Kyrgyzstan, 2000

At the outset, Sir,

I take this opportunity to congratulate you on your

election as President of this historic Millennium

Assembly and wish you every success in your

important mission. I also pay tribute to Mr. Gurirab for

his skilful leadership during the fifty-fourth session.

My delegation welcomes Tuvalu as the newest

Member of the United Nations.

All of us were witnesses to the historic

Millennium Summit, at which an unprecedented

number of heads of State and Government gathered to

address the issues of the future of humanity. Many

leaders reiterated that our future depends on our

common efforts for humanity's betterment, and that the

United Nations has always been, and continues to be, a

unique forum which, by virtue of its universal

character, has the mandate to solve the pressing

problems of peace, security and development.

In this regard, the Kyrgyz Republic favours

increasing the overall effectiveness of the United

Nations and recognizes that the United Nations should

be a results-oriented Organization. Kyrgyzstan supports

measures aimed at transforming the United Nations

into an Organization with a more perfect management

and a well-ordered structure, and thus better prepared

to cope with both humanitarian and political crises.

Emphasizing the importance of the United

Nations as a global Organization of the human

community, Kyrgyzstan supports the universal

character of its reforms, which should include all

bodies of the United Nations, including the Security

Council. Confirming its position on the quantitative

expansion of the Security Council in both categories,

the Kyrgyz Republic favours clear, geographical

representation of the countries of Asia, Africa, Latin

America and the Caribbean.

A decade ago Kyrgyzstan chose as its goal the

establishment of a democratic open society and an

economy based on free market principles. Today we

can look back at our first 10 years with some

satisfaction. However, the invasions of international

terrorists into the southern part of the Kyrgyz Republic

in 1999 and August this year have shown that the new

democracies are very fragile. These events also testify

to the fact that international terrorist organizations have

every intention of perpetrating their criminal activities

using the territories of the States of Central Asia. These

actions should be seen for what they are: part of the

global plan of international terrorism, with the express

purpose of destabilizing a wide region.

No individual country can cope with these

challenges on its own. It has become quite clear that

terrorism represents a threat to the whole global

community, which can, and should, take adequate

measures in the struggle with this evil. The struggle

against terrorism should be conducted at the national,

regional and international levels.

Kyrgyzstan has contributed to strengthening the

global consensus on combating international terrorism.

Furthermore, as of this year, Kyrgyzstan is a party to

three major international Conventions, and a Protocol,

against terrorism. Kyrgyzstan is currently working on

becoming a party to the International Convention for

the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, adopted by the

General Assembly on 15 December 1997, and the

International Convention for the Suppression of the

Financing of Terrorism, which was opened for

signature this year.

An important step towards strengthening regional

security is the Summit of the heads of State of the

members of the Shanghai Five, which is assuming a

definitive character. The Bishkek group has been

created within the framework of the Shanghai forum.

This group of law-enforcement bodies and special

services of the member countries conducts work on the

coordination of our countries' actions in preventing

and confronting all manifestations of international

terrorism, extremism, separatism, the illegal drug trade,

the smuggling of weapons, illegal migration and other

kinds of criminal activity. The anti-terrorist centre of

the Shanghai Five is currently being created, with its

headquarters in Bishkek.

The Bishkek meeting of the heads of State of

Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and

the special envoy of the President of the Russian

Federation, which was held on 20 August 2000,

demonstrated the unanimous resolve of the countries of

Central Asia and Russia jointly to eradicate the threat

of terrorism in their territories. We believe that the

efforts of our countries will be supported by the

international community. The United Nations plays the

most important role in this process. The Kyrgyz

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Republic is taking action in favour of the creation of an

international system of measures for controlling

terrorism and other forms of extremism. In this regard,

we are considering with interest Uzbekistan's initiative

to establish an international counter-terrorism centre

within the United Nations system.

The efforts made by Kyrgyzstan and other States

of Central Asia in the struggle against international

terrorism, religious and political extremism and illegal

drug trafficking, will not be crowned with success

without the normalization of the situation in

Afghanistan. We express the hope that effective

measures for the radical improvement of conditions in

Afghanistan will be undertaken. It is particularly

important to guarantee that such forms of common

activity be further developed. Furthermore, expressing

its sincere aspiration to promote the prompt

establishment of peace in Afghanistan and stability in

the region as a whole, the Kyrgyz Republic confirms its

readiness to make its territory available for the holding

of a peace conference on Afghanistan under the

auspices of the United Nations.

In its desire to make its own contribution to the

efforts of the global community in creating a safe,

nuclear-free future, Kyrgyzstan is continuing to move

forward with its very active participation in the

creation in Central Asia of a nuclear-weapon-free zone.

We welcome the assistance of the United Nations in the

realization of this initiative. We express our hope that

the countries of Central Asia will successfully finish

the work on the drafting of a treaty that responds to the

interests of the peoples of the region and of the entire

international community.

The issue of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty

cannot be avoided when speaking about world security.

Signed in 1972, it became an important cornerstone of

strategic stability. In this regard, we should reaffirm

today its role in international security and our need to

strictly observe it and comply with all of its provisions.

The Kyrgyz Republic aspires to make a

contribution to United Nations peacekeeping

operations. Kyrgyzstan is currently represented in the

peacekeeping missions in Sierra Leone and Kosovo.

My country is going further to make efforts to expand

its contribution to the peacekeeping activities of the

United Nations.

For Kyrgyzstan, a country with an economy in

transition, the most significant problems are those of

development. The key role in their resolution should be

played by the United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP), as the main body of the United Nations

responsible for coordinating the provision of assistance

with national development purposes. The Kyrgyz

Republic welcomes the decisive steps taken by the

UNDP Administrator aimed at structural reform and

the easing of the heavy financial burden, which can

threaten the realization of a number of national projects

on democratic and economic reform.

With regard to the problems of financing for

development in the context of globalization and

interdependence, Kyrgyzstan draws particular attention

to financing for the eradication of poverty. The

Secretary-General's report (A/54/2000), “We the

peoples: the role of the United Nations in the twenty-

first century”, has identified poverty as one of the main

challenges facing mankind. Shorn of all the

sophisticated economic rhetoric, poverty reduction

means simply the creation of new jobs and productive

activities that will provide people not only with income

and employment, but also with self-respect and hope

for their future and the future of their children. Special

measures should be taken by the international

community to assist developing countries and countries

with economies in transition in their efforts to develop

and participate fully in the global economy.

The establishment of a uniform transport system

is especially important for Central Asia, which is

located far from major sea routes. Kyrgyzstan is

working for the development and realization of large,

regionally important projects, such as the creation of a

uniform transport system with access to external

markets and of modern communication systems. This

will not only optimize the global transport system by

reducing distances and transportation time, but also

provide a very powerful impetus for economic

development because of the expansion of exports. Such

large projects as the transport corridor between Europe,

the Caucasus and Asia, known as TRACEKA, have

already begun to be developed and realized.

We support those provisions of the Secretary-

General's report that address the issue of the building

of “digital bridges”. It is obvious that the huge progress

in computer science and telecommunications has

radically changed the picture of the world. The

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telecommunications “Silksat” project has been

developed for the purpose of preventing the threat of

information breakdown between countries. Its purpose

is to facilitate the optimal entry of the countries of the

Great Silk Road into the global telecommunications

system.

The Kyrgyz Republic, believing that stability has

not only political and economic aspects, but also an

environmental perspective, submitted to the Secretary-

General this year its instruments of ratification and

accession to the following treaties concerning

environmental issues: the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change; the Convention on

Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution; the

Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent

Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and

Pesticides in International Trade; and the Vienna

Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and

the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the

Ozone Layer.

Today the Kyrgyz Parliament is working on the

ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, in support of the

idea expressed by the Secretary-General in his

millennium report that

“The need to preserve biodiversity is a less

self-evident conservation issue than polluted

beaches, burning forests or expanding deserts.

But it is as crucial, if not more so. “ (A/54/2000,

para. 293)

I would add mountain ecosystems to the Secretary-

General's list of major ecosystem concerns. I take this

opportunity to express our deep gratitude to the global

community for its support of Kyrgyzstan's initiative

with the adoption during the fifty-third session of

resolution 53/24, proclaiming 2002 the International

Year of Mountains. We express the hope that its

observance will promote mobilization by the

international community of economic, technical and

financial resources for the sustainable development of

mountainous areas. To that end, the Kyrgyz Republic

offers to host in Kyrgyzstan in 2002, under the auspices

of the United Nations, of an international conference

on mountains.

In preparation for the International Year of

Mountains, we call on States and international

organizations to give further attention to the problems

of preserving the natural balance of mountainous

ecosystems and the development of mountainous

countries and regions. We commend the Food and

Agriculture Organization, the leading agency for

preparing for the Year, for its comprehensive concept

paper on mountain issues and for its tireless efforts in

that field.

Kyrgyzstan supports the initiative of the Republic

of Tajikistan to proclaim 2003 the year of fresh water,

within the framework of the United Nations. We hope

that the global community will support it.

Kyrgyzstan faces problems in dealing with

natural disasters and their regularly occurring

consequences, especially in mountainous regions. The

Kyrgyz Republic has a direct interest in the further

strengthening of the international capacity to deal with

accidents, in advanced specialized technologies to cope

with the consequences of accidents, and in increasing

the coordination of the rescue services of various

countries.

In conclusion, I assure the President that the

Kyrgyz delegation will take a most active part in

achieving our overall common purpose: to ensure the

successful work of the Millennium Assembly.