New York, 1 August 2022
Mr. Chairman,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the States Parties to the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia, namely the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Kazakhstan.
I am pleased to inform you that last year, this Treaty marked its 15th Anniversary. On this occasion, States Parties to the Treaty adopted a Joint Statement, which once again reaffirmed the paramount importance of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as the cornerstone of international efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and, ultimately, achieve their complete elimination.
The establishment of such a zone is the visionary outcome of the collective effort of all five Central Asian States in their desire to provide security, stability and peace in the region. It was also motivating by all to foster the necessary conditions for the sustainable development and prosperity of our people.
The State Parties of the Central Asian nuclear-weapon free zone have committed themselves voluntarily and unequivocally to ban the production, acquisition and deployment of nuclear weapons and their components or other nuclear explosive devices on their territories.
The idea of creating the zone was initially put forward by Uzbekistan in September 1993 at the 48-session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. After many years of negotiation, including with nuclear-weapon states, signing ceremony of the Treaty on the Zone was held in 2006 in the city of Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan. It is symbolic that Treaty was concluded in the region where one of the world’s largest nuclear test sites was closed in 1991 and the Soviet authorities had conducted 456 nuclear tests for over four decades.
Since then the Kyrgyz Republic officially has been performing the functions of depository of the Treaty.
Mr. Chairman,
The Central Asian nuclear-weapon-free zone has a number of special features. This is the first zone located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and in a landlocked region between two nuclear powers. Paradoxically, the Semipalatinsk test site used to be the only testing venue in the region, where, in the past, nuclear weapons had been actively tested and deployed.
In this context, noting the importance of the environmental rehabilitation of territories affected by radioactive waste, we urge all governments and international organizations that have expertise in the field of clean-up and disposal of radioactive contaminants to consider giving appropriate assistance to the Central Asian states for radiological assessment and remediation of former test sites as well as uranium extraction plants.
Undoubtedly, such a declaration of the Central Asian region affirming to be a nuclear-weapon-free zone located in the heart of the vast Eurasian continent, significantly enhances the security and stability in this expansive geopolitical space.
We hope that such security and cooperation-based domain across our area will continue to expand so that one day, our entire planet can turn into a single nuclear-weapon-free-zone.
We stay committed to enhance partnership with the existing nuclear-weapon-free-zones with the aim of strengthening NPT regime and uniting international efforts to ensure peace and security. This was reaffirmed by our Heads of States at the consultative meeting of the Central Asian states in August 2021 in Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan.
On August 2019, Kazakhstan and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) co-organized in the capital city of Nur-Sultan international Seminar on Fostering Cooperation and Enhancing Consultation Mechanisms among the existing nuclear-weapon-free zones. The seminar gathered representatives of all Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zones and Mongolia, as well as experts from relevant international organizations.
As a joint project of Kazakhstan and UNODA, we invite to visit the web-portal, launched in February 2021 and dedicated to strengthen cooperation between Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zones and further enable their contribution to the pursuit of a world free of nuclear weapons.
Mr. Chairman,
On 6 May 2014, the high-ranking representatives of nuclear- weapon States (P5) signed the Protocol on Negative Security Assurances to the members of the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia, in the presence of the State parties to the Treaty. The Protocol is an integral part of the Treaty and provides security assurances against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons to the Central Asian states.
The Protocol to the Treaty has been so far ratified by the four nuclear weapons states and we express the hope to secure the earliest ratification of the Protocol by the United States so as to finalize the institutionalization of the nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia.
I would like to reiterate that the establishment of nuclear weapon-free zones is one of the strongest universal instruments preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and bolstering the global disarmament process.
To conclude, allow me, on behalf of the Central Asian states to express our gratitude to all Member States that have supported the General Assembly resolution on the Central Asian nuclear-weapon free zone during its 75th session in December of 2020.
We express our common hope that working papers tabled by the Central Asian states will find support of the participating states of the Tenth Review Conference of NPT and will contribute for the successful outcome of the Conference.
We look forward to having productive discussion during this Review Conference to enhance global security, promote further cooperation and sustain peace and prosperity in the world.
I thank you.