Kazakhstan calls for decisive action on global nuclear disarmament

December 10, 2014

Kazakh delegation participates in the international Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons in Vienna.

The ATOM Project Honorary Ambassador Karipbek Kuyukov at the The third international Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons in Vienna

The third international Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons started in Vienna on Dec. 8, attended by more than 700 official delegates from 151 countries, as well as international and nongovernmental organisations and mass media. The programme of the two-day conference includes questions about the possible impact of the use of nuclear weapons on health, the environment, socio-economic development, climate and industry security, to name a few potentially affected areas.

The delegation from Kazakhstan, including members of the country’s Senate and Mazhilis, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and representatives of The ATOM Project, is headed by Kairat Sarybay, ambassador of Kazakhstan to Austria and permanent representative to international organisations based in Vienna.

In their speeches, the members of Kazakhstan’s delegation informed participants about the initiatives of President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev in the sphere of nonproliferation and nuclear disarmament, highlighting that today the country maintains a strong position on the need to take further decisive action to eliminate the global nuclear threat.

The historic decision to close the nuclear testing site near Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, for the sake of the country’s people, as well as global security, was highlighted at the conference. Around 500 atmospheric, surface and underground nuclear tests were conducted in the testing site’s 40 years of operation, which resulted in widespread radioactive contamination around the site and severe and long-lasting trauma to the local population. The closing of the Semipalatinsk nuclear facility by the historic decree of President Nazarbayev was a substantial contribution to the global process of nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation.

Secretary of the Committee for International Relations, Defence and Security of Kazakhstan’s Mazhilis Victor Rogalev took part as the main speaker at the Parliamentarians for a Nuclear-Weapons-Free World round table organised by members of the Austrian parliament.

An exhibition of paintings by Honorary Ambassador of the ATOM Project Karipbek Kuyukov and a photo exhibit dedicated to the history of nuclear disarmament in Kazakhstan were unveiled during the conference.

Speaking to the participants of the Vienna conference, Kuyukov once again reminded the world of the tragic consequences of nuclear testing, having experienced them firsthand, and called on all those present to support the ATOM Project in seeking a final and irreversible ban on nuclear testing. A great amount of interest was also shown during his speech at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) civil society forum held on the eve of the Vienna conference.

The ATOM Project, which was initiated by President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Aug. 29, 2012, at the international From a Nuclear Test Ban to a Nuclear-Weapons-Free World conference, is an international campaign aimed at uniting global efforts toward the goal of achieving a ban on nuclear testing.

The project name is an acronym of four words: Abolish Testing. Our Mission.