Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Nuclear weapons are no ‘guarantee of security,’ Kazakh Foreign Ministers tells UN debate
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43144
Nuclear weapons are no ‘guarantee of security,’ Kazakh Foreign Ministers tells UN debate
29 September 2012 – The inability of nuclear weapons to guarantee a country’s security or independence was highlighted in the speech of Kazakhstan’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kairat Umarov, to the United Nations General Assembly today.
“The threat of proliferation of nuclear weapons and technology, along with the spectre of their acquisition and use by terrorist entities, has been one of the most daunting challenges to humanity,” the Foreign Affairs Minister told the 67th Assembly’s General Debate at UN Headquarters in New York today.
“It is our strong view that the possession of weapons of mass destruction is not a guarantee of security or greater independence. Kazakhstan's own record goes to show that countries reap huge benefits from the renunciation of nuclear weapons,” he added.
The Central Asian nation closed down its nuclear weapons site Semipalatinsk, one of the largest test sites in the world and located in the country’s north-east, in 1991. As a result of this, the Foreign Affairs Minister noted, Kazakhstan has “won more friends and [has] become a more prosperous, stable and influential country.”
<snip>
Mr. Umarov said that Kazakhstan fully supports a proposal by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to adopt a nuclear weapons convention, noting the suggestion of his country’s president that, as an important step in that direction, the United Nations should adopt a Universal Declaration of a Nuclear Weapon-Free World.
<snip>
Nuclear weapons are no ‘guarantee of security,’ Kazakh Foreign Ministers tells UN debate
29 September 2012 – The inability of nuclear weapons to guarantee a country’s security or independence was highlighted in the speech of Kazakhstan’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kairat Umarov, to the United Nations General Assembly today.
“The threat of proliferation of nuclear weapons and technology, along with the spectre of their acquisition and use by terrorist entities, has been one of the most daunting challenges to humanity,” the Foreign Affairs Minister told the 67th Assembly’s General Debate at UN Headquarters in New York today.
“It is our strong view that the possession of weapons of mass destruction is not a guarantee of security or greater independence. Kazakhstan's own record goes to show that countries reap huge benefits from the renunciation of nuclear weapons,” he added.
The Central Asian nation closed down its nuclear weapons site Semipalatinsk, one of the largest test sites in the world and located in the country’s north-east, in 1991. As a result of this, the Foreign Affairs Minister noted, Kazakhstan has “won more friends and [has] become a more prosperous, stable and influential country.”
<snip>
Mr. Umarov said that Kazakhstan fully supports a proposal by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to adopt a nuclear weapons convention, noting the suggestion of his country’s president that, as an important step in that direction, the United Nations should adopt a Universal Declaration of a Nuclear Weapon-Free World.
<snip>
