Opinion editorial by H.E. Mr. Mukhtar Tileuberdi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Portuguese newspaper “Diário de Notícias”
Every year on 29th of August the global community marks the International Day against Nuclear Tests. It was established in December 2009, when the 64th Session of the UN General Assembly adopted the historical Resolution. The document was adopted at the behest of Kazakhstan and numerous co-sponsors to commemorate under the UN auspices the signing of the Decree by the First President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev to close the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in August 29, 1991.
Kazakhstan’s initiative, which was unanimously supported by all UN member states, was aimed at galvanizing the efforts of all the stakeholders, including civil society, public diplomacy and mass media, in promoting awareness and education about the terrifying consequences of nuclear testing. By supporting this Resolution, member states made a firm commitment for further actions against nuclear tests. It serves our common goal – to live in a world free of danger of annihilation.
This historic decision by the First President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev paved the way first for introduction of moratorium on nuclear testing and then ultimately for adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. One should not forget that the CTBT has established a powerful norm against nuclear test explosions and an effective global monitoring system to detect and deter nuclear tests. Kazakhstan stands for preservation and speedy entry into force of the CTBT.
Our antinuclear resolve continues to define our country. Kazakhstan is among the few nations that have suffered most from the human and environmental devastation of nuclear testing. For more than four decades, the Semipalatinsk test site, in the northeast of our country, was the scene of more than 450 nuclear explosions in the air, above and under the ground. Many were held when little was known about the long-term impact of radiation with precautions often either non-existent or rudimentary. Thousands of people have died from radiation-related diseases. Hundreds of children were born with disabilities. It is this tragic legacy which led, even before our country fully regained its independence in 1991, to our First President Nazarbayev decision to close down the Semipalatinsk test site.
Over the past thirty years, Kazakhstan has taken the ambitious path of contributing practically to the cause of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, after being at one time the holder of the fourth largest nuclear arsenal in the world. Being fully aware of the catastrophic consequences of nuclear weapons testing, we have continued with very pertinent anti-nuclear-weapon approaches, and will continue to do so in the future.
Kazakhstan’s consistent position in nuclear disarmament is guided by the strategic initiative of First President Nazarbayev on achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world by 2045. In a strongly worded Manifesto, “The World. The 21st Century,” Kazakhstan’s Leader of the Nation challenged his global counterparts to commit to peace and dialogue. Without such action, the First President said the world was facing a real risk of once again plunging into global conflict.
He warned this would be a war with “no winners” as it would inevitably lead to the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The result, he said, was that the planet would end up “as a graveyard of radioactive materials.”
Since taking office in June 2019, the current President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has continued First President Nazarbayev’s legacy in the sphere of non-proliferation and strengthening international security. During his first speech at the UN General Assembly in September 2019, President Tokayev stated that Kazakhstan stems from the firm conviction that nuclear weapons are no longer an asset but a danger to global peace and stability, adding that achieving a nuclear-free world has become an essential part of Kazakhstan’s national identity.
President Tokayev has vast experience in the field of international relations. He served as Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva from 2011 to 2013. This experience continues to be indispensable to Kazakhstan’s current efforts to promote international security and a nuclear-weapons free world.
Following the adoption by the United Nations of the text of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in July 2017, the international community took a historic step towards a world without nuclear weapons. We are pleased to note the Treaty’s rapid process of ratification and hope for its speedy entry into force. We believe that the Treaty adds additional momentum to the stagnated disarmament process and, at the same time, complements and strengthens the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) regime.
On August 29, 2019, on the International Day against Nuclear Tests, Kazakhstan provided to the United Nations Secretariat the ratification instrument to the TPNW. Four years earlier in 2015, at the initiative of our country, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration on the Achievement of a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World. Taking this opportunity, I call on everyone to support the reconfirmation of the Universal Declaration in 2021.
In support of our common efforts, Kazakhstan initiated The ATOM Project (Abolish Testing - Our Mission). The objective of this initiative is to mobilize the international community to raise awareness of the nuclear threat and to press for its end. Thousands of people from more than 100 countries have already signed the ATOM Project’s online petition to global leaders demanding progress in the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) ratification. I urge supporters and followers of the ATOM project to sign the petition to stop nuclear weapon tests.
Keeping in mind that nuclear-weapon-free zones remain one of the most effective tools in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation of WMDs, together with our partners from the region we created the nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia. Kazakhstan believes that the creation of new zones can expand the geography of a nuclear-weapon-free world so that one day our entire planet will gradually become a single nuclear-weapon-free zone.
Our contribution in nuclear nonproliferation and peaceful use of nuclear energy includes joint work on launching the IAEA Low-Enriched Uranium Bank in Kazakhstan. We believe it can help to meet this challenge as one of the key components of ensuring the safety of the international nuclear fuel cycle. As the world’s largest producer and supplier of uranium, with good relations with all the main nuclear powers and a track record on nuclear security and disarmament, Kazakhstan has the ideal credentials to host the fuel bank. The LEU Bank officially began its work in December last year, after delivery of low enriched material.
Despite these initiatives and the efforts of the world community, we have to acknowledge that the situation in the field of disarmament is not optimistic. The NPT Member States show little political will to bring their positions closer in a complex international environment, when the global nuclear non-proliferation regime and many of its institutions face serious challenges. They include the withdrawal of the U.S. from the INF Treaty, of which Kazakhstan was also a party, the alarming prospects of the New START Treaty and the situation surrounding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the Iran nuclear deal).
At the same time, in the face of the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 is a unique year for multilateral diplomacy. In the year of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, the establishment of the UN and the 50th anniversary of the Non Proliferation Treaty’s entry into force, it is important not to miss another opportunity and give a new impetus for joint efforts to build a world free of nuclear weapons.
Kazakhstan will remain a staunch supporter of nuclear disarmament. The threat posed by the existence of nuclear weapons remains among the most pressing issues facing humanity. Completely eliminating the risk of nuclear weapons is only possible when the weapons themselves are eliminated.