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On August 31, in Geneva (Switzerland), within the framework of events dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan, an international conference "Kazakhstan - UN: partnership for peace" was held, timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site and on August 29 - International Day against Nuclear Tests.
The conference was attended by Kazakh and foreign political figures, representatives of the expert community in the field of nuclear disarmament, diplomatic representations and missions.
In his report, the director of the Library of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan - Elbasy Bakytzhan Temirbolat noted that thanks to the First President of Kazakhstan N.A. Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan has shown political will, in principle and unconditionally renounced membership in the "nuclear club". With the closure of the Semipalatinsk test site in 1991, a new stage in the global process of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament began.
“Kazakhstan, through its own experience, has demonstrated to the whole world the power of openness in matters of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, making it one of the cornerstones of its foreign policy. President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev continues the policy of Nursultan Nazarbayev to promote anti-nuclear initiatives and strengthen international security. At the 74th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2019, the Head of State noted that achieving a world free of nuclear weapons remains the top priority for Kazakhstan”,- B. Temirbolat said.
From 1949 to 1989, 456 explosions were made at the Semipalatinsk test site, which is 25% of all world tests carried out over the entire existence of nuclear weapons (according to the UN, 2000 tests). More than 1.5 million people were exposed to the harmful effects of radiation. More than 300 thousand square km of land were withdrawn from the economic turnover, which in area is equal to about seven Switzerland.
Tatiana Valovaya, General Director of the UN Office in Geneva, emphasized Kazakhstan's contribution to strengthening global security: “For forty years, nuclear tests have been carried out at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. And, of course, the decision of the First President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, in 1991 to close the landfill was an act of political courage and political vision. Kazakhstan is the author of many successive initiatives aimed at nuclear disarmament. It is very important for us to continue to wage an active struggle to turn our planet into a territory free of nuclear weapons and tests".
General Director of the National Nuclear Center Erlan Batyrbekov, Director of the International Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons Beatrice Fin, Director of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research Robin Geiss and other experts also made reports at the conference.
During the conference, a presentation of a scientific collection in English "Towards a nuclear-free world: initiatives of Nursultan Nazarbayev" took place. The deputy director of the Elbasy Library Timur Shaimergenov spoke in more detail about the publication in his speech:
“Documents from the personal archive of Nursultan Nazarbayev with his written notes have great value to researchers. Among the documents there are unique materials collected as a result of a scientific search expedition of the employees of the Library of the First President of Kazakhstan to the city of Semey, next to which there was a nuclear test site. These documents show well how the history was made around the opening and closing of the landfill in the USSR in the 20th century; many documents were previously classified as "secret" and were subsequently declassified. We have specially translated these materials into English so that more people on the planet could get acquainted with nuclear history and how it influenced Kazakhstan".
Let us remind you that from August 30 to September 1 this year the Library of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan - Elbasy will hold a number of events and meetings with representatives of international organizations in Geneva (Switzerland), within the framework of which documents will be signed aimed at developing cooperation in areas related to global and regional security, archival and historical research, and also diplomacy and international relations.
The day before, on August 30, the Elbasy Library signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Geneva Center for Politics and Security, as well as a Letter of Intent with the UN Library and Archives.
