BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 8. The Foreign
Ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan have adopted a Joint Statement marking the 20th
anniversary of the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central
Asia, signed in Semipalatinsk on September 8, 2006.
This was announced by the Kazakh MFA. The treaty became the
first and only agreement establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone
located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and bordering two
nuclear-weapon states.
"We reaffirm our commitment to the historically significant
Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia, signed by the
Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan on
September 8, 2006, in the city of Semipalatinsk,” the Kazakh
Foreign Ministry said.
The ministers recognized the importance of the treaty in
strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime,
regional and international security, and the peaceful use of atomic
energy.
The statement also addresses key issues on the global
disarmament agenda, including the outcomes of the Eleventh Review
Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons (NPT), the status of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban
Treaty, the ratification of the Protocol on Negative Security
Assurances, and prospects for cooperation with other existing and
emerging nuclear-weapon-free zones.
The document reaffirms the unity of the Central Asian states on
regional security issues and their contribution to global efforts
to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.
