Kazakhstan

Allow me to congratulate you, Sir, on your election to the high office of President of the General Assembly at its fifty-third session and to assure you of the full support of the delegation of Kazakhstan in your work. Kazakhstan, in welcoming the efforts of the Secretary-General to reform the United Nations, supports the decisions adopted by the General Assembly at its last session. The steps taken in that direction will undoubtedly facilitate the renewal of the Organization in the changing historical conditions. On the threshold of the twenty-first century, the world is becoming an integrated and interrelated system in which there is no room for autarchy and self-isolation. Globalization, which embraces the main spheres of human activity, has radically altered the accustomed assumptions about the realities of modern life. Globalization also compels us to reassess the nature of international cooperation from the standpoint of strengthening multilateral mechanisms for taking decisions on the urgent problems that are of concern to the entire world 17 community. Despite all the diversity of national interests, such decisions need to be taken through joint efforts on the basis of goodwill and consensus, and here the role of the United Nations cannot be underestimated. On the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we again note the permanent significance of that instrument in affirming democratic values and the rule of law. Kazakhstan, seven years after making its choice of democracy and an open society, is today taking tangible steps to intensify its political reforms. Our country is embarking on a comprehensive programme of democratization that covers such important spheres as elections, political parties, Parliament, civil society, the judicial system, the advancement of women and the mass media. The President of Kazakhstan, Mr. Nursultan Nazarbaev, will be taking decisive steps to solve acute social problems, combat corruption and optimize the State administration. All these measures are aimed at further protecting and guaranteeing the rights and freedoms of every citizen of our multi-ethnic society. We shall do everything within our power to preserve such values as inter-ethnic harmony and the diversity of the cultures and customs of each of the nationalities that make up the people of Kazakhstan. We shall strengthen pluralism in society in order reliably to guarantee the freedoms of conscience, speech and the press and further to strengthen the foundations of a secular democratic society. Kazakhstan does not believe that it is possible to build its own statehood without successful integration into the world economy and world politics. In this context, we are developing and strengthening our national financial institutions, which has enabled us to cope, at lower cost, with the consequences of the crisis affecting Asia and the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). As a proponent of a policy of integration, our head of State is a constant advocate of creating the appropriate economic conditions for this to take place and has proposed, as Chairman of the Customs Union, the conclusion of a treaty on the creation of a unified economic space within the CIS. Kazakhstan, which pursues a policy of constructive cooperation, has created a zone of security and goodneighbourliness around its borders. We are not in confrontation with any State in the world. As a Eurasian State, Kazakhstan sees the development of friendly, equitable and mutually beneficial relations with the countries of the East and the West as a priority of its foreign policy. We believe that Kazakhstan’s voluntary renunciation of its nuclear heritage and its firm adherence to the nonproliferation regime constitute important prerequisites for the attainment of this strategic objective. A few days ago, the second International Conference on the problems of non-proliferation was held in the town of Kurchatov, which is within the territory of the former nuclear testingground at Semipalatinsk. During the conference, the last strategic missile launch silo was shut down. Kazakhstan consistently advocates the creation of security structures on the Asian continent. We note with satisfaction that the initiative of our country’s President to convene a conference on interaction and confidencebuilding measures in Asia is taking solid shape and becoming a tangible factor in present-day international life. This is attested to by the meeting which took place in Almaty in July of the leaders of Kazakhstan, China, the Russian Federation, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on issues of cooperation and confidence-building measures in the region. We believe that the agreements signed with China on the delimitation of the Kazakh-Chinese border will make a major contribution to strengthening regional security and stability. The Kazakh-Russian Declaration on eternal friendship and alliance for the twenty-first century and the Treaty of eternal friendship between Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan are also of great importance. Kazakhstan, as a firm proponent of strengthening regional and global security, strongly condemns any undermining of the non-proliferation regime and calls on India and Pakistan to heed the views of the vast majority of the world community and accede without delay to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. We support the call of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for those countries to join in the negotiations on prohibitions of the production of fissionable materials for nuclear weapons and to refrain from deploying such weapons in their territory. In the context of strengthening regional security and the non-proliferation regime, Kazakhstan will continue to work for the creation of a nuclear-weaponfree zone in Central Asia. The demonstrations of our country’s involvement in the peacekeeping activities of the United Nations include 18 the formation of a peacekeeping battalion in Central Asia and Kazakhstan’s participation in the United Nations standby arrangements system. From this high podium, we cannot fail to pay attention to the current situation in Afghanistan. The events taking place there, which are accompanied by mass violations of human rights and the fundamental norms of international law, have become a subject of profound concern to us. Kazakhstan has made and will continue to make its contribution to the achievement of peace in that country. The task of the world community is to convince all the parties to the conflict to cease military action right away and sit down at the negotiating table with a view to establishing a Government of national reconciliation. We are convinced that no military solution to the Afghan problem exists. A peace process in Afghanistan is possible only if interference from outside is halted and full support is given to the efforts of the Secretary-General. Not only immediate neighbours, but all interested countries, must take an active part in the search for ways of solving the Afghan problem. One of the most difficult present-day problems is international terrorism and organized crime. Kazakhstan rejects terrorism in all its manifestations and is ready to participate in international efforts to combat this evil. On the threshold of the next century, a handful of madmen cannot be allowed to blackmail and endanger the lives and well-being of people who uphold the ideas of creation and peace. This is doubly dangerous in the case of nuclear terrorism. International organized crime is associated in one way or another with illegal drug-trafficking. Most unfortunately, the scale of the drug business is constantly growing. Drug addiction, moving freely across borders, is undermining statehood and the moral foundations of society. Increasingly, more young people are becoming addicted to drugs. We are witnessing a new phenomenon of drug production becoming a leading component of national economies. Drugs from Afghanistan are to be found in virtually all countries of the world. Accordingly, we support the decisions of the twentieth special session of the General Assembly on international drug control and will participate actively in their implementation. In speaking of the main problems that ail mankind, we cannot forget separatism. Kazakhstan has more than once stated its position that it does not accept ethnic separatism. Given the calamities it is inflicting on many States, now is the time to declare unambiguously that separatism must be proclaimed outside the law. The right of nations to selfdetermination cannot under present historical circumstances play the role that it played at the beginning of this century. Yet another global problem which casts a cloud over the future of mankind is the ever deteriorating environmental situation. Kazakhstan has in all truth experienced the consequences of environmental disasters. From this high podium, the President of Kazakhstan has more than once called on the world community to unify and coordinate efforts to protect the environment. We are grateful to the General Assembly for the support that has been extended to our country, as reflected in the resolution on assistance in overcoming the consequences of the nuclear tests in the Semipalatinsk region. The Aral Sea disaster has become genuinely global in nature. Deposits of salt from the exposed bed of the Aral Sea have been found in the Arctic Ocean and in Western Europe. While noting with gratitude the assistance from the United Nations, we nevertheless call on the States Members of our Organization to pay greater attention to this serious problem and to take more active and specific steps to solve it. The peculiarity of the geographical situation of Kazakhstan, and of Central Asia as a whole, confronts us with an acute problem of access to world markets, including the transport of hydrocarbons. Kazakhstan therefore attaches great importance to cooperation with the United Nations and its specialized agencies to develop transit transport systems in the landlocked Central Asian States. Reviving the traditions of the Great Silk Road, Kazakhstan is interested in expanding and developing transportation networks in Central Asia and beyond. Our country, with its vast territory, is an important link between Asia and Europe. Our participation in the Transport Corridor: Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA) project will undoubtedly facilitate an increase in the effectiveness of the transport system in the vast area of the Eurasian continent. We place great hopes in the United Nations Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA), recently adopted by the Economic Commission for Europe and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. 19 Kazakhstan, as the Chairman of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), intends to make a real contribution to stepping up the activity of this important regional forum. The Declaration and other documents adopted at the ECO summit in Almaty creates good prerequisites for the creation of a favourable trade climate in relations between the ECO member countries and their potential partners in Europe and Asia. We believe that ECO is a promising organization and has great potential for expanding economic ties in the territories of 10 States with a total population of more than 300 million people. Kazakhstan will work for the further strengthening of cooperation between the ECO and the United Nations. Another issue that must be included among today’s urgent problems is the legal status of the Caspian Sea. We note with satisfaction the progress made in reaching consensus on this complex and delicate subject, which affects the interrelations among the five littoral States. The agreement signed between Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation in July this year on the delimitation of the northern part of the Caspian Sea lays the foundations for a complete settlement of the Caspian problem. It is now important to take concrete steps for the implementation of this instrument, which is in conformity with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. A solution of the Caspian problem is of strategic importance for Kazakhstan. We are interested in reliably ensuring the export of our mineral resources through multiple-option oil-gas pipelines. We expect early implementation of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium project, and we believe that the construction of an oil pipeline from western Kazakhstan to China offers promising prospects. We support the trans-Caspian project for an oil and gas pipeline, Baku-Ceyhan, and we view the project for an oil pipeline through the territory of Iran as very promising. It must be noted with regret that mankind will be entering the next century burdened by many serious problems. But, at the same time, there are no grounds for unrelieved pessimism, since the passing century, which witnessed two world wars, the development and testing of lethal types of weapons and a multiplicity of regional and ethnic conflicts, has developed reliable mechanisms — our Organization first among them — for preventing and settling international problems. The cause of peace, security and development is of concern to all States. We must, therefore, all act as a united whole. Kazakhstan is ready to take part in this work for peace and cooperation.