Central Asia's nuclear-arms-free zone can spur stability elsewhere, officials tell UN

The recently signed Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia can spur progress on other issues related to those arms, the Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan told the United Nations General Assembly today.

“The signing of that milestone instrument could become a catalyst for the process of enhancing the Treaty on Nuclear Non-Proliferation (NPT),” Kassymzhomart Tokaev said of the new pact signed by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

He said Kazakhstan's strong stance on nuclear weapons stemmed from its experience. “This position is rooted in the sufferings of our people, who are still reeling from negative effects of nuclear explosions at the Semipalatinsk nuclear testing ground shut down exactly 15 years ago.”

States should strictly comply with their commitment to a moratorium on nuclear test explosions and work to ensure the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), Mr. Tokaev said.

Alikbek D. Djekshenkulov, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan, said the principle of disarmament was also important to his country. He said the Central Asian nuclear-weapon-free zone was a joint contribution of the States of the region to free humankind from nuclear weapons and to promote counter-terrorism.

He also appealed to Member States to support a draft resolution in the Assembly's Disarmament and International Security Committee on that nuclear-weapons-free zone and praised the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Collective Security Treaty Organization as a regional complement to UN efforts to deal with such threats and challenges as crime, illicit trade in drugs and weapons, epidemic disease, degradation of the environment, and in his particular region, the situation in Afghanistan.