ANTINUCLEAR PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE WAS HELD IN ASTANA

Astana, August 29: President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev suggested creating a global antinuclear parliamentary assembly, when speaking at the international conference “From a Nuclear Test Ban to a Nuclear Weapons-Free World” in Astana. 

"Parliamentarians from all countries of the world are present at the conference today. That is why this forum can be called a prototype of the global antinuclear parliamentary assembly. I suggest considering the establishment of such an institute”, President Nazarbayev said.

The President urged to focus on building a nuclear-weapon free world and mentioned Kazakhstan’s latest initiative. "We have an opportunity to remind the world once again of tragic events caused by nuclear tests to prompt global community to more decisive actions on complete and unalterable prohibition. To this end Kazakhstan has launched The Atom Project, which stands for ‘Abolish Tests. Our Mission’,” said the President. The Atom Project is an international petition campaign designed to unify global public opinion against nuclear weapons testing.

More than 200 foreign visitors from more than 75 countries and more than 20 international organizations, including the UN and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) participated in the conference.

The International Forum for a Nuclear Weapons Free World was timed to mark the 21st Anniversary of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site's closure and the country’s continuing efforts towards the elimination of all nuclear threat. Shutting down Semipalatinsk’s nuclear test range gave a start to a new stage of the global process of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. Kazakhstan was also one of the first to sign The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test- Ban Treaty (CTBT) opened for signature 16 years ago. 180 countries have already joined the treaty, 157 states ratified it. All the member states of the Nuclear Club observe moratorium on nuclear testing. 

The Forum’s principle objective was to create momentum for the global nuclear disarmament movement, and to mark the United Nations’ (UN) International Day against Nuclear Tests which aims to raise public awareness on the effects of global nuclear weapons tests and highlight the importance of banning such tests as a step towards achieving a safer world.

Japan was represented by Hiroyuki Moriyama, member of the National Diet of Japan.

Participants of the conference made the appeal to parliaments and governments around the world.