[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 130 (Friday, October 7, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2062-E2064]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  KYRGYZSTAN LEADERSHIP ON GLOBAL SECURITY, DEVELOPMENT AND DEMOCRACY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GREGORY W. MEEKS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 7, 2005

  Mr. MEEKS of New York. Mr. Speaker, in his September 17, 2005, 
address to the 60th session of the United Nations General Assembly, 
Kurmanbek Bakiev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic, called on his 
fellow Heads of State to join him in supporting U.N. peace keeping by 
fighting poverty and promoting democratic development. President Bakiev 
told the U.N. General Assembly ``it is no accident that exactly in the 
poorest regions of the world the most serious regional conflicts 
arise''.
  Kyrgyzstan, the only state in Central Asia that participates in peace 
making efforts by the United Nations, has directed military observers 
and staff officers to the missions of the United Nations in Liberia, 
Burundi, Sierra Leone, Serbia, Kosovo, and Sudan. On September 23, 
2005, Leandro Despouy, Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges 
and Lawyers of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, praised 
Kyrgyzstan's courageous leadership in supporting the resettlement of 
Uzbek refugees to third countries along with its commitment to the 
Geneva Convention. Mr. Despouy called on international donors to 
provide financial support for Kyrgyzstan's reform programs.
  Kyrgyzstan has also been a critical ally in the international 
community's efforts to rebuild and strengthen Afghanistan. It has made 
its territory available to the coalition to combat terrorism and 
promote regional safety and security.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to share with my congressional colleagues 
President Bakiev's September 17, 2005, address to the United Nations' 
60th General Assembly and ask that it be printed in the Congressional 
Record.

       Mr. Chairman, Mr. Secretary General, dear delegates, ladies 
     and gentlemen, first of all, I would like to congratulate 
     you, Mr. Chairman, on your election to the responsible post 
     of Chairman of the Sixtieth Anniversary Session of the 
     General Assembly of the United Nations and to wish you every 
     success in so honorable and noble a mission. Let me also 
     express words of gratitude to your predecessor Mr. Jean Ping 
     for the successful moderation of the previous session of the 
     Assembly.
       Mr. Chairman, the Summit of the United Nations which came 
     to an end yesterday confirmed that the United Nations 
     Organization remains the universal organization capable of 
     bringing important contributions to the matters of 
     strengthening international peace and security, the 
     maintenance of sustainable development, and the search for 
     adequate answers to new global challenges and threats. In 
     this regard, I hope that the 60th Anniversary Session of the 
     General Assembly of the United Nations becomes the major 
     event in our time, and will give to all mankind a feeling of 
     confidence and hope in our future.
       Rapid changes in the world have not bypassed Kyrgyzstan. 
     Our people, not remaining indifferent to its own destiny, in 
     March of this year have chosen the way of development, 
     progress and creativity. In the new history of Kyrgyzstan, 
     one more page has been turned. We enter into the 21st century 
     with firm determination to realize the deep

[[Page E2063]]

     expectations and hopes for peace, prosperity, progress and 
     freedom. We are confident that the goals reflected in the 
     Millennium Declaration will be realized fully for the benefit 
     of each person in the Kyrgyz Republic.
       To keep the respect and to justify hopes of people, the 
     United Nations cannot lag behind the fast and accelerated 
     changes in the world. It should not only respond to these 
     realities, but also create more effective mechanisms of 
     prevention and confrontation to both new challenges and 
     risks.
       In this regard, we in Kyrgyzstan are deeply convinced that 
     reform of the United Nations should be reflective of the 
     will, the fundamental rights and interests of all states-
     members and people.
       In previous years, the Security Council has been repeatedly 
     criticized for failures in the field of maintenance of 
     international peace and security. Therefore, for all of us, 
     it is extremely important that the Security Council most 
     effectively carry out the basic preservation of peace, 
     international order and tranquility. Kyrgyzstan consistently 
     supports expansion of the membership of the Security Council 
     and reforming of its methods of work so that it will become 
     more representative and democratic, and consequently more 
     effective. It is our belief that the reform of the Security 
     Council should be based on principles of universality, 
     efficiency and wide geographical representation. Decisions of 
     the Security Council should be, as much as possible, timely, 
     and their implementation correspondingly expeditious.
       The Kyrgyz Republic shares the position that reform of the 
     system of the United Nations will be successful only insofar 
     as the reform of the Security Council will be followed with 
     reform of both the General Assembly and the Economic and 
     Social Council. We support the efforts aimed at the more 
     pervasive activity of the General Assembly and strengthening 
     of coordination functions of the Economic and Social Council. 
     Effective coordination between these three principal bodies 
     is extremely important for the complex decision making 
     regarding current urgent problems.
       We all realize how great and complex are the challenges 
     facing the United Nations in the area of maintenance of 
     global peace and security. In this regard, I would like to 
     note that Kyrgyzstan also intends to make a contribution. And 
     for the first time, it has nominated its own candidature for 
     non-permanent membership of the Security Council for the 
     period of 2012-2013. We realize the full extent of membership 
     responsibility in this key body of the United Nations 
     Organization. I can assure you that Kyrgyzstan will use its 
     best efforts to activate cooperation with the member states 
     in all regions and become the reliable partner in the 
     decisions of global policy.
       Mr. Chairman, I would like also to note that today the 
     United Nations and its institutes are more engaged with the 
     issues of development than security. In a scene in which many 
     organizations of the United Nations system constantly deal 
     with problems of development, there is only one constantly 
     operating body which deals with problems of security. In our 
     opinion in conditions of globalization and strengthening of 
     interdependence and the risks connected both with 
     technological and natural disasters along with international 
     terrorism and extremism, the functions of the United Nations 
     on maintenance of global security should be considerably 
     strengthened. In this regard, along with the programs 
     connected with development, the preventive measures directed 
     to security also should be strengthened.
       The history of international affairs of the second half of 
     the last century shows that it is practically impossible to 
     support successfully international peace and security until 
     the basic conditions necessary for people's existence are 
     created. Poverty and deprivation often bring to escalation 
     the infringements of international peace and security. It is 
     no accident that exactly in the poorest regions of the world, 
     the most serious regional conflicts arise. Simultaneously to 
     reach the purposes of security and of development, the 
     international community should carry out a more balanced 
     policy.
       It is necessary for the world community to work actively in 
     overcoming distinctions and inequalities between the 
     countries of the North and the South. In our opinion, the 
     United Nations requires the creation of such interactive 
     mechanisms which will remove the problems causing the poorest 
     countries to drop out of universal development, and their 
     participation in decision making. The countries of the South 
     should become full participants in the decisions involving 
     global problems.
       Kyrgyzstan remains devoted to the Monterey Consensus 
     according to which the developed countries will increase 
     development aid, and poor countries in their transformation 
     will use this aid more effectively. At various authoritative 
     forums, an understanding of the Concepts of Sustainable 
     Economic Development and Sustainable Human Development has 
     been reached. We completely support this. These concepts, 
     with substantive provisions, will find reflection in our 
     national strategy and programs. At the same time, successful 
     realization of national programs of the various countries is 
     directly connected with regional and international 
     cooperation. On this joint interest, the role of the United 
     Nations and its agencies, with a view of fast achievement 
     of mutual understanding, coordination of mutual efforts 
     should be considerably strengthened.
       We support the proposal on drafting a National strategy of 
     development and its adoption in 2006 and achievement by 2015 
     as parameters of implementation of the purposes in the field 
     of the development, formulated in the Millennium 
     Declarations. In our opinion, the United Nations should 
     mobilize new resources, strengthen coordination and increase 
     the contribution regarding decisions on problems of 
     development.
       We consider that it is time for donor countries to move 
     from the declaration of obligations to concrete actions. In 
     this regard the Kyrgyz Republic welcomes the decision of the 
     European Union to allocate 0.7 percent of the GDP as an 
     official aid of development by 2009. Besides, the Kyrgyz 
     Republic supports the necessity of a comprehensible level of 
     debts and acceptance of urgent and scale measures on the 
     simplification of debt burden for developing countries.
       Kyrgyzstan is a mountain country. The mountain states are 
     characterized by remoteness, difficult accessibility, 
     information inaccessibility, severe geo-climatic conditions, 
     greater expenses for maintenance of life. At the same time, 
     receiving the financial aid from the developed countries 
     Kyrgyzstan itself is the donor on rendering eco-system 
     services whose value yearly increases. So, for example, the 
     Kyrgyz Republic is one of the basic repositories of glaciers 
     and the supplier of fresh water in the region. Besides, 
     within the International Convention on Preservation of 
     Biological Variety, there is in Kyrgyzstan the operation of a 
     network of biosphere territories. Kyrgyzstan emits into the 
     atmosphere much less hotbed gases than the majority of the 
     countries of the world, and thus brings a contribution to the 
     preservation of an ozone cloud of the planet.
       Simultaneously, to our great regret, in our territory, 
     there are storehouses of radioactive waste--an inheritance 
     from a military-industrial complex of the former Soviet 
     period. Their maintenance and the prevention of further 
     potential ecological accidents for the entire Central Asian 
     region are an excessive burden for Kyrgyzstan. We consider 
     that the international community at a coordinating role of 
     the United Nations, should concern itself more closely to 
     such zones of high ecological risk and render sufficient 
     financial and technical aid directed at the prevention of 
     global and regional ecological disasters.
       We also consider that for the decisions of a national 
     scale, the United Nations should promote more actively the 
     participation of the poor and developing countries regarding 
     sustainable development. The presence of a big debt 
     interferes with sustainable social and economic development 
     of mountain territories.
       In addition to wider initiatives on the maintenance of 
     readiness for disasters and mitigation of their consequences, 
     Kyrgyzstan supports initiatives on the creation of a 
     worldwide early warning system on acts of nature. As a 
     mountain country Kyrgyzstan constantly collides with regular 
     and often repeating acts of nature--earthquakes, landslips, 
     avalanches, flooding of cities and settlements. Our long 
     experience on liquidation of consequences of similar 
     disasters takes huge sums from economic and social 
     development and thus highlights the importance of 
     strengthening ecological security. As a first step, 
     Kyrgyzstan suggests the use of its territory as a pilot area 
     for the prevention and mitigation of consequences of such 
     kind of natural disasters.
       Mr. Chairman, I would like to express also support to the 
     proposal on the establishment of a Committee of the 
     regional organizations under the United Nations. It will 
     allow the involvement of unused potential of the regional 
     and sub-regional organizations in the prevention and 
     settlement of conflicts and also other important regional 
     problems. The regional structures having the corresponding 
     potential and effectively acting at the present moment 
     should play a complementary role before new threats and 
     challenges. Kyrgyzstan supports participation in work of 
     this Committee of such organizations, as the Shanghai 
     Cooperation Organization, the Organization of the Treaty 
     on Collective Security, the Euro-Asian Economic Union and 
     the Organization of the Central Asian Cooperation.
       We also support the measures directed to an increase of 
     efficiency of peace-making operations; in this regard we 
     welcome the proposal of the Secretary General on the 
     establishment of strategic reserves for activity of the 
     United Nations on maintenance of the world and reserve 
     potential of civil police of the United Nations.
       The Kyrgyz Republic is the only state in Central Asia that 
     participates in peace-making efforts of the United Nations, 
     having directed military observers and staff officers in the 
     Missions of the United Nations in Liberia, Burundi, Sierra 
     Leone, Serbia and Montenegro (Kosovo) and Sudan. We are proud 
     that we bring our contribution to the efforts of the United 
     Nations to these countries and are fully determined to give 
     support to such noble activity.
       Kyrgyzstan actively supports efforts of the international 
     community on restoration and strengthening of the world in 
     Afghanistan and has given its territory for accommodation of 
     forces of the Antiterrorist coalition and the Organization of 
     the Contract about collective safety, providing measures on 
     maintenance of safety in region.
       Kyrgyzstan actively supports efforts of the international 
     community on restoration and strengthening of the peace in 
     Afghanistan and has given the territory for accommodation of 
     forces of the Antiterrorist coalition

[[Page E2064]]

     and the Organization of the Treaty on Collective security, 
     providing measures on maintenance of security in region.
       We remain devoted to the establishment of the nuclear Free 
     Zone in the Central Asia. Now the text of the relevant Treaty 
     is coordinated by five countries of region and we are glad 
     that the depository of the Treaty will be the Kyrgyz 
     Republic. We believe that it is testimony of high trust and a 
     recognition of the contribution of our republic in the 
     implementation of the initiative establishing a Nuclear-free 
     Zone. I am firmly convinced that the establishment of a Zone 
     free from nuclear weapons in our region will promote the 
     strengthening of global security and regional stability. We 
     hope to obtain corresponding support of the world community.
       In conclusion Mr. Chairman, I would like to note that the 
     world community experiences a complex period of formation of 
     a new system of international affairs. Already, it is clear 
     that it will be a long process. The states--members of the 
     United Nations should affirm their readiness to achieve 
     practical solutions to the most essential problems of our 
     time: to struggle with poverty, famine, illnesses, to provide 
     sustainable development. The 60th session of the General 
     Assembly should remain with us in memory as the session of 
     reforms. Thank you for your attention.

                          ____________________