[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 121 (Monday, September 23, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9027-S9030]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       THE VISIT OF ASKAR AKAEV, PRESIDENT OF THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC

  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the visit of 
the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Askar Akaev, to the United States 
from September 19-24, 2002. President Akaev is here at the invitation 
of President Bush.
  While in Washington, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic scheduled 
meetings with President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, 
Secretary of State Colin Powell, and Secretary of Agriculture Ann 
Veneman. In addition, meetings at the United States Capitol with the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives Dennis Hastert, Senate 
Republican Leader Trent Lott, and other leaders of the Senate who have 
expressed an interest in Central Asia affairs were on his calendar.
  During his visit to New York, President Akaev addressed the General 
Assembly of the United Nations and met with Secretary General Kofi 
Annan. He also participated in a round table discussion with members of 
the business community.
  The tragic events of September 11, 2001 redefined the importance of 
the Kyrgyz Republic's critical location in Central Asia. It has a major 
role in the region's political and security framework. As an ally of 
the United States in central Asia, the Kyrgyz Republic opened its 
territory to approximately 3000 coalition troops at the height of 
United States operations in Afghanistan. It is significant that the 
coalition forces were allowed to deploy military personnel in Manas 
airport in the capitol city of Bishkek. Kyrgyzstan remains a host to a 
significant number of troops, as well as aircraft and technical 
support. The new political landscape created by these deployments has 
altered the Kyrgyz Republic's relations with its regional powers, 
Russia and China.
  At the same time, the Kyrgyz Republic is pressing ahead with economic 
reforms. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, one of 
the international financial institutions active in the region, 
concluded last year that Kyrgyzstan has successfully completed its 
economic structural reform program. Kyrgyzstan was the region's first 
nation to secure membership in the World Trade Organization, in 1998, 
and the first nation of the Commonwealth of Independent States to 
receive permanent normal trade relations with the United States.
  Kyrgyzstan has committed itself to a free trade model and has 
implemented many new initiatives through a dramatic reform of its 
trade, tax, and intellectual property laws. The Kyrgyz Republic was 
also the first country in the region to introduce a fully convertible 
currency, and has consistently led the way in market reforms.
  As a result of the tragedy on the south of Kyrgyzstan, he has also 
reconstituted the government to include representatives of several 
groups previously in opposition and has organized a Constitutional 
Council, also filled with opposition-minded figures, to provide further 
opportunities for power changing. The nation now faces its first 
transition of power since independence. President Akaev and his 
government are determined to see that this transition occurs through an 
election process that builds and legitimizes democratic institutions.
  President Askar Akaev was born on November 10, 1944 in the village of 
Kyzyl-Bairak, Kemin district of Kyrgyzstan in a family of farmers. In 
1961, he finished secondary school with a Gold Medal. He graduated with 
honors from Leningrad Fine Mechanics and Optics Institute in 1967 and 
pursued his studies to become a Doctor of Science.
  Dr. Akaev started his career in 1961 as a mechanic worker. He held 
other positions as an engineer, senior lecturer, professor, and finally 
the Head of the Computer Sciences Department in Frunze Polytechnical 
Institute, now Bishkek Technical University.
  In 1984, Askar Akaev was elected a correspondent member of the 
Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan, at the same year he became an 
academician. In 1986, he was appointed Head of the Department of 
Science and Higher Academic Institutions, Kyrgyz Communist Party's 
Central Committee. From 1987 until 1989, he served as the Vice 
President at the Kyrgyz Academy of Sciences and later became its 
President. In 1989, Askar Akaev was elected as a Deputy of the Supreme 
Council of the USSR.
  On October 27, 1990, the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan elected Askar Akaev 
as the President of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic. At the 
nationwide elections on October 12, 1991, he was elected as the First 
President of independent nation of Kyrgyzstan. The people of Kyrgyzstan 
confirmed Akaev's powers at the national referendum on January 30, 
1994. On December 24, 1995 the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Askar 
Akaev was re-elected. President Akaev announced that he will not seek 
reelection when his term ends in 2005.
  The President's spouse, Mairam Akeva, is a professor of Science on 
Machine Dynamics and is the head of the International Charitable 
Foundation of Childhood and Maternity Support. Established in 1993, 
this organization assists women and children with different forms of 
pulmonary and bronchial diseases.
  The Kyrgyz Republic is situated in the middle of Central Asia, at the 
crossroads of culture and civilizations, at the branch of the legendary 
Silk Road. In 1999, President Akaev authored a report called ``The 
Diplomacy

[[Page S9028]]

of the Silk Road.'' His article remains timely today, given the changes 
that have taken place in central Asia since September 11, 2001.
  In conclusion, many commodities were traded on the Silk Road which 
stretched 5000 miles from east to west. One very important 
``commodity'' in this new century is friendship. Today, the United 
States has a good ally and friend in that region of the world. 
Kyrgyzstan is indeed a partner for peace and stability in Central Asia. 
In this regard, I wish to congratulate President Akaev on his 
successful visit to the United States and wish him well with all future 
endeavors.
  I ask unanimous consent to print the article to which I referred in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                       Diplomacy of the Silk Road

                            (By Askar Akaev)


              THE PAST AND PRESENT OF THE GREAT SILK ROAD

       The Great Silk Road, which in ancient times joined East 
     with West, and to some extent North with South, by means of 
     trade and economic, cultural-humanitarian and also political 
     and diplomatic ties, has a history stretching back several 
     thousand years. At various phases of its existence the 
     content and significance, directions and scale of contacts 
     varied, but one thing remained unchanged: throughout that 
     long period, the Great Silk Road played the role of a 
     connecting bridge between countries and civilizations.
       It served as a channel for trade, which became the catalyst 
     for the development of crafts. Travelers and explorers 
     studied the countries and peoples of the lands along the 
     entire length of the Road, thus making an enormous 
     contribution to the development of knowledge.
       The world became acquainted with the ideas and work of the 
     greatest philosophers, scholars and statesmen. Intensive 
     mutual enrichment of cultures took place, and there was an 
     active exchange of knowledge and of spiritual and 
     philosophical concepts and views. Thanks to the Road, 
     outstanding epics and legends became the property of all 
     mankind.
       Via the Great Silk Road, syncretic and monotheistic 
     religious ideas were disseminated. Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, 
     Judaism, Islam and Christianity all found their adherents 
     along the Great Silk Road.
       The Great Silk Road was also of immeasurable significance 
     in the establishment and maintenance of diplomatic relations 
     among the centers of political life, the major States of 
     Europe and Asia. Many historical sources bear witness to the 
     active nature and high level of official contacts and the 
     exchange of diplomatic missions, particularly between 
     Byzantium and China, powers which played a significant role 
     in the International life of that era.
       The intensive and multidirectional process of Inter-
     civilizational communication on various levels went on for 
     centuries.
       Despite a number of changes of direction, by the will of 
     historical fate the main arteries of the Great Silk Road 
     passed through the territory of Kyrgyzstan.
       On the eve of the new third millennium, the idea of a 
     revival of the Great Silk Road has met with broad 
     international support and an extremely warm response, largely 
     as a result of the existence of two interdependent trends 
     that characterize the development of the modern world.
       The first of these involves the steady intensification of 
     the processes of interdependence and globalization, the 
     phenomenally rapid development and introduction of the latest 
     technologies, communication systems and computer networks and 
     the acceleration on an unprecedented scale of information and 
     capital flows that ``erode'' national boundaries.
       The second trend reflects the high level of integration at 
     the regional and subregional levels.
       The current steady and dynamic development of political, 
     trade and economic relations would be unthinkable without the 
     strengthening of fraternal, trusting and mutually 
     advantageous relations of partnership between all States of 
     the Silk Road region.
       The geography of the Great Silk Road has no bounds or 
     limitations. Its expansion by those countries which intend to 
     develop cooperation with the countries in the Great Silk Road 
     region is naturally and objectively determined by the entire 
     course of historical development.
       The arms race, local conflicts, extremism and terrorism, 
     the unlawful manufacture, distribution and consumption of 
     narcotic substances, natural disasters and those brought 
     about by technology or by man, and crying social needs are 
     problems that lead to recognition of the natural and 
     objective need for a revival of the Great Silk Road on a 
     qualitatively new basis.
       While in the past the Great Silk Road played the role of a 
     connecting bridge, now, in a situation of globalization, the 
     destiny of the Road extends far beyond the framework of this 
     dimension alone. The cosmic and the planetary appear as a 
     single whole, implying an organic combination of present-day 
     progress with the development of human civilization itself.
       The renaissance of the Great Silk Road under the new 
     historical circumstances refutes the ideas that were current 
     in the past, which at times artificially contrasted the ways 
     in which the East and the West perceived and viewed the world 
     as totally incompatible with one another. Fortunately, ideas 
     of planet-wide significance and scale are now predominant in 
     the minds and hearts of the peoples, inhabiting the region of 
     the Road.
       The ideas of humanism, tolerance and the revival of 
     spirituality are gaining ground in their tenacious struggle 
     against age-old prejudices and intolerance of different ways 
     of thinking.
       Kyrgyzstan, lying at the very center of the Eurasian 
     continent, at the junction of several civilizations, having 
     taken in and absorbed a multiplicity of cultures and ways of 
     looking at the world, possesses under present circumstances 
     the necessary prerequisites for becoming a bridge of 
     friendship and cooperation between all the countries within 
     the Great Silk Road.


  KYRGYZSTAN--AN INSEPARABLE PART OF THE GREAT SILK ROAD THE COUNTRY 
                        KNOWN AS ``KYRGYZSTAN''

       After regaining its State independence, Kyrgyzstan set out 
     on, a qualitatively new road of its development, the road of 
     political and socio-economic transformations.
       Such concepts as ``democratization'', ``civil freedoms'' 
     and ``supremacy of the law'' have become firmly embedded in 
     everyday practice. The principle of separation of powers and 
     the system of ``checks and balances'' in the interrelations 
     between them have clearly demonstrated their effectiveness.
       Favourable conditions have been created for encouraging 
     initiatives and activity by citizens at the local level and 
     for the comprehensive development of local self-government as 
     the foundation for the life of the State.
       The idea of ``Kyrgyzstan--our common home'' has become the 
     recognized basis for enhancing and strengthening inter-ethnic 
     harmony and creating the conditions for a life in dignity for 
     all citizens of the country. In Kyrgyzstan, which has 
     absorbed in equal measure the spiritual heritage and rich 
     traditions of the East and the West, representatives of many 
     ethnic groups and religious faiths live together in peace and 
     harmony.
       Kyrgyzstan has created the conditions for the establishment 
     of an open society with a developed market economy, 
     successfully solved the problem of macroeconomic 
     stabilization and entered the stage of economic growth.
       A national information structure is being created in 
     Kyrgyzstan with access to world- wide computer networks.
       Currently, the most important goals facing society as a 
     whole are to intensify the positive trends in the economy and 
     make them stable, to encourage and support national 
     entrepreneurship, especially on the part of small and medium-
     sized businesses, to attract direct investment and to make 
     extensive use of new technology.
       An attractive investment climate has been created in 
     Kyrgyzstan, and a legislative base has been established which 
     affords foreign investors the necessary guarantees and 
     privileges.
       The stable political system and the open and democratic 
     nature of Kyrgyzstan's economy create favorable conditions 
     for the development of mutually advantageous international 
     cooperation.
       Kyrgyzstan has entered the era of democracy and renewal.


       KYRGYZSTAN AND THE COUNTRIES OF THE GREAT SILK ROAD REGION

       The conception of Kyrgyzstan's foreign policy with regard 
     to bilateral cooperation excludes in principle the use of the 
     prefix ``anti-''. This is the outcome of the entire course of 
     Kyrgyzstan's historical development as an independent State 
     and of the fact that our country pursues a peace-loving 
     foreign policy and builds its relations with the outside 
     world on the basis of the universally accepted principles and 
     norms of international law.
       Kyrgyzstan, as a consistent advocate of broad and 
     multifaceted international cooperation for the joint solution 
     of global international problems, takes up ``anti-drug'', 
     ``anti-extremism'' and ``anti-terrorism'' positions. It is an 
     implacable opponent of unlawful arms trading and distribution 
     of arms and strives to achieve stability, progress and 
     economic stability not only in the region, but throughout the 
     world.
       Our country is deeply convinced that along the entire 
     length of the modern-day Great Silk Road, no serious problems 
     or contradictions of an antagonistic nature are to be found 
     between the countries falling within its orbit.
       Among the participants in international relations, 
     awareness is growing of the need to resolve chronic problems 
     by peaceful means, at the negotiating table. In this 
     connection, the example of Tajikistan, whose history is 
     inseparable from the history of the Great Silk Road, is 
     instructive. The political will and desire to seek compromise 
     and mutually acceptable solutions that have been demonstrated 
     by the leaders of the parties that were previously in 
     conflict, combined with the mediating efforts and good will 
     of neighbouring countries, including Kyrgyzstan, give grounds 
     for hoping that the processes of peace and national 
     reconciliation in that country are irreversible.

[[Page S9029]]

       Kyrgyzstan's initiative in relation to the conduct of a 
     peace conference on Afghanistan has been widely acknowledged. 
     The joint efforts and cooperation of all the countries 
     falling within the orbit of the Great Silk Road can and must 
     lead to the long-awaited peace in that long-suffering land 
     and turn forever a somber page in the history of the region.
       The creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia, 
     cessation of the arms race and the conversion of military 
     production, and the creation of conditions for the stable 
     development of all countries of the Great Silk Road without 
     exception afford grounds for assuming that at the beginning 
     of the third millennium the region of the Road, which 
     possesses vast potential and resources, will become one of 
     the most flourishing and prosperous in the world, in that 
     problems affecting the interests of all the countries will be 
     resolved jointly and all obstacles to the free movement of 
     goods, capital, services and manpower along the entire length 
     of the Road will be removed.
       Kyrgyzstan is making purposeful efforts to develop 
     cooperation with all the countries of the Great Silk Road 
     region. In view of its geographical location, our country has 
     a favorable opportunity of simultaneously developing fruitful 
     relations in such directions as ``Kyrgyzstan--neighbouring 
     countries'', ``Kyrgyzstan--Europe'' and ``Kyrgyzstan---East 
     and South-East Asia''.
       ``Kyrgyzstan--neighbouring countries''--our country is 
     working steadily to intensify various forms of cooperation 
     with neighbouring countries and to expand political, trade 
     and economic and cultural and humanitarian relations. The 
     existence of common historical, political, economic and 
     cultural and humanitarian links with countries which in the 
     past formed a single whole necessitates the maintenance and 
     development of relations through bilateral and multilateral 
     cooperation. Kyrgyzstan is attentively following the dynamics 
     of and collectively participating in the multilateral 
     integration processes in countries of the Commonwealth of 
     Independent States, and making its contribution to the 
     strengthening and intensification of regional and subregional 
     integration.
       Acknowledging the important role of a favorable external 
     environment for subsequent development. Kyrgyzstan is working 
     consistently and fruitfully to strengthen security along the 
     State borders with all neighbouring countries. Together with 
     other countries of the region, it has signed a number of 
     important agreements aimed at strengthening confidence-
     building measures in the military sphere and reducing the 
     armed forces in the border region, and this has made it 
     possible to settle almost completely the border disputes that 
     still remain from the past.
       Kyrgyzstan is geographically and historically close to the 
     Muslim States of the Great Silk Road region, which possess 
     considerable investment, industrial and raw material 
     potential.
       ``Kyrgyzstan--Europe''--The significance of this direction 
     for Kyrgyzstan is determined by the following main factors: 
     the need for and benefits of cooperation with developed 
     European countries; the desirability of further developing 
     links with the Eastern European States; and participation in 
     the European affairs of the states bordering on Kyrgyzstan. 
     In developing its relations with European countries, 
     Kyrgyzstan will, alongside efforts on the bilateral level, 
     step up its activity in the field of multilateral diplomacy, 
     taking advantage of the unique opportunity to participate in 
     the work of the European institutions dealing with issues of 
     security (including in the Central Asian region), economic 
     cooperation and the development of democratic institutions.
       ``Kyrgyzstan--South and South-East Asia''--Kyrgyzstan's 
     cooperation with the countries of East and South-East Asia is 
     conducted both on the bilateral level and through 
     international organizations. Despite the financial and 
     economic difficulties some Asian countries have recently been 
     experiencing, their economic potential will play a growing 
     role in the international arena.
       Taking into account the South-East Asia countries' great 
     wealth of experience of activity, Kyrgyzstan will in future 
     show great interest in participating actively in various 
     regional forums of the Association of South- East Asian 
     Nations, and also in the establishment of cooperation on a 
     regional basis.
       States are prompted by their national interests, set in the 
     context of geostrategic and geopolitical realities. In this 
     connection, Kyrgyzstan can succeed in developing relations 
     with all the countries of the Great Silk Road region, bearing 
     in mind the following factors:
       (a) In terms of economic indicators, Kyrgyzstan falls into 
     the category of ``developing countries'' as used in 
     international practice. This enables it to be a full 
     participant in the leading organs of multilateral diplomacy 
     of the countries of the South and defend their international 
     economic and political interests collectively;
       (b) Kyrgyzstan, as a country with a transition economy, is 
     entitled to count on the cooperation of the developed 
     countries and international financial and economic 
     organizations in conducting its policy of reforms;
       (c) Kyrgyzstan also forms part of the group of land-locked 
     countries. Located at the very center of East-West and North-
     South transport and communication routes, it feels a natural 
     need to link up with modem communication systems and ensure 
     reliable access to maritime transport, and is also aware of 
     the objective need to become a transit country. It is 
     therefore working actively to develop all forms of 
     communications, in particular transport and information, in 
     the interests of all the Great Silk Road countries.


PRINCIPLES OF COOPERATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BASIS FOR RELATIONS 
                   WITH THE GREAT SILK ROAD COUNTRIES

       The conduct of the ``Great Silk Road'' policy is based on 
     the following principles:
       Equitable partnership, friendship and cooperation with:
       All Great Silk Road countries;
       Interdependence;
       Mutual advantage;
       The long-term perspective;
       Multifaceted development of international cooperation.
       Equitable partnership, friendship and cooperation with all 
     Great Silk Road countries are the most important components 
     of a principle which is objective and universal in nature, 
     relating equally to the hopes and aspirations of any country 
     interested in creating a favorable environment along its 
     national borders and in the content of bilateral and 
     multilateral diplomacy. This principle is in full conformity 
     with the universally acknowledged principles and norms of 
     international law as laid down in, the Charter of the United 
     Nations, including mutual respect for sovereignty, 
     territorial integrity and inviolability of borders, non-
     interference in internal affairs, non-use of force, 
     settlement of conflicts by peaceful means and equal and 
     mutually advantageous cooperation.
       Interdependence has become a completely new phenomenon of 
     the end of the twentieth century. Globalization has led to an 
     awareness of the unarguable fact that no country, however 
     powerful it may be in military and economic terms, can face 
     alone the challenges that call in question the survival of 
     the whole of mankind.
       The principle of mutual advantage is sufficiently obvious. 
     The development of mutually advantageous international 
     cooperation within the Great Silk Road region will allow all 
     countries without exception to find answers to many questions 
     and solve the problems they are at present contending with. 
     The countries of the region are actively striving to create 
     new and diversify existing transportation systems so as to 
     ensure the shortest and best means of access to world 
     communications; they are encouraging and developing 
     international trade, both within the region and outside it; 
     and they are intensifying and stepping up cultural and 
     humanitarian, scientific and educational and tourism contacts 
     between the nationals of all the countries of the region.
       The principle of the long-term perspective is inseparably 
     interrelated with the preceding principle. The entire 
     historical experience of the development both of the Great 
     Silk Road itself and of the countries drawn into its orbit 
     over the course of many centuries, has convincingly 
     demonstrated the importance of and vital need for the 
     development of inter-State relations that address the long-
     term perspective.
       Multifaceted development of international cooperation is a 
     necessary condition for the creation of favorable 
     prerequisites and possibilities for the conduct of a 
     balanced, flexible and maneuverable policy on the 
     international arena; it corresponds to Kyrgyzstan's long-term 
     national interests and is determined by the entire complex of 
     problems and issues that need to be solved in the future.


PROSPECTS FOR THE APPLICATION OF THE ``GREAT SILK ROAD'' FOREIGN POLICY 
                                CONCEPT

       The application of ``Great Silk Road'' diplomacy will have 
     favorable long-term consequences for Kyrgyzstan and for all 
     the other countries located in the Great Silk Road region.
       The revival of the Great Silk Road at this juncture will 
     make it possible to create all the necessary conditions for 
     the transformation of the region into an area of stability, 
     security, friendship, cooperation and equitable partnership.
       The present-day Great Silk Road creates favorable 
     prerequisites for the intensification of international 
     cooperation in the joint solution of the global problems 
     facing mankind on the threshold of the third millennium.
       The expansion of the geography of the Great Silk Road will 
     make it possible to make fuller use of the existing 
     opportunities and rich potential for intensifying 
     international trade and economic, cultural and humanitarian, 
     scientific and technical and tourist contacts between all 
     countries and peoples. There are sufficient grounds for 
     thinking that all the Great Silk Road countries will make the 
     maximum efforts to ensure that in the new millennium there 
     emerge from the Road region, which constitutes a vast space 
     crossing the entire Eurasian continent from East to West and 
     uniting a diversity of cultures, traditions and historical 
     fates, only positive impulses of solidarity, peace, progress 
     and prosperity.
       Kyrgyzstan is ready and able to act as a binding link 
     between all the Great Silk Road countries.
       For Kyrgyzstan, the interests and objectives of its foreign 
     policy consist in ensuring to the fullest possible extent the 
     strengthening, by political and diplomatic means, of 
     international guarantees of its independence, sovereignty, 
     economic self-sufficiency and territorial integrity.

[[Page S9030]]

       To achieve these goals and objectives, Kyrgyzstan is full 
     of resolve and will to comprehensively encourage and develop 
     friendly, good-neighbourly relations of partnership with all 
     the countries of the Great Silk Road region and to 
     participate consistently and concretely in integration 
     processes.--Askar Akaev, President of Kyrgyzstan.

                          ____________________