In a March 25,
2012 opinion piece in the New York Times, with respect to the Iranian nuclear
program, Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev wrote:
With independence, we became the world’s fourth-largest nuclear
power. One of our first acts as a sovereign nation was voluntarily to give up
these weapons.
We must understand that it is not easy for countries to give up
their nuclear arsenal or to renounce the intention of developing their own
weapons. The truth is that if just one nation has nuclear weapons, others may
feel it necessary to do the same to protect themselves. This is why nuclear
proliferation is such a threat to the security of us all and leads to greater
risk of an illegal, dangerous trade in weapons and material.
The
real intent of Iran’s nuclear program is causing concern across the world.
Recognizing the right of all responsible members of the international community
to develop peaceful atomic energy under the safeguards promoted by the
International Atomic Energy Agency, Kazakhstan has used its close diplomatic
relations with our neighbor across the Caspian Sea to urge Tehran to learn from
our example.
I
am convinced that openness and the development of peaceful relations with
neighbors will increase rather than diminish Iran’s status and influence, help
lower tensions in the Middle East, and make it easier to find fair, lasting
solutions to the problems in that region.
With our neighbors, we implemented the idea of establishing a
nuclear-weapons-free zone in Central Asia. We propose to use this experience to
raise the number of such zones worldwide, including in the Middle East. We also
need to demand legal guarantees from nuclear states that they will not use these
weapons against those without them.
I would like to say this to all countries: Kazakhstan’s
experience shows that nations can reap huge benefits from turning their backs
on nuclear weapons. I have no doubt that we are a more prosperous, stable
country, with more influence and friends in the world because of our decision.[1]
President Nazerbayev’s
analysis with respect to Iran applies with equal effect to North Korea. A nuclear North Korea is a “threat to the
security of us all and leads to greater risk of an illegal, dangerous trade in
weapons and material.”
On April 24, 1995 Kazakhstan
became nuclear weapons free.[2] On the 20th anniversary of
Kazakhstan becoming nuclear-weapons free, Kazakh foreign minister Erian
Idrissov wrote:
Kazakhstan
is now recognized globally as a passionate campaigner for peace and nuclear
disarmament. It is also a date which continues to be celebrated by our citizens
who know all too well the terrible damage that nuclear weapons cause.
Kazakhstan is among the few countries that have suffered most
from the human and environmental devastation of nuclear testing. The
Semipalatinsk site, in the north of our country, for more than four decades was
the scene of more than 450 nuclear explosions in the air, above and under the
ground. Many were held when little was known about the long-term impact of
radiation with precautions often either non-existent or rudimentary.
But over time, the terrible effects became all too clear. Many
thousands of people have died from radiation diseases. Hundreds of children
have been born with disabilities.
This history explains the determination of Kazakhstan and its
citizens to campaign for a permanent end to nuclear testing and, in the long
run, a nuclear weapon-free world. We don’t want another country or its people
to suffer such a terrible fate.
We hope our country’s history and example can provide
encouragement to other nations to turn their back on these terrible weapons
and make our world and futures safer.
It is clear that North Korea
has opted for nuclear security to ensure its survival. But as the experience of Kazakhstan shows,
nuclear weapons are not needed for security.[3]
Denuclearization
of North Korea, if ever, should follow the model of Kazakhstan with a security
guarantee to North Korea like that given by the United States to the Soviet
Union on Cuba in 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
Moreover, given Kazakhstan’s
proposal for nuclear-weapons-free zones in Asia[4], and Foreign
Minister Idrissov’s assertion that ‘country’s history and example can provide encouragement to other
nations to turn their back on these terrible weapons
and make our world and futures safer”[5] the Kazakh’s would respond
favorably to American requests for Assistance in this regard.
The United States ought to
engage Kazakhstan to assist American goal of the denuclearization of the Korea
Peninsula, and Kazakhstan would be willing to assist the United States
in this effort.
[1]
Nursulatan Nazarbayev, “What Iran Can Learn from Kazakhstan”, New York Times,
March 25, 2012 (accessed on December 19, 2016)
[2]
Erian Idrissov, Kazakhstan: Nuclear
Weapons Free for 20 Years”, The Diplomat, April 24, 2015; http://thediplomat.com/2015/04/kazakhstan-nuclear-weapons-free-for-20-years/ (accessed on December 19, 2016)
[3]
Ibid.
[4]
Nursulatan Nazarbayev, “What Iran Can Learn from Kazakhstan”, New York Times,
March 25, 2012 (accessed on December 19, 2016)
[5]
Erian Idrissov, Kazakhstan: Nuclear
Weapons Free for 20 Years”, The Diplomat, April 24, 2015; http://thediplomat.com/2015/04/kazakhstan-nuclear-weapons-free-for-20-years/ (accessed on December 19, 2016)
