Kazakhstan, 1993

Allow me first of all, Sir, to associate myself with

the congratulations already extended to you on your election

to the high office of President of the General Assembly at its

forty-eighth session and to wish you every success in your

endeavours.

On behalf of the Government of the Republic of

Kazakhstan, I should like to convey deep sympathy to the

Government and the people of the friendly country of India

for the heavy death toll and considerable material loss

caused by the devastating earthquake on 30 September.

The international realities that form the background of

the current session are a direct reflection of the development

of extremely contradictory tendencies within the world

community. On the one hand, during the year gone by since

the beginning of the forty-seventh session of the General

Assembly we have witnessed a dynamic development of

international relations along with increased United Nations

activity in the resolution of global economic, social and

environmental issues and in the promotion of peace and

security. The achievement of agreement on the Middle East

problem should undoubtedly be counted as a breakthrough

in multilateral diplomacy, but, on the other hand, we must

state with regret that no agreement has been reached so far

on the cessation of hostilities in the former Yugoslavia, that

the tension in Somalia has increased and that hotbeds of

conflicts still smoulder in a number of republics of the

former Soviet Union.

We have made a careful study of the Secretary-

General’s report (A/48/1) on the work of the Organization

and share its principal conclusion that in order to produce

enduring results there must at all costs be a new level of

political will and realism.

The President of the United States, Mr. Clinton, pointed

out in his statement on 27 September that the United Nations

simply cannot be engaged in each and every one of the

conflicts in the world. This goes without saying. But it is

equally self-evident that the United Nations is today, and

16 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

will remain in the foreseeable future, a body to which

humanity - the world’s nations and individuals - will link

their aspirations for peace, development and human rights.

In these circumstances, in our opinion, a package of

concrete measures aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of

the United Nations is called for. We believe that, along with

a further definition of the functions of the United Nations

main organs, the elimination of duplication in their activities

and the adequate financing of United Nations peace-keeping

operations, it is high time to consider the question of

expanding the permanent membership of the Security

Council. We are confident that this measure will enable the

United Nations to respond more rapidly and objectively to

the new, dangerous challenges of the times and eruptions of

violence, regardless of where this might happen.

The harsh realities of the post-confrontation era have

highlighted the urgency of redirecting the efforts of the

world community towards eliminating the potential for

disputes within a State or between States to escalate into

military conflicts. Should we fail to resolve disputes at an

early stage, we will simply reap fruits similar to those reaped

in the former Yugoslavia, Nagorny-Karabakh and Tajikistan.

This reaffirms once again the appropriateness of the idea of

preventive diplomacy formulated by Mr. Boutros

Boutros-Ghali in his report "An Agenda for Peace". Only

by taking a series of preventive measures based on global

and regional cooperation between nations can peace be

ensured and maintained.

This is at the heart of the idea of creating a system of

collective security in Asia within the framework of the

Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures

in Asia (CICMA). As is known, this initiative was

formulated comprehensively by Mr. Nazarbaev, President of

the Republic of Kazakhstan, precisely one year ago, at the

forty-seventh session of the General Assembly. To promote

the realization of the initiative, Kazakhstan hosted two

rounds of expert-level meetings within the framework of

preparations for CICMA, which took place this year in

Almaty and yielded promising results. At present, 25 Asian

States are involved in the CICMA process. I take this

opportunity to invite other States interested in strengthening

confidence-building measures in Asia to join our efforts. I

believe that today we should actively broaden our efforts to

define the problems related to this initiative. I have in mind

particularly the preparations for the conference of Foreign

Ministers of Asian States which, in the view of experts,

could be convened in 1994.

We note with satisfaction that the idea of regional

cooperation in Asia has been endorsed by the

Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and has found

a broad response within the United Nations, the Conference

on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), the

Organization of the Islamic Conference and the League of

Arab States. This positive reaction to our initiative fills us

with confidence in its viability and its significance for the

cause of peace in Asia.

Indeed, the States of the Asian region have an equally

strong interest in the prevention and peaceful settlement of

conflicts as well as in the prevention of the emergence of

new hotbeds of regional and global tension. As an example

I would mention the formation of the Defence Coalition

Forces of the members of the Commonwealth of

Independent States (CIS), which acted as a restraining factor

in the Tajik conflict. Joint military units of Russia,

Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan managed to reduce

considerably the scale of military confrontation, saved the

lives of thousands of civilians and provided relief for

hundreds of thousands of refugees. In this context, the

Republic of Kazakhstan, along with the other

Commonwealth States, is asking for support for our joint

appeal to recognize the Defence Coalition Forces of the CIS

as the United Nations peacemaking force in that region.

Another important aspect of close cooperation between

Asian States is the coordination of their efforts on

environmental issues. The severe environmental problems

of Kazakhstan are well known. The first among them is the

problem of the Aral Sea. The critical situation in the Aral

region has frequently been discussed at various international

conferences and meetings of Heads of States. As a result,

we now have a sizeable package of documents defining

short-term and strategic solutions to the problem. We point

in particular to the signing of the Agreement on Joint

Activities in Preserving the Aral Sea and the Environmental

Rehabilitation of the Region and the Statute of the

International Fund for Preserving the Aral Sea. However,

we are convinced that this environmental tragedy has effects

far beyond the confines of the region. Today, only the

collective efforts of the world community can bring about a

solution to this problem. We therefore support the proposal

put forward by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan,

Mr. Karimov, to set up a special United Nations forum,

perhaps a United Nations commission on the Aral Sea.

Another priority in the foreign policy of our Republic

is the strengthening of intergovernmental relations within the

CIS. We are confident that at present no member State of

the Commonwealth is able effectively to pursue its internal

Forty-eighth session - 5 October l993 17

and foreign policy in isolation from the policies of the other

members of the CIS. In this context, the President of the

Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr. Nazarbaev, has repeatedly

proposed concrete measures to consolidate the common

economic space and ensure social and political stability on

a collective basis.

At the recent meeting of the Heads of State of the CIS

in Moscow, an economic union of the Commonwealth was

set up for the purpose of coordinating the policies of

member States in various fields. This serves the interests of

all members of the CIS.

Kazakhstan will remain active in promoting the

integration of the members of the CIS. We strongly believe

that all emerging political problems and conflict situations

should be resolved in constructive and civilized ways. This

idea is the essence of two recent statements by President

Nazarbaev on the current critical situation in the Russian

Federation.

Our State has a diversified foreign policy, and the

expansion of cooperation in all fields with all countries is of

utmost strategic importance to us. After signing the Lisbon

Protocol of 23 May 1992, the Republic of Kazakhstan, along

with other States successors to the USSR, was recognized as

a party to the START I Treaty and undertook to accede to

the non-proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear State. At

present, negotiations are under way with a number of States

on cooperation in assisting Kazakhstan to meet its

commitments to eliminate strategic offensive weapons.

In this context, I share the opinion of my Ukrainian

colleague, Mr. Zlenko, about the extreme complexity of this

problem. In our opinion, Kazakhstan would need

considerable funds for this purpose: approximately $2

billion - not an easy sum to find in our national budget.

These funds are needed not only to cover the dismantling of

nuclear weapons, but also to eliminate the consequences of

nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk Testing Ground and to

solve the Aral sea crisis as well.

Referring to the problem of the elimination of the

consequences of nuclear tests at the now-closed

Semipalatinsk Testing Ground, I should like to draw the

Assembly’s attention to the enormous damage to the health

of the people of a vast region wrought by 466 nuclear tests

in all environments. In varying degrees, almost half a

million Kazakh citizens have suffered the deadly effects of

nuclear tests. It is quite understandable, therefore, that

Kazakhstan wholeheartedly supports a comprehensive and

complete ban on nuclear tests.

One of the active areas of Kazakhstan’s foreign policy

is cooperation with the CSCE and the North Atlantic

Cooperation Council. The possibilities of Kazakhstan’s

more regular and active participation in CSCE activities

were discussed in particular with the CSCE Chairman,

Margaretha af Ugglas, Minister for Foreign Affairs of

Sweden, during a visit of the CSCE delegation to Almaty

last June.

Broadly speaking, our foreign policy can now be

described as dynamic and active. Kazakhstan’s membership

of the United Nations has allowed it to become actively

involved in international life, a fact reflected in our

membership now of 20 international organizations, including

the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization (UNESCO), the Economic and Social

Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the World

Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the International

Monetary Fund (IMF), and others. The Republic’s

membership in the United Nations Industrial Development

Organization (UNIDO), the Economic Commission for

Europe (ECE) and other international organizations is under

consideration.

Kazakhstan’s internal reforms are being carried out in

accordance with the international treaties to which it has

acceded. In spite of major economic problems, which are

common in varying degrees to the States of the former

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a strong legal basis for

economic reforms has been laid down in our Republic.

The laws passed by the Kazakhstan Parliament are

designed to develop medium- and small-scale business,

attract and protect foreign investments and liberalize foreign

trade. Providing a legal basis for foreign economic activity

envisages a gradual decrease of export and import duties and

the removal of free trade barriers which had to be imposed

during the transition period because of the particular features

of that time. Of course, such transformations will take more

than one or two years, but Kazakhstan intends to carry them

out as soon as possible.

Kazakhstan has now begun to attract international

business. Following deals with Chevron and other major

foreign companies, which have demonstrated to the world

business community that Kazakhstan is anxious to attract

foreign investment on a mutually beneficial basis and ensure

a favourable environment for it, the flow of foreign

investment into the Republic’s economy has been growing

steadily, and this is raising our hopes for the ultimate

success of our reforms.

18 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

We understand clearly that now, at a time when our

Republic is reaching out to the world community and is

declaring its willingness to join it as an equal and respected

member, it is of particular importance for us to affirm our

compliance with internationally recognized standards of

human rights. The Constitution of the Republic of

Kazakhstan adopted in January 1993 recognizes, in

accordance with international standards, the primacy of

rights and freedoms of the individual and places the primacy

of the interests of the individual above the interests of the

State and society, proclaims the ideas of civil peace and

ethnic accord, and the equality of all nations and ethnic

groups living in the Republic. I wish to draw attention to

the fact that Kazakhstan is the only one of the newly formed

States of the former USSR where national radio and TV

programmes are broadcast in six different languages,

newspapers and magazines are published in seven languages

and instruction in schools is given in 18 languages.

Kazakhstan’s commitment to equal rights for all ethnic

groups in economic and social development was clearly

stated at the World Conference on Human Rights held in

Vienna last June. The documents adopted at that Conference

will undoubtedly serve as an important guarantee of the

observance of human rights both at the international and at

the national levels.

However, the practical realization of human rights and

freedoms is a long and gradual process which depends on

many factors such as the level of economic and political

development of the society, the ideological priorities, the

national mentality, and so on. It is therefore unjustifiable for

some people to assume the responsibility for setting human

rights standards and to use their own interpretation of the

concept as an instrument of pressure on certain countries in

questions related to bilateral or multilateral relations.

In this context, Kazakhstan, while supporting efforts to

affirm the universal nature of human rights, believes that it

is necessary to take into account the specific national

conditions of each member of the world community. The

problem of human rights is not only pressing but also

delicate, and hence it requires an extremely careful and

balanced approach. It is this understanding which drives the

internal ethnic policy of our country, a State the very

stability of which depends upon the peaceful and mutually

respectful coexistence of ethnic groups.

The forty-eighth session of the General Assembly is the

second one in which Kazakhstan has participated as a full

Member of the United Nations. Despite such recent

membership in the Organization, Kazakhstan has actively

participated in the promotion of international relations,

contributed to the strengthening of processes of integration,

and has offered its own ideas on how to improve the United

Nations.

We reaffirm our readiness to make an active

contribution to the work of the Organization and to support

all endeavours aimed at enhancing international cooperation

and achieving peace and international accord.

At the same time I should like particularly to point out

that the United Nations today is an international forum of

184 Member States, including those which, like Kazakhstan,

only recently gained their independence. Considerable

expansion of the membership over the past few years has, in

our view, broadened the range and diversity of opinion

within the Organization as well as pluralism in approaches

to the analysis of international political events. To achieve

consensus today we need a collective search for new

principles of coexistence of States in the United Nations, as

well as the improvement

Forty-eighth session - 5 October l993 19

and adaptation of the Organization to the rapidly changing

realities of modern life.

It is for this reason that we call upon all States

Members of the United Nations to consider our proposal to

convene a special session of the General Assembly devoted

to the problems of strengthening international peace and

security, expanding the scope and potential of preventive

diplomacy, promoting human rights, and enhancing the role

of the United Nations in an interdependent and integrated

world.

We believe that on the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of

the United Nations it would be extremely useful to discuss

new goals and the challenges facing the Organization.