Kyrgyzstan, 2012

First of all, let me congratulate His Excellency Mr. Vuk

Jeremić on his election as President of the General

Assembly at its sixty-seventh session, I wish him

every success in carrying out his important functions.

It is also a great pleasure to express my gratitude to

His Excellency Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser for

his successful, fruitful leadership of the work of the

Assembly’s previous session.

It would be difficult to say that the overall situation

in the world has improved. We have not yet fully

recovered from one of the most serious global economic

crises in the past 65 years. Yes, the overall economic

situation is gradually normalizing. Proof of that is the

improving forecasts for world economic growth by key

international organizations for this year. However, we

should point out that risks remain and that the recovery

process is still very uncertain.

It is unfortunate that the world has not become

any safer. We are seeing a rise in confrontations and

tension in various parts of the world. Global climate

change, population growth against the background of

a deteriorating environment, the scarcity of natural

resources and of access to drinking water, and many

other problems are in the aggregate stoking tensions

and the potential for conflict in areas of cooperation on

the international arena.

Traditional ways of life are changing fast under the

impact of globalization processes. States are finding

it increasingly hard to tackle modern challenges by

themselves because of the transborder nature of those

challenges. Terrorism, separatism, extremism, drugs,

information wars — these are a kind of tumour for

humankind and cannot be eradicated at the local level

alone.

Sadly, there are forces at work in the world that

wish to drag humankind to the brink of the precipice,

to kindle the flames of hostility wherever they go.

One glaring example is the video Innocence of

Muslims, which symbolically appeared on the eve of

the General Assembly session. Kyrgyzstan condemns

the provocative nature of its content. It is unacceptable

to insult anyone’s religious sensibilities, regardless of

their faith. Humanism, tolerance and mutual respect

make the world better and safer. Therefore, we also

reject the use of force against diplomats — envoys of

peace and a symbol of cooperation — of any country.

Humankind is developing and changing fast.

Regional, and even local, events can impact on global

processes. In 2011, we observed with sympathy and

solidarity the events in the Middle East and North Africa.

The situation in Syria that we have seen this year can

only be a cause of serious concern for the international

community. All attempts to resolve the military conflict

and restore stability to that county have, sadly, failed.

With regard to the thousands of civilian victims, the

Kyrgyz Republic strongly advocates a speedy end to the

violence in that country, the opening of a broad national

dialogue between the political forces and a continuation

of political and socioeconomic reform and participation

of all Syrian citizens.

The Afghan factor continues to be a source of

threat to international security. There are concerns that

a full, swift drawdown of coalition forces could open

the way for destructive forces and the emergence of

various extremist and terrorist groups in neighbouring

countries. Every stakeholder in the world can make

a contribution to the issue of security by reviving

Afghanistan’s economy and developing trade, economic,

cultural and humanitarian ties with the country, as well

as its communication infrastructure.

Since 2001 Kyrgyzstan has played its part in that

process, rendering assistance to the counter-terrorist

coalition in Afghanistan through the cargo Transit

Center at Manas International Airport. It is clear that

the counter-terrorist coalition, with the withdrawal

of the military contingent from Afghanistan, must

bring its mission to a logical conclusion to create the

foundation of a national administrative system for

that country so that all branches of power can be fully

functional throughout the territory of Afghanistan.

We must do our utmost for the economic

rehabilitation of Afghanistan by engaging it in the development of regional cooperation and implementing

joint socioeconomic projects between international

organizations and financial institutions. In that regard,

Kyrgyzstan is ready to expand trade and economic

ties to export electricity to Afghanistan as part of the

CASA-1000 project, with the support of donor countries

and the international financial institutions.

The peaceful development of Afghanistan is

impossible without eradicating the systemic, ubiquitous

cultivation of opium in that country. For many years

Afghanistan has been the biggest producer and exporter

of drugs. The growing penetration of that deadly crop is

harming the countries of Central Asia. Not only are they

on the northern transit route towards the countries of

Europe and Asia, they are also progressively becoming

consumers.

Drugs are the enemy of civilized humankind. Where

there are drugs, there are international organized crime

groups and transborder challenges. Easy money earned

at the cost of people’s lives has no productive basis. It

brings destruction and the degradation of human value.

Drugs also spawn corruption and erode State systems

from the inside. Criminal proceeds are used to bribe

law enforcement bodies and the judiciary. They fund

corrupt politicians who seek power. The international

community must provide technical, economic and

other support to Afghanistan’s neighbours, including

the Central Asian countries, to build an effective

shield to neutralize and localize drug trafficking from

Afghanistan.

We believe that the mission of the United Nations,

as the single universal multilateral Organization, is to

be on the front line in tackling all modern challenges

and issues.

We should recognize that the global prevention

architecture, the international and regional security

system of today, does not reflect the requirements of

our time. It is unfortunate that despite the search for

universal methods for mediation and peaceful conflict

resolution, the international community still has not

resolved those issues.

The need to reform the United Nations architecture

and adapt it to the realities of the modern international

situation has not abated. A top priority is the reform

of principal organs of the United Nations, namely, the

Security Council and the Economic and Social Council.

We should point out that the tasks of those structures,

in the light of the current international situation, require serious transformation and integration of

fundamentally new approaches.

In terms of the reform of the United Nations, we

propose the expansion of the membership of the Security

Council to make it more representative, transparent and

democratic. The reform should be based on principles

of universality, efficiency and broad geographic

representation, particularly for those countries that

have not yet had the chance to take part in its work as

non-permanent members.

At the same time, we need to strengthen the

coordinating role of the Economic and Social Council

as a global governance mechanism on issues of

sustainable development, food security, humanitarian

assistance, environmental cooperation and achievement

of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the

2015 deadline.

The current global situation dictates the need

to consolidate the efforts of all countries to develop

tangible action based on objective, fair ref lection of

their interests and needs. On that basis, the Kyrgyz

Republic has submitted its candidature for the Economic

and Social Council for the period 2013-2015. If elected

by Member States to that organ with such enormous

potential, the Kyrgyz Republic intends to play its part

in tackling problems on the global agenda.

The problems of sustainable development

and global climate change have presented serious

challenges in recent years, and the attention of

the international community must not slacken. In

supporting the global discussions on a green economy

model that took place at the Rio+20 Conference on

Sustainable Development, Kyrgyzstan chose its future

path towards long-term sustainable green development

and an environment-minded economy. We would like

to confirm our commitment to developing our economy

through complying with requirements to protect our

environment and with a safe approach to national

resources, which are a national asset.

At Rio+20, the importance of development issues

concerning mountainous areas was acknowledged with

regard to managing global natural resources, as was

the need for support for the sustainable development

of mountain regions in developing countries. It should

be noted that despite the assistance of the international

financial institutions, developing mountain States

continue to suffer difficulties. High levels of poverty

and isolation, increasing transport costs and large foreign debts comprise the main problems facing

mountain countries. In that situation, it will be difficult

to achieve the MDGs and attain the status set out in the

United Nations documents on sustainable development.

In that respect, I wish to call attention to the

importance of the launching of international discussions

on the question of exchanging Kyrgyzstan’s foreign

debt for sustainable development projects. We call on

the United Nations and its entities to render support on

that matter.

By the will of God, we gained independence 21

years ago. Previous leaders were unable to cope with

the task of building a truly independent Kyrgyzstan.

They could not build an effective, transparent State

system for governing that would work for the benefit of

the people. Most of the important issues were tackled

behind closed doors, without informing society. For

the sake of personal enrichment and gain, some State

decisions were even taken to the detriment of national

interests.

The former Kyrgyz leaders declared a course for

democracy that in fact did not take place. The former

regimes established a clan-like system of governance

that f louted the principles of a free society and usurped

power. They not only attempted to hand power down

to their children, but brought the people to their knees

merely for the sake of their personal enrichment. The

freedom-loving people of Kyrgyzstan therefore carried

out two revolutions, in 2005 and 2010, in response to

the unjust, tyrannical and authoritarian power.

The latest choice has proved a difficult one for our

people, despite our commitment to democratic values,

which is almost hard-wired in the Kyrgyz people, part

of their very heritage. Over 100 glorious sons of our

country laid down their lives for democracy during the

April revolution of 2010. Their memory lives on. Also,

1,500 people were injured.

Over the past two years, our country has begun to

implement new, democratic governance. The Kyrgyz

people have chosen a parliamentary, presidential form

of governance. We believe that was a just decision.

According to impartial observers, our country has

made significant progress during the past year in terms

of building a democratic State.

We began under difficult conditions. In the years

of independence in Kyrgyzstan, industry virtually

ground to a halt. No new jobs were created. Labour migration grew. One third of the working population

was forced to find employment abroad. We were left

with ineffective public administration institutions,

low per-capita income, a reduced budget, rampant

corruption and organized crime, as well as unhampered

drug-trafficking from Afghanistan to the north, east

and west.

Currently, we are waging an uncompromising

struggle against the corruption that is wearing away the

State system from within. Civil servants who are found

to be involved in corruption are being prosecuted under

the law. In modern Kyrgyzstan, there will be no caste

of those whom the law does not touch.

The battle against corruption is already seeing

tangible results. Senior State officials under

investigation have been arrested, including members

of Parliament, ministers, their deputies and others.

Leaders of organized crime groups are either in prison

or on the run outside of the country.

We are determined to extradite for prosecution

those people for whom international warrants have

been issued. In the name of fairness, the former leaders

of Kyrgyzstan, who have taken shelter in neighbouring

countries along with their inner circle, must be

sanctioned in strict compliance with Kyrgyz legislation.

Kyrgyzstan stresses that they are being prosecuted not

for politically motivated acts, but for specific crimes

punishable by law. They gave the orders to open fire on

peaceful civilians and to destroy innocent people. They

pillaged their own people and the country’s budget and

took enormous financial assets out of the country. They

have used criminal gains to buy villas, land and other

costly material goods. In such issues, punishment must

be just and inevitable so as to deter future leaders from

repeating such actions.

Therefore, we still hope that the Byelorussian

authorities, partners of ours in the Collective Security

Treaty Organization and the Eurasian Economic Union

and who have assumed responsibilities under the Minsk

and Kishinev Conventions, will show their commitment

to their international legal obligations and extradite

the relatives and the retinue of the former President of

Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who have been hiding

in their territory and even have Byelorussian passports.

The United Nations needs to establish clear standards

and procedures to ensure justice at the international

level, and especially for the return of illegally gained

assets.

Kyrgyzstan is steadfastly building a parliamentary

democracy, a direct authority that represents the

people, their wishes and their needs. At present, there

are processes in place that are gradually bringing our

society to a healthy state. Today, Parliament is engaged in

political processes. Gradually, polemics and arguments

are transitioning from street democracy to a civilized

form for resolving any significant controversial issues

within the walls of Parliament. Under the national

Constitution, the Kyrgyz Parliament is the highest

representative body, carrying out the functions of

legislative authority and control. The Government is

fully accountable to the Parliament.

A major test, and at the same time an indicator, is the

fact that since the adoption of the new Constitution in

2011, we have seen the peaceful launch of all institutions

of authority in accordance with the letter of the law. The

members of Parliament have been elected. At the end of

2011 we saw, for the first time in Kyrgyzstan’s history,

a peaceful transfer of power from the President to the

newly elected Head of State, Almazbek Atambayev. A

functioning coalition Government is in place.

We are reforming the judicial system, which must

be equitable and fully independent. Despite strong

opposition from certain quarters who are not interested

in seeing the successful conclusion of that issue,

we have, in the space of two years, launched a new,

transparent mechanism for the selection of judges. In

mid-September, the Parliament approved the 25 judges

of the Supreme Court. The selection of judges to the

Constitutional Court and local courts is also under way.

The establishment of an independent judiciary

is extremely important for us. It will allow us to

achieve a just public administration in which every

citizen will be equal before the law. We are working

effectively with the Office of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights and other agencies on

the legal system and on improving legislation to ensure

everyone’s equality before the law.

With the participation of the Parliament, the

country has undertaken planning and reforms in all

spheres of the State system — in the justice system,

law enforcement, taxation, oversight and others. All of

that requires stronger legislation. Kyrgyzstan is taking

its first steps in the new format of a parliamentary

republic. Sustainable development depends on the level

of governance, on the rule of law and on human rights.

We believe in the bright future of our country and that

very soon all our countrymen will be able to say with

pride that they are the citizens of a strong, prosperous

Kyrgyzstan.

One can more clearly see the sanctity of our

fatherland and our true values of independence from afar.

I would like to appeal to my countrymen from the

highest podium in the world. Twenty years ago, God

granted us the independence that our ancestors had

dreamed of for centuries, for which they had shed

their blood and sacrificed their lives. The freedom that

was sent down to our people as a blessing should be

strengthened without division, by tireless effort and

labour united in harmony. Regardless of provocation

by two-faced forces, we need to continue to strengthen

the path on which we set forth. Let us build a strong,

united beloved Kyrgyzstan. To reach a bright future we

need to continue to move forward. Life is a struggle

between light and dark, good and bad. We need unity.

We need work and welfare, not animosity and discord.

May the Creator bless our nation as it moves towards

bright goals.

Unfortunately, our country is still weak and

economically dependent. We are not free in the choice

of our foreign sources of energy, but that problem is

gradually being tackled with the assistance of our

strategic partners. Kyrgyzstan needs the help of the

international community to tackle the problem of

our foreign debt, which is hampering the process of

economic growth of the State and the implementation

of fundamental reforms.

We fully share what Secretary-General Ban

Ki-moon said here in his opening statement at the

Assembly’s sixty-seventh session, namely, that

developing States need support (see A/67/PV.1). We

believe that developing democracies in particular need

support from countries of the democratic club and

from economically developed States. To consolidate

parliamentary democracy, Kyrgyzstan vitally needs

the support of our principal partners for the complex

reforms undertaken in restructuring or in writing off

of Kyrgyzstan’s State debt. I wish to stress that we

have a clear vision of how to conduct reforms and how

to achieve development of the State. However, in the

light of the high deficit, we need significant additional

resources, which we will certainly return once we have achieved development and prosperity in the country in

the coming years.

We are open to mutually beneficial, trusting

partnerships and cooperation with all States. Kyrgyzstan

has great economic potential. We are an open country,

willing to engage in mutual dialogue. We have great

industrial and metallurgical potential. In Kyrgyzstan

you can find most of the elements on Mendeleev’s table

of elements.

Critically important for many energy projects,

we have a highly qualified labour force and cheap

electricity. In the modern world, energy is the driver of

progress. Kyrgyzstan has huge hydroelectric potential,

which we have begun to exploit. Every year we develop

around 14 billion kilowatts per hour of electricity, which

is not enough to satisfy the hydro-energy demand of

Kyrgyzstan, which is around 142.5 billion kilowatts per

hour.

On 20 September, Kyrgyzstan and Russia concluded

an agreement that is vital for the entire Central Asian

region on building and operationalizing the Kambar-

Ata and the Naryn Cascade power plants. Participation

in building one of the biggest hydroelectric projects

in Central Asia will include our neighbours in the

region and allow Kyrgyzstan not only to increase

the development of cost-effective, environmentally

clean electricity but also to preserve the water in the

foothills that is currently supplying our neighbours

during the growing season. The benefit of the effective

implementation of such projects is clear. It will enhance

our hydroelectric export potential and protect drinking

water for our neighbours. We invite all investors to take

part in building those projects.

To conclude, I would like to note that the

international community is undergoing a difficult

period. Political and social upheavals are creating

numerous obstacles on the path to human development.

We are seeing a new era for the world order, combined

with new historical challenges and changes. At this

critical stage the Organization must continue its lofty

mission to build peace and to achieve sustainable

development throughout the world. Kyrgyzstan, in the

spirit of solidarity and cooperation with the United

Nations, is prepared to play its part in tackling the

major challenges of this day.