Kyrgyzstan, 1996

Guided by feelings of great respect for Malaysia,

which plays an increasingly significant role in regional and

world affairs, I welcome the election to the presidency of

this session of the General Assembly the experienced and

well-known representative of that country, Mr. Razali

Ismail.

We, the newly independent States of the former Soviet

Union, are celebrating this year the fifth anniversary of our

independence and national statehood. My country is

successfully concluding a stage in its structural reforms and

has achieved macroeconomic stabilization. We have

managed to halt the decline in production and this year we

expect an increase in production of 3 to 4 per cent. The

annual rate of inflation is not expected to exceed 26 per

cent. We are finalizing the legal basis for a market

economy and for building new institutions. The goal now

is to join the World Trade Organization.

Regional cooperation is gaining in strength. In the

context of the Central Asian Union, the Economic

Cooperation Organization and the Commonwealth of

Independent States, we are creating conditions conducive

to the free movement of goods, capital, services and

labour. Entirely new areas are now linked by

transportation lines, and the groundwork is being laid for

long-term, comprehensive efforts to ensure the sustainable

development of the Central Asian region.

We, the newly independent States, are rapidly

becoming involved in the globalization process of the

world economy; we are deriving clear benefits from this

as well as significant damage and losses. Alongside the

liberalization of trade and the opening of State borders,

our fragile economies are being affected by transnational

organized crime, including drug trafficking. Drug dealers

are corrupting State institutions and are eroding the basis

of our young statehood.

Drug trafficking and arms trade are flourishing in

conflict areas. It is evident that powerful international

criminal forces, which are reaping profits from this, are

interested in the continuation and exacerbation of conflicts

in Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Drugs have a destructive

effect on weak and powerful countries alike. Local

capacities and international assistance from donor

countries to fight drug trafficking pale in comparison to

the scale and geo-economic destructive effect of the drug

trade.

Five Central Asian countries were the second group,

following Eastern European nations, to sign a

memorandum of understanding with the United Nations

International Drug Control Programme. We continue to

fight this evil through regional cooperation. A subregional

programme for Central Asia provides an opportunity to

develop projects that provide legitimate alternatives to

people engaged in the cultivation and transport of illegal

crops. My country welcomes consideration of this issue

at a special session of the General Assembly to be held in

1998, and is convinced that the world community will

triple its support to programmes to stop the flow of drugs

to the countries of the North.

Sustainable development formed the basis of the

national human development strategy prepared on the

initiative of the President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan,

Mr. Askar Akayev. During the past decade, from Vienna

to Istanbul, the international community, under the aegis

of the United Nations, has defined goals, tasks and

priorities for world social development. Kyrgyzstan

10

intends creatively and fully to implement the decisions

taken. We look forward with great interest to the

discussions on Agenda 21 that are due to take place at the

special session of the General Assembly to be convened in

1997.

Countries with economies in transition are going

through a difficult period of economic rehabilitation. The

problems of attracting direct foreign investment are

particularly acute. We are inspired by the experience of the

countries of Central and Eastern Europe that have

successfully managed the transition to a market economy.

Many of them have joined the Organization for Economic

Cooperation and Development, and established national

export and import banks and State insurance facilities for

private enterprises abroad. Today it is becoming

increasingly clear that timely and adequate assistance and

credits from the international community, combined with

enormous efforts by the countries themselves, are enabling

countries in transition to emerge rapidly from their crises

and thus join the group of development donors. The effect

of such a multi-layered approach to resolving common

development problems is clear, and there is no doubt that

several post-Soviet independent countries could shortly be

in the vanguard of this progress.

For a long time much has been said about the need for

cooperation between the United Nations and the Bretton

Woods institutions in strengthening peace and resolving

economic development problems. In recent years a huge

number of regional alliances have come into being in

response to contemporary challenges, and they are actively

cooperating with one another. Today, it would be difficult

to overestimate the importance of their role in resolving

inter-ethnic disputes and conflicts and developing trade,

transport, communications and sociocultural relationships in

these regions. The United Nations could systematize and

summarize the successful work of these unions and

alliances, which are like blood vessels in the way they link

the United Nations system with the World Bank, regional

banks and the International Monetary Fund, offering an

effective regional approach to dealing with the entire range

of complex issues on today’s world agenda.

Geo-economic regions such as the Fergana valley are

facing a great number of acute problems, including

unemployment, environmental deterioration, poverty,

inequality of women and all types of crime. They can, and

should, be a focal point for the attention and effort of all

countries concerned in Central Asia, for the United Nations

system, and for donor countries. Consistent and vigorous

efforts to resolve the urgent development problems of this

densely populated valley will also act as necessary

preventive actions to strengthen security, stability and

peace between the States of the region.

My country wholly supports the efforts of the United

Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in

Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, to

bring about a peaceful settlement in the inter-Tajik

conflict. We commend the contributions made by Russia

and Iran, and welcome the mediating role of

Turkmenistan, which has opened a goodwill office for

conducting the inter-Tajik talks.

Every conflict has a recognizable identity. It is time

for the United Nations to synthesize and develop the legal

basis, procedures, and methods of work for each party

involved, whether they are representatives of international

organizations, the parties to the conflict or various

working groups. The United Nations should have regular

consultations with the countries in the region and with the

regional alliances.

Because of the protracted nature of the crisis, which

has caused enormous suffering to innocent civilians, and

given the widespread consequences of the hostilities for

neighbouring countries, we believe that a solution to the

inter-Tajik conflict should be the basis for the long-term

sustainable development of that country and for the whole

of Central Asia.

The exodus of refugees from Tajikistan is

continuing. This is a painful subject for the people of

Tajikistan, and we feel for them in their suffering. The

ratification by Kyrgyzstan this year of the 1951

Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of and its

1967 Protocol was not merely a demonstration of our

respect for human rights but reflected our willingness to

share the international community’s burden of

responsibility for providing assistance to people who are

forced to leave their homes to seek protection for

themselves and their children. The conference on the

problem of refugees and displaced persons in the

Commonwealth of Independent States, which was

organized by the Office of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva in May 1996,

demonstrated the international community’s full support

for refugees from Tajikistan.

The humanitarian situation remains critical,

particularly in mountainous areas, which are very hard to

reach, and especially now, with winter approaching. We

are convinced that not only the United Nations and its

specialized agencies but the World Bank, the International

Monetary Fund, the European Union and the Organization

for Economic Cooperation and Development will work

together successfully to promote a peaceful settlement of

the conflict and alleviate the hardship and pain of the long-

suffering Tajik people.

With regard to recent events in Afghanistan, we

believe that a comprehensive political settlement must be

found to the Afghan conflict, that territorial integrity cannot

be ensured and that non-interference in the internal affairs

of this sovereign country must be respected. We call on the

Security Council to work for national reconciliation among

the warring factions and to seek an end to the long,

debilitating war that has destabilized the Asian continent as

a whole.

Half a century of experience of world political

development under the aegis of the United Nations leads us

to conclude that there should be more non-conflict,

sustainably developing nuclear-weapon-free zones. This

would guarantee peace and security. The long-awaited hour

has come: the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty has

been signed by an overwhelming majority of States

Members of the United Nations. When I signed the Treaty

on behalf of my people, as the representative of a country

that until recently had been squeezed from both sides by

two of the world’s largest nuclear-weapon-testing areas, I

experienced a special feeling of satisfaction and hope for

the future of my country and for the whole world.

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear

Weapons and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

are major milestones on the road to a future nuclear-

weapon-free world. We are resolved to make Central Asia

a nuclear-weapon-free zone. Support and appropriate

guarantees from the nuclear States would constitute an

important prerequisite for that achievement.

The Kyrgyz Republic is in favour of reforming the

United Nations. The permanent membership of the Security

Council should be enlarged to include Germany, Japan and

representatives of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Equitable geographical representation would also mean an

increase the number of non-permanent members of the

Council. The nature of the interaction between the Security

Council and the General Assembly should also change, and

become more transparent.

Since becoming Members of the United Nations less

than five years ago, the newly independent States have

become full-fledged members of the United Nations family.

We, like others, were pleased about the establishment of

peace in Haiti and Bosnia, and paid tribute to the many

people who lost their lives, in whatever part of the world.

With regard to regional alliances, we are developing our

relations equally with West and East, South and North.

Three countries of our group — Kyrgyzstan, Kazakstan

and Uzbekistan — are creating a Central Asian

peacekeeping battalion to act as a future reserve force of

Blue Helmets. On a basis of mutual respect, Russia,

Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan this year concluded

a treaty on confidence-building measures in the military

sphere on the border with the People’s Republic of China.

We are determined to learn every step of the way. We,

together with the other Member States, are on the road to

the twenty-first century. By combining our efforts we

shall be worthy to meet its new challenges.