Astana Believes International Assistance, National Unity Vital for Kyrgyzstan
20-06-2010
Kazakhstan continues its work on helping restore stability in the violence-hit Kyrgyzstan, both at a bilateral basis and as part of multilateral efforts, particularly through its chairmanship in the OSCE.
On June 15 President Nazarbayev discussed this issue at a special meeting in his official residence of Akorda, as he received Prime Minister Karim Massimov, Secretary of Security Council Marat Tazhin, and Chief of Staff Aslan Mussin.
Nazarbayev noted Kazakhstan as a close neighbour is “absolutely interested” in stabilising the situation in Kyrgyzstan.
“A horrible bloodshed happened. We express our condolences to families of all who perished,” he added. “Kazakhstan will extend every kind of assistance needed. We are closely coordinating our actions with the neighbouring states – Russia and Uzbekistan.”
Earlier, on June 14, presidential national security advisers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) members agreed to monitor the situation in Kyrgyzstan in conjunction with the country’s Interim Government to identify necessary actions to take. They also decided to provide Kyrgyzstan with military equipment and non-lethal weaponry to be used by the country’s security services in case of new cases of mass violence.
Nazarbayev stressed the focus should now be on efficiently coordinating delivery of humanitarian aid from the international community.
“OSCE Envoy Zhanibek Karibzhanov is already working there, as well as representatives of the United Nations, the International Red Cross and others. Everyone is worried about what is happening there. We hope that inside the country the Interim government and the Kyrgyz people as a whole can manage to stabilise the situation,” he added.
In May, President Nazarbayev appointed experienced diplomat Bolat Utemuratov as his Special Envoy for relations with Kyrgyzstan, who has been in regular contact with the leadership of the Interim government there, to assist in solving the pressing issues in bilateral affairs.
In the meantime, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office’s Special Envoy of the Zhanibek Karibzhanov has completed his trip to Bishkek, where he discussed the mechanisms of stabilizing the situation in close cooperation with UN, EU and other relevant international actors, as well as the Interim Kyrgyz Government.
Speaking at a press conference on June 15 with the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Representative Miroslav Jenca and the European Union representative, Ambassador of Germany to Kyrgyzstan Holger Green, Karibzhanov claimed that the international community’s priorities in containing the Kyrgyz crisis are to stop the violence, prevent the escalation of tensions, help to alleviate the humanitarian situation and lay the groundwork for post-conflict rehabilitation.
“Despite the Kyrgyz interim government’s efforts in restoring the security in the country, the situation in south Kyrgyzstan remains vulnerable and can seriously regress,” Karibzhanov stressed. “Our main task is to assess the situation and the scale of the tragedy on the ground, and develop concrete measures to stabilize the situation in this region”.
According to the OSCE Envoy the main subjects of the discussions with the Kyrgyz authorities and representatives of international community were ways to stop the violence, stabilize the situation and prevent the spill-over of the conflict to other territories, as well as matters related to ensuring the inalienable rights of people - above all, the right to life.
“Other important issues were about the aggravating humanitarian situation in the zone of conflict and the refugee problem, which require serious care and attention,” he stated.
Regarding the prospects for co-operation on post-conflict rehabilitation of Kyrgyzstan Karibzhanov stated that as in the 1990’s the recent events in Kyrgyzstan are being triggered by the difficult socio-economic situation. In this respect “our steps towards post-conflict rehabilitation are as important as our efforts to stop the violence. It is high time to decide what to do further in order to ensure that such events will not happen again.”
The same day he met with Chairman of Kyrgyzstan’s Central Election Commission Vladimir Churov. The parties exchanged views on the upcoming referendum in the Kyrgyz Republic and rendering help in organizing voting of Kyrgyz labour migrants in Kazakhstan and Russia.
Despite pessimistic forecasts, the Kyrgyz Interim Government is confident about holding the referendum on time, on June 27. Following an invitation from Kyrgyzstan’s authorities, and based on the recommendation of a needs assessment mission, ODIHR has deployed a referendum observation mission (ROM) for the upcoming constitutional referendum. The ROM, led by Ambassador Boris Frlec (Slovenia), comprises a 13-member international core team, based in Bishkek, with members drawn from 10 OSCE participating States. In addition, 14 long-term observers, seconded by OSCE participating States, will be deployed across Kyrgyzstan to follow the preparations for the referendum at the regional level. The day of the referendum will see around 300 OSCE observers watching the vote.
On June 16, on the last day of his latest visit to Bishkek, Karibzhanov issued a joint statement with his colleagues representing the UN and the EU, in which they reiterated restoring security, peace and rule of law were crucial in Kyrgyzstan and stated their agreement to continue working together as they support Kyrgyzstan's efforts to resolve the crisis.
“The preservation of national unity and the restoration of national security are of utmost importance for the stabilization of the situation in the country,” the three Special Representatives said in a joint statement. “We are deeply convinced that the tradition of tolerance of the people of the Kyrgyz Republic will return the country to a peaceful development.”
The Special Representatives supported the authorities’ and citizens’ efforts to stabilize the situation and developed an urgent action plan, outlining specific steps and areas in which the OSCE, UN and EU can support this work. These include public security; humanitarian assistance; regional security; and post-conflict rehabilitation and reconciliation.
The full statement by the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Special Envoy Zhanybek Karibzhanov, the UN Special Representative Miroslav Jenca and the EU Special Representative Pierre Morel is available on: http://www.osce.org/documents/cio/2010/06/44653_en.pdf.
The ethnic clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks erupted on June 11 in the city of Osh in south Kyrgyzstan. The death toll of the events (official data for June 17) exceeds 190 people, with more than 2,100 injured. In regions of Osh and Jalal-Abad, the Kyrgyz authorities imposed a state of emergency.
