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Ministerial Meeting in Vienna Seeks Progress on Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

June 15, 2016

VIENNA – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov took part in a ministerial meeting commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) during his visit to Vienna June 13, and discussed new ways to move nuclear nonproliferation processes forward.

kk in vienna june 2016

ATOM Project. Hon. Amb. Karibpek Kuyukov (second from left) with Kazakh Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov (second from right) at disarmament meeting in Vienna.

Idrissov also looked to past successes, noting that the meeting fell during the year of the 25th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear testing site in Kazakhstan, where the Soviet Union conducted hundreds of tests over a span of 40 years. In closing one of the world’s largest test sites, Idrissov said, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev made history and set an example for other leaders to follow, which they did, shuttering other test sites.

Kazakhstan’s nuclear disarmament initiatives and others from around the world were discussed at the ministerial meeting. The new political momentum towards the entry into force of the treaty was explored and speakers and panellists devoted particular attention to preventing nuclear weapons from falling into terrorist hands, finding ways to bring forward the entry into force of the CTBT and generally advancing a vision of a nuclear-weapon-free world.

Idrissov also noted Nazarbayev’s new manifesto, “The World. The 21st Century.” in which he suggests that the international community develop a holistic action plan to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and, ultimately, of wars. The document highlights the need to create sustainable peace; to eliminate military blocs; to adapt the international disarmament process to new historic conditions; and to ensure fair global competition in international trade, finance and development.

Members of the Group of Eminent Persons (GEM), members of the CTBTO Youth Group (CYG), academic representatives and parliamentarians participated in the event, holding conferences and panel discussions.

The CYG presented findings from their research on benefits and new opportunities – nationally, regionally and globally – that could result from CTBT ratification.  Following that, academic and civil society experts on disarmament and nonproliferation discussed the role of civil society groups in promoting the treaty and raising awareness of the urgency of achieving its entry into force.

At the meeting, a related exhibition of paintings by Honorary Ambassador of The ATOM Project Karipbek Kuyukov was visited by a number of participants.

Kuyukov is a victim of the nuclear testing at the Semipalatinsk site. His parents were live witnesses to the tests conducted for 40 years at the site near their home.

Kuyukov was born without arms, but paints with his mouth and feet, frequently depicting the horrors of nuclear testing. He has devoted his life and art to ending nuclear weapons testing, travelling the world on this mission.

“The diseases, tragedies, graves and pain that I witnessed in my life spur me to campaign against this evil to my dying day. I call on you to sign The ATOM Project’s online petition, which now has more than 250,000 signatures from more than 100 countries, to finally put an end to all nuclear weapons and their development,” Kuyukov said in Vienna.

“The Cold War has ended but a new era of terrorism makes this call ever more urgent. Let us not give these terrorist madmen the chance to acquire any nuclear-weapons grade material to sow their carnage. This is a real danger and one that should spur nations holding or developing nuclear weapons to sit around the table of peace and negotiate a final, fair and secure end to all nuclear arsenals. The starting point would be for the remaining eight nations to sign the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty,” the artist said.