Astana, June 5, 2018
We, the participants of the International Conference Astana: The City of Peace, congratulate President Nursultan Nazarbayev and the people of Kazakhstan on the 20th anniversary of the capital city of Astana.
Over the last 20 years, Astana has become not only a political, economic and cultural centre of the independent Kazakhstan, but also a major centre of diplomacy, peace-making and international development.
It was here in 2010 at the historic summit of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe that the heads of state and government put forward a vision of “a free, democratic, common and indivisible Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security community stretching from Vancouver to Vladivostok, rooted in agreed principles, shared commitments and common goals.” We call on all OSCE participating states to work steadfastly to achieve this goal.
The Congresses of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions held in Astana contribute greatly to the promotion of inter-religious and international dialogue for the sake of peace, justice and security in the 21st century. The young capital of Kazakhstan has also hosted summits important for regional security and cooperation, including the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, as well as the First Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia. It also hosts large inter-parliamentary forums.
Astana serves as a negotiating platform to end violence in Syria, and we hope that international efforts will lead to an early restoration of peace on the Syrian soil.
Astana’s peace-building efforts are reflected in the work of the UN Security Council, where Kazakhstan is represented as a non-permanent member.
The number of foreign diplomatic missions and representative offices of international organizations is increasing in the capital every year, which indicates the transformation of Astana into a leading political centre of the region.
The capital of Kazakhstan has become a rostrum from where large-scale initiatives of economic cooperation, such as the Silk Road Economic Belt, are announced. The treaty establishing the Eurasian Economic Union was also signed here. Astana hosted the first Summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Science and Technology and adopted a forward-looking document – Astana Declaration on Science, Technology, Innovation and Modernization in the Islamic World.
On June 28-30, 2011, Astana hosted the 38th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. Thus, Kazakhstan took over the chairmanship of respected international organisation. The meeting became a historic milestone as it was decided to rename the Organisation of the Islamic Conference into the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. In addition, a Special Commission on Human Rights was established and the OIC Plan of Action for Cooperation with Central Asia was adopted for the first time in the history of the organisation.
Furthermore, the Astana Economic Forum, the Eurasian Media Forum and the Astana Club discuss the most important global problems and put forward ideas to address them.
We congratulate the government and people of Kazakhstan on the success of the international specialized exhibition EXPO 2017, which focused the attention of the world community on future of energy and sustainable development. We welcome the creation of the Astana International Financial Centre, the International Centre for Green Technologies and Investment Projects, and the International Technopark of IT Startups on the territory of the EXPO 2017 infrastructure, and we wish them successful work for the benefit of Kazakhstan, the Central Asia region and the world.
A presentation of the International Atomic Energy Agency Low Enriched Uranium Bank facility took place last year in Astana and Ust-Kamenogorsk. We believe that Kazakhstan, as the country most affected by nuclear tests, and which voluntarily renounced the world’s fourth largest nuclear arsenal, makes a worthy contribution to achieving a world free of nuclear weapons.
The consistent policy of President Nursultan Nazarbayev towards confidence building, security and collaboration at the regional and global levels is the basis of these developments. This policy was elaborated in the “The World. The 21st century” Manifesto, which calls for humankind to get rid of the scourge of war forever.
Peaceful dialogue and meaningful talks based on the principles of equal responsibility for peace and security, mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs should be a key pillar for the resolution of all disputes between states.
We are confident that Astana, as a modern, beautiful and dynamic city in the heart of Eurasia, will continue to play an important role in strengthening international peace, security and prosperity.
