Kazakhstan

First of all, I would like to offer congratulations on the upcoming sixty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations. For an individual person, 65 is an age when life experience turns into wisdom. As the great Goethe once said, it is our experience that teaches us to truly appreciate life. Today, the United Nations, with its 65 years of experience gained in the noble work for peace and progress, is the most reputable and relevant international organization there is. Each State Member of the United Nations, regardless of its size or power, seeks to contribute to building a safer and better world. On 29 August 1949, the first atomic explosion on the ancient Kazakh land was carried out near the city of Semipalatinsk, unleashing an insane nuclear arms race and inflicting enormous suffering on the people of Kazakhstan. On 29 August 1991, the President of Kazakhstan, Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev, issued a decree that unilaterally shut down, once and for all, one of the world’s largest nuclear test sites. It is highly symbolic that 18 years later, the General Assembly at its preceding session acted upon his initiative to adopt a resolution establishing 29 August as the International Day against Nuclear Tests (resolution 64/35). The unanimous adoption of the resolution has effectively reaffirmed the commitment of the international community to the process of reducing the nuclear threat. The April visit of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to Kazakhstan started with a tour of the former Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. Standing right on the former Ground Zero, he urged the international community to redouble its efforts to create a world free of nuclear weapons. For the people of Kazakhstan, who know only too well all the horrors of nuclear tests, the issue of a total ban on such tests is particularly relevant. Over the course of 40 years, some 490 nuclear explosions were carried out at the Semipalatinsk test site, affecting more than half a million people and damaging territory as large as today’s Germany. Today we call upon States that have not signed or ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) to do so as soon as possible. The entry into force of the CTBT will become one of the key areas of effective implementation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), an important instrument forming a foundation for the security of all humanity. We are satisfied that the States parties to the NPT were able to adopt a final document last May at the conclusion of the latest NPT Review Conference. But new and more decisive steps are needed today for nuclear disarmament. An early drafting of a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty, which along with the CTBT should become an important pillar of the NPT, is one such step. 45 10-55103 We believe that it is extremely important to begin, as soon as possible, to draft an international legally binding instrument providing security assurances by nuclear Powers to non-nuclear-weapon States. Only such assurances can effectively keep in check the aspirations of certain non-nuclear States to acquire nuclear weapons, which they regard as a guarantee of their own security. The establishment of new zones free from nuclear weapons, including in the Middle East, would represent another step towards achieving the goal of a nuclear-free world. We are convinced that a focused and progressive move in that direction would contribute to the establishment of trust among neighbours in the region and lay the foundations for a radical change in the situation of that long-suffering region. Addressing the Assembly from this rostrum, I would like to reaffirm the urgency and relevance of the initiative of the President of Kazakhstan, Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev, to draft a universal declaration on a nuclear-free world, which would reflect the commitment of all States to firmly and consistently move towards a nuclear-weapon-free world. We support the legitimate and inalienable right of each State party to the NPT to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. However, such activities should be carried out in a transparent manner and on the basis of strict compliance with all requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and under its control. Kazakhstan, the world’s largest uranium producer, intends to contribute to the development of nuclear energy and is ready to host an international nuclear fuel bank, under the auspices of the IAEA, and to commit itself to its safe storage. As 2010 Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Kazakhstan, in the interests of all participating States, has emphasized efforts to shape not a security space but a security community, free of dividing lines and zones with different levels of security. The promotion of an atmosphere of trust in the interests of all and strengthening consensus on key issues in all three dimensions of OSCE activities has made it possible to reach a historic consensus on an OSCE summit, to be held on 1 and 2 December 2010 in the capital of Kazakhstan. It will be the first such event in the past 11 years. I have no doubt that this upcoming Astana summit will become a landmark in the progressive movement of the OSCE participating States towards shaping a truly common and indivisible security community in the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian zones, based on shared values, principles and commitments. In that regard, we view the discussion at this OSCE summit of the issue of the stabilization and social and economic rehabilitation of Afghanistan as an important contribution to regional and global security. Time has proven that a purely military solution to the Afghan problem does not exist. Accordingly, Kazakhstan favours enhanced efforts by the international community to adapt Afghanistan to post- war development. On the initiative of our head of State, an educational programme has begun this year to train some 1,000 Afghan nationals in the educational institutions of Kazakhstan for careers in medicine, agriculture and construction. We have allocated $50 million to that purpose. The serious political crisis in Kyrgyzstan, which could have extremely negative consequences not only for Central Asia but also far beyond its borders, has demonstrated the lack of an effective and comprehensive mechanism to prevent such conflicts. That is why the forthcoming OSCE summit provides a unique opportunity to develop an appropriate mechanism, drawing on the great potential and experience of the OSCE, the United Nations and other multilateral institutions. In the context of countering new challenges and threats, primarily terrorism and drug trafficking, we pay close attention to the implementation of counter- terrorism conventions and Security Council resolutions, and we support early adoption of a comprehensive convention on international terrorism. Kazakhstan has actively supported the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. At the initiative of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan put forward at the global Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, in April 2010, a proposal for a conference on countering the financing of terrorism. That phenomenon is closely linked to drug trafficking, and thus combating that scourge is one of our top priorities. Accordingly, Kazakhstan attaches great importance to the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Center (CARICC) for combating illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, 10-55103 46 psychotropic substances and their precursors, located in Almaty, Kazakhstan. We believe that CARICC can and should become a platform for interaction between regional anti-drug agencies. We also intend to take those issues forward within the framework of our activities in other international organizations, including the upcoming 2011-2012 Kazakhstan chairmanship of the Ministerial Conference of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). One of the universally accepted themes is the promotion of the ideas of tolerance, non- discrimination, and intercultural and interfaith dialogue. At the initiative of the President of Kazakhstan, Astana has become the venue for a unique forum, the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, recognized today as an effective platform for dialogue to promote ideas of interfaith peace and harmony. As a sponsor of resolution 62/90, we welcome the efforts of Member States, UNESCO and other international organizations to conduct activities in observance of the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures. We commend the work of the Alliance of Civilizations and stand ready to continue to actively cooperate with it to promote the goals and objectives of the Alliance at the international level. Based on its experience, Kazakhstan supports the active use of the capacity of authoritative regional arrangements, such as the OSCE and the OIC, in efforts to overcome nationalism, religious intolerance, racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, and we intend to work for the adoption of concrete decisions within those organizations. We are deeply convinced that today security cannot be for a single country, region or continent alone. Therefore Kazakhstan believes that all existing structures of regional and international security must coordinate their efforts and cooperate actively together. In this context, I would like to note with great satisfaction that the first meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia and the OSCE, which was held in June 2010 in Istanbul, has laid the foundation for a future transcontinental security belt. It appears that the level of institutional development of the Conference and the growing interest in its activities on the part of Asian countries will allow us to consider that forum as a prototype of a collective security system in Asia. Today, the world is slowly but surely emerging from a severe financial and economic crisis. At this juncture, it is critically important to ensure that the development of a post-crisis model of development is not limited to cosmetic measures. Instead, it should produce a qualitative restructuring of the entire system of international economic relations. We believe that all the world’s economic problems are rooted in the inefficiency of the existing world monetary system, which no one controls and which is not democratic. Kazakhstan’s leader has proposed that a new financial architecture be developed, with a global regulatory system to oversee financial markets at its core. Such a mechanism would allow us to avoid speculative interflows of resources that exist only on paper and a situation in which developing countries are actually financing consumption in the developed countries. The establishment of a more stable macroeconomic model, in our view, calls for the introduction of a single supranational currency, under the auspices of the United Nations. Finding an urgent solution to environmental problems is one of our main responsibilities to future generations. It is also a prerequisite of preserving life on Earth. In this context, we have initiated plans for holding ministerial conferences for the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and the Economic Commission for Europe in 2010 or 2011 in Astana. The goal of these events is to build a “green bridge” between Europe and Asia and to harmonize programmes for sustainable development and environmental protection. We appreciate the assistance provided by the international community, including the United Nations and its specialized agencies and programmes, to our country’s efforts to overcome the effects of environmental disasters in the Aral Sea and Semipalatinsk regions. Given their global nature, they call for an effective new approach on the part of the donor community to solve these problems. Kazakhstan is firmly committed to the democratization of its society and building a State based on the rule of law. In February this year, our country successfully passed its first universal periodic review of the Human Rights Council and intends to fully implement its recommendations. Reaffirming its 47 10-55103 commitment to open and constructive cooperation in the area of human rights, Kazakhstan has sent a standing invitation to all mandate holders of the Council’s special procedures. Our country has always been and still remains open to cooperation with the international community in the protection and realization of individual rights and freedoms. With those values and ideals in mind, Kazakhstan has put forward its candidature to the Human Rights Council for the 2012-2015 term, which we hope will be supported. Over the past 65 years the United Nations has made an enormous contribution to international peace and security on the Earth and to the solution of many social, economic, humanitarian and other problems. It is in our common interests that the United Nations continue to demonstrate leadership in promoting peace and cooperation and sustainable progress on Earth. Kazakhstan not only has consistently supported and supports the activities of the United Nations, but always seeks to contribute to the attainment of the lofty goals set by our respected Organization.