr. Lefcos Middleton, told CNA he is carrying out discussions so that Greek and Turkish Cypriot professionals could continue to hold joint meetings and seminars.

"We want to keep offering our services to the Turkish Cypriots," he said.

Some 550 Turkish Cypriots were treated at the Institute until the summer 1996, when tension between the two communities heightened after two Greek Cypriots were brutally murdered by Turkish extremists during a peaceful demonstration.

"We would like to give these Turkish Cypriots proper treatment and our door is always open for them," Middleton said.

Turkish Cypriots, both doctors and patients, stopped visiting the Institute after August last year.

The bi-communal Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics was established in 1990 with funds from the US government and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

It specialises in the treatment of thalassaemia, mental retardation, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, dementia, epilepsy and other neurological and degenerative disorders.

It was set up to offer highly-specialised services to both communities, estranged since Turkey invaded and occupied 37 percent of Cyprus' territory in 1974.

CNA MK/MA/GP/1997

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

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