Disarmament, OSCE’s Regional Role Highlighted by Visit to Asghabat
23-06-2010
Turkmenistan’s interaction with the OSCE, as well as a number of issues on its bilateral agenda with Kazakhstan, were in the spotlight as the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Kazakhstan’s Secretary of State and Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev paid an official visit to Ashgabat on June 23-24. The Kazakh diplomat also addressed a representative international conference on issues of disarmament in Central Asia and the Caspian region, stressing the need for enhancing instruments and practices for control over weapons, as this was too clearly demonstrated by the latest violence in Kyrgyzstan.
While in Ashgabat, Saudabayev held talks with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, and Chairwoman of the Medjlis (Parliament) Akdja Nurberdiyeva.
At these meetings the sides discussed the situation in Kyrgyzstan, environmental security, engagement with Afghanistan and ways to work together in all three dimensions of security, the politico-military aspects, the economic and environmental and the human aspects.
Following the meetings Saudabayev said: “The Kazakh OSCE Chairmanship is committed to preventing escalation of tensions in Kyrgyzstan, and is ready to help the country with post-conflict rehabilitation. The OSCE is working together with the international community to help Kyrgyzstan.”
Energy security is an issue which concerns all Central Asian countries and Turkmenistan has taken on an important role in advancing the OSCE dialogue on energy security, hosting a conference on this subject in Ashgabat in May 2010.
Engagement with Afghanistan and a stronger OSCE role in stabilizing this country is an initiative of Kazakhstan’s Chairmanship. “I welcome Turkmenistan’s support and constructive co-operation between Turkmenistan and the OSCE to improve border security between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan and foster cross-border co-operation,” said Saudabayev.
Saudabayev thanked Turkmenistan for their support for Kazakhstan’s priorities during its Chairmanship, especially holding an OSCE Summit this year. He also thanked them for fruitful co-operation with the OSCE Centre and offered to work together on new proposals for expanding this co-operation.
On a bilateral level, Saudabayev mentioned the high dynamics of the Kazakh-Turkmen relations in all spheres and called for expanding the economic and trade relations to achieve the trade turnover of US$ 500 million in the next few years.
Since Kazakhstan is interested in deepening the cooperation in the transport sector, the construction of the “Uzen - Gyzylgaya - Bereket - Etrek – Gorgan” railway line is an important tripartite project between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran.
Saudabayev noted with satisfaction the pace of construction of the Turkmen part of the railway and reminded Kazakhstan started the construction of its segment in September 2009 and would finish it on time, by the country’s 20th anniversary of independence.
Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan were established on October 5, 1992.
The trade turnover in 2009 amounted to US$ 170.3 million (export – 108.9 mln and import – 61.4 million). The main staples of Kazakhstan’s exports include plant products, metal products, calcium phosphate, natural gas, wood and articles of wood, metal and powder, flour and confectionery products. Main import staples include mineral, chemical and textile products. Promising areas of cooperation are energy, transport and communication sectors.
On the second day of his Turkmen visit, Saudabayev delivered a welcoming address at the International Conference on Disarmament in Central Asia and the Caspian region. He emphasized this year is a landmark for the disarmament process. A unified position of the world leaders at the Global Nuclear Security Summit, an encouraging outcome of the Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Treaty on START-3 signed between Russia and the U.S. have all formed the basis for qualitatively new relations in the military and strategic fields.
Since Kazakhstan is a strong supporter of the idea of disarmament and non-proliferation, the Central Asian country offers a number of steps for overcoming the current state of the nuclear disarmament process.
“We believe all nuclear powers, including the unrecognized ones, should follow the lead of Moscow and Washington and proportionately reduce their stockpiles of strategic offensive arms,” Saudabayev urged.
He also noted that it is necessary to speed up the process of negotiations at the Conference on Disarmament to adopt a treaty banning production of fissile materials for military purposes.
The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office stressed that “the next essential step towards nuclear disarmament should be a speedy entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
“President Nursultan Nazarbayev has initiated a discussion on the adoption of the Universal Declaration on a nuclear weapon free world. This would be a first step towards adopting a legally binding Convention on general and complete prohibition of nuclear weapons,” the Kazakh Foreign Minister added.
The Central Asian region, according to Saudabayev, is one of the most important areas of the present-day world policy where “the most pressing” issues of our time are concentrated, in particular, the rehabilitation of Afghanistan, Iran's nuclear program, and the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. And disarmament, in his opinion, is a key aspect of the settlement of the issues.
“In these circumstances it is no exaggeration to say that stability on a global scale depends on the stability in our vast region”.
“The recent bloodshed in the Kyrgyz Republic is a clear evidence to the devastating effects of the lack of arms control,” Saudabayev stressed. “These events once again require taking effective measures to reduce the stockpiles of weapons, prevent new attempts of arms build-up, and reduce the potential threats and tensions in the region.
In this respect, Saudabayev has urged the countries of Central Asia and the Caspian region to unify the system of customs and border controls to reduce the smuggling of weapons: “It is high time to harmonize the national export control systems across the region as long as our goal is to create an effective barrier to uncontrolled movement of arms, munitions, and other sensitive materials”.
Concluding his speech, Saudabayev noted that holding the OSCE Summit in 2010 would offer a unique opportunity for open and interested discussion of disarmament and nonproliferation issues.
On the fringes of the Conference, Saudabayev held a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, during which they discussed the construction of the Caspian railway (Kazakhstan - Turkmenistan - Iran) and the prospects of economic cooperation. In particular, the recent opening of a grain terminal (in the port of Amirabad) is an important step in the cooperation in this field. They also discussed the international situation over the Iranian nuclear programme.
While in Ashgabat, Saudabayev also met with OSCE Secretary General Marc Perren de Brichambaut as well as the head of the UN Centre for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia Miroslav Jenca.
