The First President of Kazakhstan – Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev was awarded the status of the "Champion for a world free from nuclear tests"

This was announced at a Special session of the UN General Assembly, organized on the occasion of the International day against nuclear tests – August 29.

Lassina Zerbo, Executive Secretary of the comprehensive nuclear-test-ban Treaty Organization (#CTBTO), initiated the awarding of a new status to Nursultan Nazarbayev in recognition of the special historical contribution of Kazakhstan during its leadership to the global efforts to build a nuclear-free world. The unprecedented decision of Elbasy to close the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, one of the largest in the world, on August 29, 1991, was recognized not only as the first legal ban on nuclear testing in the history of mankind, but also became a significant basis for the establishment of the International day.