At UN General Assembly, Kazakh FM Warns Against Rising Tensions, ‘Right of Power’, Urges Attention to G-Global
NEW YORK – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov addressed the plenary session of the 69th UN General Assembly in New York on Sept. 26 in a speech that warned against rising tensions, double standards and rivalries over “perceived spheres of influence.” He called for increased engagement with Central Asia, praised the rise…
In New York, Idrissov Confirms Support for UN, Promotes Country’s Candidacy for UN Security Council
NEW YORK – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov visited New York from Sept. 22-27 to pledge support for the United Nations, promote Kazakhstan’s candidacy for the UN Security Council for 2017-2018 and advance bilateral ties with more than 50 countries in meetings held on the margins of the 69th session of the…
Kazakhstan Urges Peaceful Settlement to Ukraine Conflict, End to “Trade Wars”
NEW YORK – Kazakhstan calls and works for the peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis and is strongly opposed to the unfolding “sanctions war” between the West and Russia over it, the country’s foreign minister said in New York on Sept. 26. Speaking at the event, “The Ukraine Crisis, the OSCE, and the Future of…
Kazakh FM Urges Replacing ‘Great Game’ Philosophy with ‘Great Gain’ Philosophy
NEW YORK – Kazakh Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov said his country is adamant to work with other partners in Central Asia and beyond to turn one of the region’s greatest challenges, its “land-lockedness”, into one of its greatest advantages, “land-linkedness”, through the restoration and expansion of trade, energy and transportation links along the ancient Silk…
Foreign Minister Visits Singapore, Seeks More Economic Cooperation
SINGAPORE – Beginning his tour of Southeast Asia, Kazakhstan Minister of Foreign Affairs Erlan Idrissov paid a visit to Singapore on Aug. 28 to improve bilateral relations and discuss the further expansion of trade and economic and investment cooperation. The main areas of cooperation between the two countries include public services, e-government, education, budget planning…
Kazakhstan Opens Exhibit for International Day Against Nuclear Tests in Kuala- Lumpur
KUALA-LUMPUR – Two days before the Aug. 29 International Day Against Nuclear Tests, the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Malaysia with the support of the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism and Culture opened a week-long exhibition dedicated to the day and The ATOM Project, one of President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s most…
Kazakh Foreign Ministry Expresses Condolences over Flight #MH17, Calls for “Most Thorough Investigation”
ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued its first comments on the loss of the Malaysian jet and the perishing of around 300 people on board on July 17. The comments, posted on Facebook and Twitter, say: “We express our deepest condolences to the families and the close ones of those who perished due…
Almaty Hosts Retreat for Landlocked Nations’ UN Representatives
ALMATY – Kazakhstan’s largest city located in the picturesque foothills of the Tien Shan mountains hosted a retreat July 14-16 for the permanent representatives to the United Nations from landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) as they sought to share experiences in fighting the common challenges. Kazakh Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov, UN Deputy Secretary General and High…
EBRD Takes Part in Kazakhstan Temir Zholy Eurobond
ASTANA – The London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has participated in a bond issuance by Kazakhstan’s national railway company, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), the bank announced on July 4. Kazakhstan Temir Zholy successfully completed the placement of a Swiss-franc-denominated Eurobond on the SIX Swiss Exchange on June 20. The total amount of the issue…
Astana, Paris Expand Political, Economic Ties
PARIS – Kazakhstan and France are working to expand their relations across the board as the two countries prepare for the French president’s visit to Astana before the end of the year, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry announced following the visit here by its top diplomat. Kazakh Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov met with his French counterpart, Loran…
Kazakhstan, Argentina sign visa-free regime agreement, support each other at UN
ASTANA – The foreign ministers of Kazakhstan and Argentina signed a visa-free regime agreement on May 30 in Astana, another in a series of deals with Latin American countries and elsewhere that Kazakhstan is developing to help ease travel for its citizens. Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov met with Foreign Minister of Argentina Hector…
Arab, Central Asian Countries and Azerbaijan Agree to Bolster Economic Ties
RIYADH – The countries of the Arab League, Central Asia and Azerbaijan have made a major step towards bolstering their ties and recreating the commercial links characteristic of the Silk Road of yore when they agreed to work to increase their cooperation across a number of fields at the first gathering of these countries hosted…
Five Nuclear Weapon States Recognise Central Asia as Nuke-Free Zone, Guarantee Not to Use Most Powerful Weapons Against Region
ASTANA – Representatives of the five recognised nuclear weapon states signed the Protocol to the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone (CANWFZ) Treaty in New York on May 6, signifying a major positive development in the global non-proliferation efforts. Diplomats from China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States signed the document on the margins of…
Astana Urges “All Related Parties to Observe Geneva Accords” regarding Ukraine
ASTANA – Kazakhstan is deeply concerned by the escalating violence in Ukraine, including in connection with the recent events in Odessa, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, the country’s foreign ministry said in a May 4 statement, urging “all related parties to observe the Geneva accords of April 17 of this year.” “With deep grief we note that…
Caspian Foreign Ministers Discuss Summit Preparations
MOSCOW – The five Caspian states consolidated a number of their positions after the April 22 Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Caspian States in Moscow. They also summed up preliminary results of the preparations for the Fourth Caspian Summit to be held in September in Astrakhan, Russia. In his remarks at the…
Research Project on Challenges of European Multilingualism Launches
THE HAGUE – A consortium of universities and scholars in 18 European countries has begun a new multi-disciplinary research project with a view to developing policy recommendations on managing the growing challenges relating to multilingualism in an ever-expanding European Union. Dr. László Marácz, a professor of linguistics in the Faculty of Humanities at the Department…
Eurasian Economic Integration ‘Will Continue,’ Nazarbayev Says
THE HAGUE – Kazakhstan will continue to pursue greater Eurasian economic integration with Russia and Belarus, as it sees integration as beneficial to its economy, while at the same time it will firmly guard its political sovereignty. That was the message delivered by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev at a March 25 briefing for Kazakh journalists…
Kazakhstan, US Discuss Expanding Trade, Nuclear Security Cooperation
THE HAGUE – President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan met with President Barack Obama of the United States on March 25 on the sidelines of the third Nuclear Security Summit here to discuss bilateral relations and international issues, paying particular attention to nuclear security. Speaking about bilateral cooperation, the two leaders considered further strengthening and developing…
Astana Updates its Nuclear Narrative in a New Edition of “Building a Nuclear Safe World”
THE HAGUE – The foreign ministry of Kazakhstan has updated its 2011 book, “Building a Nuclear Safe World: The Kazakhstan Way,” to reflect the country’s ongoing work to strengthen nuclear security, including efforts to bring an end to nuclear testing and, eventually, to create a world without nuclear weapons. The 200-page book with several dozen…
Nazarbayev Urges More Robust Global Efforts at Nuclear Security Summit
THE HAGUE – President Nursultan Nazarbayev was among the first world leaders to address the 3rd Nuclear Security Summit here on March 24 calling for more robust global efforts to secure nuclear materials through steps, such as countering nuclear terrorism, bolstering the UN watchdog agency and, ultimately, working toward complete global nuclear disarmament as the…
Global Nuclear Materials Security System Needed, U.S. Expert Says
THE HAGUE – A global nuclear materials security system is needed to address the absence of universal standards and mutual accountability for securing nuclear materials, and to reduce the risk of nuclear terrorism, an American non-proliferation expert has said. John Rohlfing, president of Washington, D.C.-based Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), in a March 19 opinion for…
Parliamentarians Urge Global Leaders to Work Toward Eliminating Nuclear Weapons
WASHINGTON – Members of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (PNND) have urged the global leaders converging in The Hague early next week for the Nuclear Security Summit to “commit to include in the agenda of your next meeting work on substantive plans to achieve the universal, legally verifiable elimination of nuclear weapons.” “If this…
U.S. Senator Introduces $100 Billion Nuclear Weapons Reduction Bill, As ATOM Project Is Presented in Senate
WASHINGTON, D.C – U.S. legislators from both sides of the aisle, the Kazakhstan Ambassador to the United States, representatives of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), The ATOM Project and more than 200 others gathered in the Russell Senate Building Feb. 27 for an evening meant to encourage anti-nuclear weapons dialogue and, according to…
Education, Balanced Foreign Policy Will Lead to Evolutionary Changes in Central Asia, Scholar Says
WASHINGTON, DC – Gradual and incremental changes will ensure greater popular participation in political processes, leading to evolutionary democratic changes in the countries of Central Asia as the middle class and new elites with modern educations will play increasingly assertive roles, said prominent American scholar on the region S. Frederick Starr. Starr also believes Afghanistan…
Kazakhstan Improves Score on Int’l Economic Freedom Index
WASHINGTON – Kazakhstan improved its position over last year on the Heritage Foundation’s 20th annual Index of Economic Freedom released Jan. 14. The study, released by the Washington, DC-based think tank in conjunction with the Wall Street Journal, examines countries in four areas of economic freedom within specific categories including rule of law (property rights,…
