At the outset, I should like to express our
congratulations to Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki on his
election to preside over the General Assembly. We
wish him the best for his work in leading the Assembly
at its sixty-fourth session.
Given the sweeping changes occurring at all
levels of global development, the role of the United
Nations as a universal international forum is difficult to
overstate. The contribution of all Member States to
increasing the effectiveness of the United Nations can
considerably contribute to strengthening international
peace and security, development, human rights,
environmental protection and sustainable development.
We believe continuing United Nations reform to
establish an efficient mechanism to address
contemporary challenges and threats is important for
the further strengthening of the Organization’s
capacities and credibility. We call for broader
representation in the Security Council and for
improvement in its working methods. We propose
expanding the number of permanent members of the
Council by giving seats to Asia, Africa, Latin America
and the Caribbean.
I would like to confirm that my country, being
cognizant of our full responsibilities, is for the first
time nominating itself as a candidate to become one of
the non-permanent members of the Security Council,
for the period 2012 to 2013. The Kyrgyz Republic,
located in the heart of Central Asia, is taking an active
part in maintaining peace and security, economic
cooperation and environmental stability at both the
global and regional levels. We are prepared to
contribute as much as we can to the work of that key
body of the United Nations.
The election of the Kyrgyz Republic to the
Human Rights Council in 2009 illustrated the
international community’s recognition of our
achievements in building a developed society. I should
like to take this opportunity to thank Member States for
their support of the candidacy of the Kyrgyz Republic.
I assure them that Kyrgyzstan stands ready to make
every effort to promote issues related to the protection
of human rights and respect for the rule of law and
11 09-52586
international law, as well as other issues on the
Council’s agenda.
The Kyrgyz Republic welcomes the decision of
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to visit the Central
Asian countries. We look forward to great results from
that visit.
The overall situation in Central Asia remains
complicated. In many respects, it depends on
developments taking place in neighbouring
Afghanistan. No one would today dispute the fact that
there is a need to work out and apply fundamentally
new comprehensive and viable approaches in the
humanitarian, politico-anthropological and
socio-economic sectors, which will ultimately
contribute to the building of a strong and prosperous
Afghan State. It does not appear to be possible to
achieve a final and complete stabilization of
Afghanistan by military means alone.
On 4 March 2009, President Kurmanbek Bakiev
of the Kyrgyz Republic announced an initiative to
establish at Bishkek, capital of the Kyrgyz Republic, a
permanent forum and centre for hosting international
conferences on security and stability in Afghanistan
and Central Asia. This was called the “Bishkek
initiative”. We are convinced that this “Bishkek
initiative” will become a forum of practical
cooperation in the area of security, with priority on the
problems of jointly bringing about peace, security and
stability in the region, combating terrorism, separatism
and extremism and countering illegal drug trafficking
and cross-border organized crime.
Along with global challenges, every country
faces its own specific problems. Addressing them will
ensure that we move steadily towards the achievement
of the Millennium Development Goals.
At the same time, in this era of globalization,
existing problems have proven to be very closely
interrelated. The Kyrgyz Republic, as a landlocked
mountainous country and one of the world’s
developing nations, believes that the world community,
under the leadership of the United Nations, can and
must more actively assist in using the foreign-debt-
swap mechanism to achieve sustainable development.
With respect to Kyrgyzstan, given the global
economic crisis, we propose considering several
options, namely, a swap of the Republic’s debt for
providing assistance to Afghanistan in pursuit of its
socio-economic development, and a debt swap for the
sustainable development of poor mountainous
countries and the rehabilitation of uranium tailing
ponds.
The Kyrgyz Republic calls for the active
involvement in Afghanistan’s recovery of neighbouring
States that possess relevant scientific, industrial and
agricultural capacities. Kyrgyzstan stands ready to take
part in the restoration of communications, construction
and the training of medical, educational and
agricultural specialists. We are pleased to inform the
Assembly that our country and the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) signed an
agreement on the development of a customs centre in
the city of Bishkek for training Afghan specialists.
The General Assembly has adopted a number of
resolutions on mountainous countries that contain
analyses of their socio-economic situations and
recommendations to international financial institutions,
relevant United Nations agencies and Governments on
how to assist them in overcoming obstacles to their
sustainable development. The delegation of the Kyrgyz
Republic, one of the initiators of a draft resolution on
sustainable mountain development, would be grateful
for support for that draft at the sixty-fourth session of
the General Assembly.
We discussed problems related to planetary
climate change at the high-level Summit of the General
Assembly. Kyrgyzstan shares the opinion that
environmental and ecological security problems are
posing new challenges and risks in the twenty-first
century. Kyrgyzstan will give highest priority to active
preventive measures in the sphere of environmental
protection as a foundation of its sustainable
development and to maintain the balance between
human rights, society, nature and the preservation of
unique natural sites for our descendants.
The numerous uranium tailing dumps containing
large volumes of the toxic waste of uranium production
and other harmful technological wastes are of great
concern to our region. They pose a grave danger to the
health of the people and to the cleanliness of
transboundary river basins and arable lands.
Kyrgyzstan is working tirelessly with other
countries of Central Asia to draft international legal
documents on the prevention of radiation pollution in
Central Asia. Two framework documents have been
adopted within the framework of the Treaty on the
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Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons — one on the
environmental danger of tailing dumps and the other on
the creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central
Asia. I would like to inform the Assembly that the
Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia
entered into force on 21 March 2009, and we appeal to
nuclear Powers to support this Central Asian initiative
and to sign the protocol on negative security
assurances.
I am pleased to note that the High-Level
International Forum held in Geneva on uranium
tailings in Central Asia demonstrated a new model of
effective regional cooperation aimed at practical
resolution of this urgent issue. The great interest and
concern expressed by all participants — including
representatives of Central Asian and other States,
international organizations and donors at the national,
regional and international levels — give us cause for
optimism. I take this opportunity once again to express
my gratitude to all our partners at the Forum, the
United Nations system, the United Nations
Development Programme, the International Atomic
Energy Agency, the European Commission, the
Eurasian Economic Community, OSCE and the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
In furtherance of the Forum agreement, the
countries of Central Asia shall submit a draft resolution
for consideration by the General Assembly on the role
of the international community in the prevention of the
radiation threat in Central Asia. We hope for timely
action on the part of our international partners, donors
and international organizations to address the problem
of uranium tailing dumps and to provide sufficient
financial, technical and other assistance to the region.
The challenges facing the United Nations are
complex and demand consolidated efforts from all
States. The representatives of the United Nations
provide broad assistance to countries on a wide variety
of issues. We appreciate their constructive cooperation
on and support for Members’ initiatives. The United
Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for
Central Asia, established in Ashgabat in December
2007, has already proven itself in a short period of
time. The issues raised by the Centre are relevant and
require prompt responses. We support the intention of
the Centre to expand its representation in each country
of Central Asia and request the appropriate committees
take our views into consideration.
Central Asian countries pay considerable
attention to water and energy problems. Despite the
activities to increase the effectiveness of water and
energy regulation in Central Asia, pursued within the
framework of integration organizations and regional
structures, rallying countries around this issue remains
the most pressing problem in our region.
We believe that mutually beneficial cooperation
is the basis for long-term intergovernmental
cooperation in the water and energy spheres. It is
essential to create conditions to improve incentives to
store water in reservoirs during the winter and then to
make it available for irrigating fields in the summer. If
this proposal were pursued, the largest reservoir in
Central Asia, on the Naryn and Syr Darya Rivers, the
largest watershed of the region, would have the
required stocks of water in times of drought and be
able to provide water at least to maintain food and
energy security for all the countries of Central Asia.
If decisions are taken only for short-term benefit,
and water is depleted and regulating capacities are lost,
that would inevitably have dangerous consequences for
the entire region. These strategic issues can be solved
only by merging the irrigation and energy schedules for
supplying water and providing compensation fuel
deliveries that should be the subject of
intergovernmental cooperation among stakeholders.
Water conservation technologies should also be
exploited.
In conclusion, I would like to reaffirm the
adherence of the Kyrgyz Republic to the goals and
objectives of the United Nations aimed at ensuring
peace and security and the welfare of all nations and
peoples on the Earth.