Mongolia’s Contribution to a Nuclear-Weapon Free World

Viewpoint by Dr. Jargalsaikhany Enkhsaikan*

This is a slightly abridged version of the Mongolian Blue Banner NGO President Dr. Jargalsaikhany Enkhsaikan’s address to the Astana Conference on August 29 to mark the 25th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.

ULAN BATOR | ASTANA (IDN-INPS) – Abolition of nuclear weapons is an ambitious goal that reflects seven decades of peoples’ aspirations and hopes to do away with this weapon of mass destruction. The paradox of the post cold war period is that though the number of nuclear weapons has been reduced, the number of states possessing such weapons has increased.

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Disarmament Talk with Kazakh Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov

Press Briefing by Erlan Idrissov, Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan on 29 August 2016 in Astana with questions by Ramesh Jaura DG & Chief Editor IDN-INPS. Filmed & Edited by Katsuhiro Asagiri, Bureau Chief INPS Japan.

Disarmament Talk with Kazakh Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov

Press Briefing by Erlan Idrissov, Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan on 29 August 2016 in Astana with questions by Ramesh Jaura DG & Chief Editor IDN-INPS. Filmed & Edited by Katsuhiro Asagiri, Bureau Chief INPS Japan.

Kazakhstan Claims ‘Moral Right’ to Push for Banning Nukes

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | ASTANA (IDN) – The fact that President Nursultan Nazarbayev shut down the Semipalatinsk test site “against the interests of the Soviet military authorities” even before the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan became “fully independent”, is not widely known.

The decision reflected a strong political will, the courage to translate it into reality, and put a series of follow-up measures in place which, as Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov says, give Kazakhstan “the moral right to push for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, both globally and regionally”.

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The UN and the Test Ban

Viewpoint by Daryl G. Kimball | Reproduced courtesy of Arms Control Association

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – Twenty years ago this month, in a major nonproliferation breakthrough, more than 158 nations came together to adopt a resolution at the United Nations in support of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

Since then, the treaty has been signed by 183 states and has established a powerful taboo against nuclear test explosions, which for decades were used to perfect new and more deadly warhead designs and fueled the global nuclear arms race. Only one country – North Korea – has conducted nuclear test explosions in this century.

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Kazakh Contribution to Building a Nuke Free World: A Tribute

Viewpoint by Jayantha Dhanapala*

This is a slightly modified text of Jayantha Dhanapala’s address to the Astana Conference on August 28-29 to mark the 25th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.

ASTANA (IDN-INPS) – As the 550th anniversary of the Kazakh Khanate is celebrated we are fortunate, as invited participants of this important conference, to have the pleasure and privilege of being visitors in this ancient land – the Land of the Wanderers – heir to a centuries old traditional culture; a land which is at the same time a vibrant modern nation. It is a nation which since 1991 has been a trailblazer in international relations and in the specific area of building a nuclear-weapon world – the theme of our conference.

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Kazakhstan Leads the Way to a Nuclear-Weapon Free World

By Ramesh Jaura and Katsuhiro Asagiri

ASTANA (IDN) – As divisions between States on how to achieve nuclear disarmament grow, countries like Kazakhstan must lead the way to common ground and inclusive dialogue. Such leadership is urgently needed to make our world truly secure, said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a message delivered to the conference on ‘Building a Nuclear-Free World’.

Welcoming participants, President Nursultan Nazarbayev explained why Kazakhstan was leading the way: “August 29, 1991, is marked by an event of historic significance both for our country and the whole world. 25 years ago, we legally stopped the most sinister experiment of militarism, which had been tormenting our land and our people for almost 40 years. Several decades before that event, the world tried to lower the threshold of nuclear threat through the processes of nuclear weapons reduction, and a moratorium of its testing.” [P20] CHINESE TEXT VERSION PDF | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

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Reinforcing Nuclear-Test-Ban With Security Council Resolution

Viewpoint by Shervin Taheran*

This article appears in cooperation with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), as part of the initiative ‘Youth for CTBTO’. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the CTBTO. – Editor

WASHINGTON. D.C. (IDN) – Following mass protests against Soviet nuclear weapons testing in Kazakhstan, on August 29, 1991, the Kremlin was forced to close the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, where over 400 nuclear tests were conducted, and declare a moratorium on nuclear testing. This, in turn, opened the way for the United States to halt testing and for negotiations on a global, verifiable Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which were concluded in 1996.

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August 29 Reminds of the UN’s Unfinished Agenda

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN (IDN) – For the seventh year in succession, the world would commemorate on August 29 the International Day against Nuclear Tests, which would coincide with the 25th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test site the central Asian republic inherited from the Soviet Union in the aftermath of its breakup.

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Wide Support for UN Talks on a Legal Ban-the-Bomb Tool

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – In what the International Campaign to abolish nuclear weapons (ICAN) calls “a dramatic final day”, a group of non-nuclear countries have pushed through a proposal to initiate negotiations in 2017 to prohibit nuclear weapons of mass destruction.

The UN Open Ended Working group on nuclear disarmament (OEWG) wrapped up on August 19 the third series of sessions that have been convened since February, by adopting a recommendation to the United Nations General Assembly in October to initiate negotiations on a legal instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading to their elimination. [P19] JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

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