Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 11-10-31

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

CONTENTS

[01] CYPRUS TALKS - GREENTREE

[02] TURKEY - VIOLATIONS

[03] CONSTRUCTION - INDICES

[04] TOURISM - REVENUE

[01] CYPRUS TALKS - GREENTREE

A statement by the UN Secretary General is expected on Tuesday, at UN headquarters. Although it is not yet clear, it is most probable that the UN chief will be making a statement alone and may take some questions.

The talks continued on Monday on governance, property, territory and citizenship. Commenting on Turkish Cypriot press reports that an agreement had been achieved on the economy, the EU and internal security, a Greek Cypriot source said that no talks were held on those three chapters, since the talks were focusing on the other four issues.

UN Spokesman Martin Nezirski said the UN chief was meeting with the leaders of the two communities and would be making a statement on Tuesday at UN headquarters.

[02] TURKEY - VIOLATIONS

According to an official announcement, Hadjimichael said in his speech that Turkey has violated in 1974 basic human rights and fundamental freedoms, in addition to violating Cyprus independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

As Hadjimichael noted, in relation to its population, Cyprus has the highest percentage of displaced persons in the world. The Permanent Representative added that since 1974, the UN has adopted a series of important resolutions, calling on Turkey to respect its obligations under international law.

Instead, he said, Turkey continues to commit mass violations of human rights in Cyprus, by violently maintaining the division of people and of territory and by having displaced almost one third of the population, as well as by illegally exploiting Greek Cypriot properties.

[03] CONSTRUCTION - INDICES

According to OSEOK, this applies for all districts, with Larnaca and Famagusta on the decline and Nicosia worsening significantly. OSEOK notes that Limassol has not reached the very low levels of other districts.

OSEOK notes that building contractors are facing problems due to low demand, competition with other Cypriot building contractors, the financial crisis, and liquidity and lending problems. Regarding unemployment in the construction sector, OSEOK notes that it worsened during the third quarter of 2011 and that some positive messages are emerging from the indices concerning demand.

The Home Purchase/Construction Index was 4.6% during the past 12 months, which is not the worst ever, while the Renovation Index reached 9.6% and compares favourably with good periods.

[04] TOURISM - REVENUE

According to data released today by the Statistical Service of the Republic of Cyprus, revenue from tourism is estimated to 1,454.1 mln for the period January-September 2011, compared to 1,271.0 mln in the corresponding period of 2010, recording an increase of 14.4%.

The data also show that the average stay of tourists in September 2011 fell to 9.9 days, from 10.4 days in September last year, while spending per capita increased to 775 euros, compared with 726.7 euros.

In relation to the country of origin, the lengthiest stay was recorded amongst tourists from the US, with 12.6 days, followed by the Irish with 12 days and UK tourists with 10.5 days.

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