Interviewee: Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev
Interviewer: Euronews
Date: January 15, 2010

Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev has served as the President since the country’s independence in 1991. He has oversaw very turbulent times in the Central Asian regions, and he hopes that Kazakhstan OSCE chairmanship will help stabilize the region. His foreign policy tries to maintain a middle path between Russia and the United States, and his predominantly Muslim country does have good relations with Israel.

Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed his plans to promote peaceful energy use and nuclear nonproliferation with US President Barack Obama during the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC. The summit lasted for two days, from April 12 to 13, 2010, and was attended by more than 40 state representatives.

During the Summit, Nazarbayev presented the outline of his plan to reduce the threats of nuclear terrorism in support of global security. The Kazakhstan president thanked President Obama for hosting the Nuclear Security Summit. According to him, the summit serves as an effective start to prevent the dangers of nuclear terrorism.

Nursultan Nazarbayev announced that Kazakhstan adopted a bold plan that prevents the onset of nuclear terrorism threats. The country reduces the occurrence of these dangerous threats through nuclear proliferation, disarmament, and peaceful civilian power use. Since the plan worked for Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev suggests that the other countries try implementing the same plan in order to gain security. Nursultan Nazarbayev says that by keeping all sorts of nuclear material, as well as weapons of mass destruction away from the terrorists, Kazakhstan has helped in preserving the safety of nations.

Kazakhstan used to own the world’s second largest nuclear test site, as well as the world’s fourth largest nuclear missile arsenal. Aside from the possible rise of numerous terrorist threats, having these sites around can also pose a risk for the overall health of Kazakhstan’s citizens, as well as several risks to their environment.

So in order to reduce terrorist threats and save the Kazakhs from dangerously high nuclear radiations, Nursultan Nazarbayev decided to dismantle the nuclear test sites in 1991. That same year, Kazakhstan also got rid of more than a hundred intercontinental ballistic missiles and more than a thousand nuclear warheads.

Kazakhstan OSCE membership (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) is a pivotal stabalzing force for Central Asia. Key issues Kazakhstan OSCE chairman must face is the situation in Kyrgyzstan, environmental security, engagement with Afghanistan, and the world economic recession.

“The Kazakhstan OSCE Chairmanship is committed to preventing escalation of tensions in Kyrgyzstan, and is ready to help the country with post-conflict rehabilitation. The OSCE is working together with the international community to help Kyrgyzstan,” said the Kazakhstan OSCE chairman.