Kazakhstan, 2002

Allow me first to

congratulate you, Sir, on your election to the high

office of the presidency of the current session and to

express confidence that, under your able leadership, the

fifty-seventh session of the General Assembly will be

successful and fruitful.

The terrorist acts in the United States, the

anniversary of which we have just marked with great

sorrow, prompted all mankind to pay close attention to

the fundamental issues of sustainable development.

The barbaric acts of international terrorists

demonstrated very convincingly the fragility of the

world we live in and the importance for all States to

join their efforts to ensure economic development and

civil rights, security and stability.

The contemporary world, with all the diversity of

its political and economic systems, requires, as never

before, agreed and coordinated efforts by the

community of nations to protect common human

values, primarily the rights of all citizens to a decent

life.

Has mankind been able to rid itself of its own

entrenched flaws — poverty, environmental pollution,

disease and crime? The answer is more than evident:

the community of nations has not made progress in

resolving those issues. Thus, breeding grounds have

been created for the spread of such dangerous

phenomena as terrorism and drug trafficking, religious

extremism and the illegal arms trade. Having crossed

the threshold of the new millennium, mankind has been

forced to exert efforts to resolve centuries-old issues

and to counter new threats.

The events that took place last year have changed

the world and have prompted everybody to think hard

about the foundations that support it. The community

of nations faces a pressing task: to create a new

architecture of global security based on a multi-polar

world, and to set up effective mechanisms to overcome

the obstacles to modern economic and political

development.

In our view, under these circumstances, the role

and the responsibility of international institutions,

primarily the United Nations, become significantly

greater. Strengthening the authority of the United

Nations is our common responsibility. We believe that

the existing system of adopting decisions affecting the

fundamental interests of mankind should never be

doubted, let alone reshaped in any way. The issues of

the world and peace should be considered and

decisions reflecting the will and the interests of the

community of nations should be adopted only within

the framework of the United Nations.

Grounds for the use of force against Member

States should be irrefutable evidence, corroborated by

international institutions, of their illegal action to

disrupt the world order and to undermine global and

regional security.

The changed world forces us to take a fresh look

at disarmament issues, primarily the consolidation of

the non-proliferation regime. It is becoming more and

more evident that, under these new conditions, the

community of nations should focus its main efforts on

preventing terrorists from getting hold of weapons of

mass destruction. Therefore, joint action by Member

States to continue to consolidate the non-proliferation

regime and to make it universal deserve special

attention. We believe that the Treaty on the Non-

Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which binds

its participants to take nuclear disarmament measures,

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should continue to play an important role in the area of

nuclear arms control.

As one of the few States in the world that have

voluntarily relinquished their nuclear heritage, we

believe that a prerequisite for an atmosphere of trust in

contemporary international relations is the early entry

into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban

Treaty (CTBT).

Because it attaches great significance to the

preservation of peace and security in Central Asia,

Kazakhstan is interested in signing, as soon as

possible, a treaty creating a nuclear-weapon-free zone

in the region. Such a zone could be an important

contribution by regional States to the disarmament and

arms control efforts of international community.

Further, additional results-oriented efforts to

prevent the excessive accumulation of and illegal

trafficking in small arms are no less important. It is

impossible to ignore the alarming fact that 55 per cent

of known small arms stocks, equivalent to 305 million

pieces, are now already in private hands. In view of the

need for targeted actions in this area, we express our

willingness to host in Kazakhstan, in 2003, an

international conference on this subject under the

auspices of the United Nations.

Our country, home to the Baikonur space

launching pad, is well aware of the harmful effects of

the militarization of outer space. Therefore, we believe

that it is imperative to start, without delay, talks to

prevent an arms race in outer space.

From the very start, Kazakhstan has resolutely

and unconditionally supported counter-terrorist actions

by the international coalition. Without any doubt, its

effective measures have contributed to the settlement

of the situation in Afghanistan.

Together with all interested States and parties,

our country supports the key role of the United Nations

in the post-conflict peace-building in Afghanistan. We

intend to take a most active part in implementing an

international aid programme for Afghanistan.

Kazakhstan is cooperating successfully with the World

Food Programme by using it to send its agricultural

products to Afghanistan. Our country has provided the

Afghan people with free humanitarian aid in the form

of grain. We believe that early implementation of the

decisions adopted at the Tokyo Conference will

contribute to the successful solution of the Afghan

problem and to the eradication of international

terrorism.

When we speak about Afghanistan, we cannot

ignore the issue of drug trafficking. Unfortunately, that

long-suffering country continues to be a main source of

the proliferation of drugs that are being transported

through the territories of the Central Asian States and

sold on the world markets, first of all in Europe. This

problem is getting more and more dangerous and

requires urgent and effective measures by the

community of nations. We hope that the coordinating

role of the United Nations International Drug Control

Programme will be strengthened. One has to realize

that it is the drug trafficking that constitutes a financial

basis of international terrorism. When we put up a just

fight against that evil, we, unfortunately, fight its

manifestations and do not pay due attention to the root

cause of the phenomenon. If this state of affairs

remains unchanged, curbing international terrorism

will turn into an indefinite process that will exhaust all

financial and political resources of the community of

nations.

The world community is closely watching the

development of the situation in the Middle East.

Interested States quite justifiably express their concern

over the deteriorating chances of a peaceful settlement.

We support the need to convene as soon as possible an

international conference on the Middle East settlement

in order to take parallel steps: to strengthen Israel's

security, to strengthen Palestinian economic and

political institutions and to settle the details of the final

peace agreement. The international community also has

to intensify its efforts to curb terrorism and meet the

humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people.

Since the first days of its independence,

Kazakhstan has focussed its foreign affairs efforts on

the creation of a security system in Asia. That goal was

advanced by the first summit meeting of the

Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building

Measures in Asia (CICA), convened in June of this

year in Almaty. For the first time ever, the heads of the

major Asian States came together to express their

political will and interest in a joint search for ways to

strengthen peace and stability in the Asian region.

The adoption at the summit meeting of the final

documents, the Almaty Act on the institutionalization

of the CICA and the Declaration on Eliminating

Terrorism and Promoting Dialogue among

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Civilizations, has had an extraordinary significance.

For the first time ever, the Asian continent has adopted

documents making a significant contribution to

regional and global security. Expressing our

appreciation to the CICA member States for their

efficient work at the summit meeting, we call on all

interested States to continue their work to implement

confidence-building measures in Asia.

We in Kazakhstan believe that the Shanghai

Cooperation Organization can become an effective tool

in ensuring security and stability in the region. The

main mission of that organization is to address jointly

the problems of security, as well as to create effective

mechanisms for trade, economic and humanitarian

cooperation.

The Johannesburg Summit fully highlighted the

important need to overcome the antagonisms of modern

economic and political development. It has become

evident that with increasing globalization, the

community of nations will have to pay close attention

to the search for ways to ensure a more harmonious

division of profits and benefits between the rich and

poor among mankind. Addressing the forum in South

Africa, the President of Kazakhstan, Mr. Nursultan

Nazarbaev, rightly observed that without the natural

and human resources of the developing countries the

rich States would have never become rich.

It is commonly recognized that sustainable

development is the only way to ensure the survival of

mankind. Therefore, Kazakhstan supports targeted and

coordinated efforts by the international community to

solve burning economic, social and environmental

problems of the Central Asian region. We attach great

significance to cooperation with the United Nations in

water resources management, rehabilitation of the

environmental disaster areas in the Semipalatinsk

region and the Aral Sea, the preservation of

biodiversity and the prevention of soil degradation and

desertification. At the same time, Kazakhstan has every

right to expect more effective actions in this field on

the part of the United Nations. Unfortunately, our

country, as well as other regional States, have yet to

receive assistance that would speed up the solution of

the environmental problems.

Kazakhstan is interested in strengthening fruitful

cooperation with the United Nations to improve

regional transportation infrastructure, including within

the United Nations Special Programme for the

Economies of Central Asia (SPECA).

Kazakhstan is actively cooperating with its

Eurasian Economic Community partners and considers

that integration organization to be a very promising

structure in terms of creating a common economic

space for an extensive stretch of the Eurasian

continent.

Our country stands for a more effective Economic

Cooperation Organization (ECO) and for making its

activities more goal-oriented. We express our hope that

the upcoming Istanbul summit will become a milestone

in ECO's activities.

The diplomatic efforts of Kazakhstan are also

aimed at further strengthening political cooperation,

trade and economic ties with the Central Asian States.

We believe that a recently created new organization,

the Central Asian Union, has an important role to play

in this regard.

The legal status of the Caspian Sea is becoming

an increasingly important problem within the context

of current international relations. The lack of consensus

among the five Caspian States on the legal status of

this unique water basin seriously hampers the chances

of turning the Caspian Sea into a zone of peace and

genuine cooperation. The issues of unrestricted

navigation, the protection of biodiversity and the

environment, as well as demilitarization, remain very

much on the agenda. Kazakhstan has consistently

called for the continuation of the preparatory work for

a multilateral convention based on the consensus

among the five Caspian States in order to develop

secure legal safeguards providing for long-term and

stable cooperation and for creating favourable

conditions for attracting investments to develop the

mineral resources of the Caspian Sea.

In this regard, Kazakhstan attaches great

significance to an agreement with Russia on the

delimitation of the seabed in the northern part of the

Caspian Sea in order to ensure the rights of the users of

the seabed subsoil, as well as to the protocol on the

modified median line in this part of the sea signed in

June of this year.

We believe that the signing of these documents

represents a breakthrough in the protracted process of

the development of the legal status of the Caspian Sea.

These important agreements give the green light to

foreign investments in the development of the

enormous mineral resources of Kazakhstan's sector of

the sea. This will allow our country to join the group of

leading world producers of hydrocarbons. We intend to

continue our cooperation with international financial

institutions and companies, thereby ensuring a

favourable investment climate in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan has assumed obligations with regard

to the observation and protection of fundamental

human rights and freedoms. Our country is a

participant in major international human rights

conventions and exerts every effort to implement them.

Democracy and human rights are part and parcel

of political life in Kazakhstan, which has undertaken,

in complex geopolitical conditions, reforms aimed at

the liberalization of the economy and at the creation of

a civil society. These reforms are unprecedented for a

post-Soviet State.

The question of human rights, in the view of our

country, should be on the agenda of inter-State

cooperation. At the same time, we believe that unified

standards and criteria should be used in assessing the

human rights situation in a particular country. We

believe that the prerogative and responsibility for the

consideration of the state of affairs in this very

sensitive area should rest with the United Nations. We

are pinning great hopes on the activities of the United

Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

In an increasingly interdependent world, there is

no alternative to multilateral cooperation. Only jointly

can we work successfully for a world without wars and

conflicts, a world based on justice and prosperity.

We have embraced with great enthusiasm the

statement made by the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi

Annan, and express our support for his concept of

joining efforts in order to address the key issues of

modern times.