Central Asian States Adopt Joint Statement Marking 20 Years Of Nuclear-Free Zone

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 9. 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.

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