Kyrgyzstan, 1999

First of all, I would like on behalf of the

delegation of the Kyrgyz Republic to congratulate Mr.

Theo-Ben Gurirab on his election as President of the

General Assembly for the current session. We hope that,

as a result of his great experience, our work during this

session will be successful.

At the threshold of the third millennium a most

pressing issue is facing humanity: the establishment of the

new world order, which will affect the nature of the

world in the future. The issue concerns all members of

the international community, regardless of their place or

the role they play in international relations.

The continuing threat of the proliferation of weapons

of mass destruction; problems involving the protection of

the environment; technological and natural disasters;

unresolved conflicts, terrorism and all forms of

extremism, illegal trafficking in narcotics; the arms

trade — these are serious sources of tension throughout

the world. Recent events related to the settlement of the

problem of Kosovo are another reminder of the huge

price that continues to be paid in human suffering.

Kyrgyzstan is striving to make a positive

contribution to the achievement of the global goal of

establishing a new world order founded on security,

stability and prosperity. We wish to demonstrate to the

international community our commitment to such

universal principles as democracy, respect for human

rights, support for market economies, the pursuit of good-

neighbourly relations, stability and security — not only in

our region but throughout the world.

The years since our independence have convinced us

that for Kyrgyzstan there is no more rational foreign

policy than a balanced, multipolar approach focusing on

the development of friendly, consistent relations both with

States that play an important role in regional and world

affairs and with those in which our country shares

pragmatic interests.

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Among the major international events for the Kyrgyz

Republic in recent years I wish to mention the admission of

our country into the World Trade Organization; the

adoption, at the fifty-third session of the General Assembly,

of a resolution — resolution 53/24 — proclaiming the year

2002 as the International Year of Mountains; and the

elaboration by Askar Akayev, President of the Kyrgyz

Republic, of the Silk Road diplomacy doctrine.

President Akayev's Silk Road foreign policy is based

on the ideas of global interdependence and of reviving the

Silk Road as a bridge joining countries and civilizations so

as to develop in the third millennium an intensive,

multilevel, multifaceted system of communication between

civilizations. It is no accident that the philosophy behind

the Silk Road diplomacy doctrine carries over to the

Republic's other foreign policy initiatives of recent years.

These include the holding in Kyrgyzstan, under the auspices

of the United Nations, of an international conference on

Afghanistan; the proclamation of the year 2002 as the

International Year of Mountains; and the active

participation of Kyrgyzstan in the establishment of a

Central Asian nuclear-weapon-free zone.

In particular, enshrined in the doctrine is the idea that,

given the current situation, reliable and dynamic political

and commercial relations cannot be established without the

strengthening of multilateral relations of mutual cooperation

and trust between all the States of the region. The Silk

Road policy requires Kyrgyzstan to establish and develop

as fully as possible such relations with the countries of

Central Asia in all sectors and cooperative areas, including

the maintenance of regional and global security.

The mutual cooperation of China, Kazakhstan,

Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan within the framework of

what is called the Shanghai Five is one of the most positive

factors for the maintenance of security in Central Asia, and

for Central Asia's development, and for its transformation

into a region of peace, good-neighbourly relations and

prosperity. Since the first meeting of the heads of State of

the Shanghai Five and the signing of the agreement on

confidence-building in connection with military activities in

the border areas, the countries involved have, through

friendly consultations, been able to generally settle border

issues and reduce the armed forces present in the border

areas. We have established and strengthened cooperation

and with it increased security, peace and calm along the

borders.

From 24 to 25 August 1999, in Bishkek, the fourth

summit of the heads of State of the Shanghai Five took

place. As participants pointed out, we are now seeing a

transformation among the Shanghai Five. Whereas in the

past the group focused on military and political

cooperation, now it is defining major directions for trade

and economic cooperation. The role of the Bishkek

summit in this context was to transform these

understandings into practical actions.

It is necessary specifically to point out the unique

format of the five in the context of which countries of

varying size, with different state systems, levels of

economic development and military strength are

cooperating. A concrete demonstration of this was the

signing in Bishkek of an additional border agreement

between China and Kyrgyzstan, which effectively

removed from the agenda the question of inter-State

demarcation and established a real basis for the

transformation of the Kyrgyzstan-China border into a

border of peace and mutual cooperation in the twenty-first

century.

Kyrgyzstan continues to participate actively in the

process of creating a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central

Asia. An important role in the successful implementation

of this initiative is being played by the consultative

meeting of experts of regional countries, held under

United Nations auspices. We feel that the rapid

conversion of Central Asia into a nuclear-weapon-free

zone is becoming a multidimensional issue, since the

achievement of this goal will favour profound positive

progress on the global, regional and subregional levels, as

well as in the area of bilateral relations between the

countries of our region. It will also be in harmony with

the world community's aspirations to establish a safe

nuclear-free future.

As is well known, dramatic events have recently

taken place in southern Kyrgyzstan in connection with the

incursion into Kyrgyz territory of well-armed bandit

groups of international terrorists with many years of

experience fighting in Afghanistan and Tajikistan. As a

result of the illegal actions of these terrorists, who are

members of the implacable radical wing of Islamic

extremism, a tense situation has emerged in the Batken

and Chon-Alai areas of Osh Province. International

terrorists have behaved barbarically, taking foreign

hostages and murdering peaceful citizens. The bandits and

the forces behind them have made brazen, arrogant and

far-reaching attempts to impose their extremist views on

the country and have decisively and irrevocably chosen

the path of attacking peaceful democratic States and

economic and social reforms. They have threatened the

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security and destroyed the tranquility of each and every

State of Central Asia.

We are deeply concerned at having to confront such

phenomena as the internationalization of Islamic extremism.

Among the terrorists invading our country, we have

observed not only representatives of States of Central Asia,

but also foreign mercenaries. Events in southern Kyrgyzstan

and in Dagestan, Russia, are links in the same chain, forged

by international Islamic extremists seeking their own

criminal objectives. These international bandits seek refuge

behind the noble values of Islam, which they roughly flout,

sowing death and suffering among peaceful populations.

I wish to stress in particular the staunch and

committed support of our friendly neighbours — including

Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Russia — for

Kyrgyzstan's efforts to eradicate these bandit groups. The

States of the region have shown the international

community their firm desire to work together and to

coordinate their efforts in confronting international

terrorism.

In turn, Kyrgyzstan expresses its deep-seated hope for

reciprocal support from the world community in its struggle

against international terrorism, which is a worldwide threat.

In this context, Kyrgyzstan highly commends the support

and solidarity of the States members of the Conference on

Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia,

meeting at the level of Foreign Ministers in Almaty on 14

September. The Conference adopted a joint declaration on

the situation in Kyrgyzstan in which it condemned the

criminal activities of terrorists and expressed solidarity and

support for my Government's fight against terrorism.

The criminal acts of international terrorists in southern

Kyrgyzstan have reinforced the need for a speedy

settlement of the armed conflict in Afghanistan. It is

becoming ever more apparent that the designs of the

Islamic extremists based in Afghanistan and of the forces

behind them are spreading their destabilizing influence

throughout Central Asia through terror, murder, hostage-

taking and drug and weapons trafficking. In this connection,

I wish particularly to point out that the ongoing illegal

transshipment of narcotics from Afghanistan across the

territories of the Central Asian countries is a primary source

of financing for the criminal activities of the Islamic

extremists. We feel that the world community must take the

most decisive measures to prevent these Islamic extremists

from sowing violence, chaos and triumphal obscurantism in

Central Asia.

Kyrgyzstan intends broadly to support the efforts of

the international community in the context of the “six

plus two” group. In turn, striving to make our own

contribution to the early settlement of the internal

Afghanistan conflict, which has become a breeding

ground for Islamic extremism in the region, our country

is ready to provide facilities for the convening, under

United Nations auspices, of a conference on peace in

Afghanistan.

Highly appreciating the importance to the

international community of the United Nations as a

universal Organization, Kyrgyzstan is profoundly

interested in the successful reform of its work. We

support comprehensive reform, which should encompass

all the organs of the United Nations, including the

Security Council, which must vigorously address all

aspects of human development. The Kyrgyz Republic

confirms its view of the need to expand Security Council

membership and is also in favour of equitable

geographical representation in both categories.

There is no doubt that the process of reforming the

United Nations should reflect upon the work of all its

agencies. In our country today, we are seeing the

successful work of such United Nations specialized

agencies as the United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP), the United Nations Children's Fund, the United

Nations Population Fund, the Office of the United Nations

High Commissioner for Refugees and others. We feel that

effectiveness and results are the main criteria in assessing

their work. It is necessary to give heightened attention to

the work of those agencies from which we can obtain

maximum output. In this connection, there needs to be

more active efforts to enhance the quality of work to

implement concrete measures designed to resolve socio-

economic, cultural, humanitarian and legal issues.

In this respect, I wish to highlight the important role

played by UNDP, as the Organization's basic financing

and coordination agency, to strengthen United Nations

development efforts in such countries as Kyrgyzstan. In

1998, Kyrgyzstan became a pilot country in UNDP's new

result-based approach. The results of the work of this

system, which have been mainstreamed in all UNDP

offices and headquarters, are being planned for use in a

multi-year funding framework. We hope that this system

will become an effective means of attracting additional

funding. In this connection, we cannot fail to be

concerned by the reduction in and unpredictability of

UNDP core resources. We wish to appeal from this

rostrum to the Governments of donor countries to

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undertake to study closely the possibility of increasing,

through UNDP, their assistance to States with economies in

transition.

In this difficult period for countries such as my own,

assistance rendered through UNDP and other specialized

agencies is an important factor in the strengthening of our

independence, stability and progress.

In conclusion, I wish to stress Kyrgyzstan's readiness

to cooperate with all Members of the United Nations in

achieving progress on a broad number of issues on the

agenda of this final session of the millennium.