COMMEMORATION EVENT AT THE UN ESCAP ON THE 30th ANNIVERSARY OF THE SEMIPALATINSK NUCLEAR TEST SITE CLOSURE

At the United Nations Conference Center in Bangkok on August 27, 2020, the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Kingdom of Thailand jointly with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) held a video conference on the occasion of the International Day against Nuclear Tests and the 30th anniversary of the closure of Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site.

During the conference in a virtual format a short documentary film dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk Polygon was shown, at the end of which the event participants observed a minute of silence in memory of all victims of the use and testing of nuclear weapons.

Ambassador Raushan Yesbulatova in her welcoming remarks emphasized the exceptional role of the First President of Kazakhstan - Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev in promoting the global anti-nuclear initiative, which was recognized by awarding him the status of the Champion for a Nuclear-Free World.

The conference was heard a video message by Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tileuberdi, who as the Chair of the current 77th session of UNESCAP appealed to all States to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and told in detail about global initiatives and consistent steps of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the First President - Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, as well as ensuring global and regional security. The attention of the audience was also focused on the 15th anniversary of the signing of the Semipalatinsk Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia.

Addressing to the conference the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and the ESCAP Executive Secretary Armida Alisjahbana highly appreciated the anti-nuclear initiatives of the Republic of Kazakhstan and called on «to support every effort that ends nuclear tests to avoid the devastating and harmful effects they have on Family and Earth».

The conference was also attended by Mr. Nadhavathna Krishnamra, Director-General of the Department of International Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, Mrs. Eva Hager, Ambassador of Austria, Mr. Bernardo Cordova-Tello, Ambassador of Mexico, Dr. Akima Umezawa, Minister of the Embassy of Japan, Mr. James Andersen, Charge d'Affaires of the Embassy of New Zealand and Ms. Thobeko Dlamini, Charge d'Affaires of the Embassy of the South Africa, as well as Mr. Dato Samuel, Ambassador of Malaysia, who took part in the debate.

The speakers thanked the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the initiative to hold such a conference, highly appreciated the activities of Kazakhstan and its leadership in solving problems in the field of non-proliferation, promoting international nuclear-free initiatives, and also called for uniting the efforts of the world community to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.