YouSaid · the spoken record

Otunbayeva

lines on the record: 35
first: 1994-09-24
most recent: 1995-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Modern means of communication and speed have encouraged humankind to feel more united on an unprotected Earth. It is likely that no one would have tried to rule the world if it were a single voting district. The United Nations, empowered by its 185 Member States with a clear understanding of its responsibility, is wisely and competently leading us to the new millennium. My country is going forward consciously and confidently under the United Nations banner with a hope for a better future.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“We, the Member States of the United Nations, expect not only thorough and precise reports, but seek concrete, genuine reforms and changes. Kyrgyzstan favours an enlargement of the Security Council, while bearing in mind the need for appropriate regional balance. Germany and Japan, in our view, deserve to be elected to the Council as permanent members. Being among the biggest contributors to the United Nations budget, they are playing an ever-increasing role in strengthening peace and promoting development and democracy. It is also necessary to increase the number of non-permanent Security Council members. The world at the end of the twentieth century is as complicated and multi-faceted as we are — peoples and countries on six continents who are burdened with their daily problems and worries, their dreams and concerns.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“The world in the twenty-first century means equal rights for men and women, for my son and my daughter, my daughter and millions of other young girls and women in Central Asia, to be married in accordance with their own choice and desires, to have unrestricted access to education and employment, to be elected to Parliament and to work at all levels of government. It is for the sake of these goals that I am tirelessly working today. 18 We welcome the intention and determination of the President for this session, His Excellency Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral of Portugal, personally to lead the activities of a High-level Open-ended Working Group to report on the subject of reform to the General Assembly at its fiftieth session.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“It is not only professional office managers who work there, but true implementators of reforms. World forums of the United Nations — from Cairo to Copenhagen, from Beijing to the Habitat II Conference scheduled to be held in Istanbul — bind us together in the United Nations in understanding the magnitude of the social problems confronting humanity. Implementing their decisions will require enthusiasm and a huge concentration of effort. The most important thing now is action — the political will of Member States to go forward— effective international monitoring and “glasnost”. The participation of women in all these transformations is of critical importance.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“The lessons of the last decade require focused and compassionate attention from the United Nations and the world community in general on countries in transition such as Kyrgyzstan. The United Nations and its organizations — UNDP, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) — although sometimes overwhelmed by the unprecedented nature and scope of problems such as those of refugees, natural disasters, degradation of the environment, illegal drug trafficking and the spread of AIDS, deserve a great deal of credit for helping us to solve severe social problems in this difficult transition period.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries supported with great enthusiasm the unconditional and indefinite extension of the nuclear non-proliferation Treaty at the 1995 Conference on that Treaty. Along with Uzbekistan, my country calls for establishing Central Asia as a nuclear-weapon-free zone. It is our firm wish to finalize work on the agreement on a comprehensive test- ban treaty no later than 1996 and to make the moratorium on nuclear testing universal and permanent. Free economic and trade zones have become efficient instruments in speeding up trade and development among countries and continents. To make the world a safer place, we need other types of zones: not just non-nuclear but “non-conflict” zones. Central Asia could become such a testing ground.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“Fully sharing the responsibility for peace and security in our region, the newly independent States of Central Asia are trying to do all they can to keep peace and order on the land given to us by God. Kazakstan is working with persistence to organize a conference on confidence-building measures in Asia. Uzbekistan is working on the idea of a standing seminar on the subject of regional security. Turkmenistan declared its intention to become a neutral State. During a meeting in May of this year at Lake Issyk-Kul, representatives of the five countries, with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), created a standing seminar on stable development for Central Asia.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“There remains an undiscovered potential when it comes to cooperation among the United Nations and the OSCE, the United Nations and the CIS, and all of them together when it comes to solving conflicts in post-Soviet territory. It is not by competing but by cooperating that the regional security institutions can stop the violence and explosions. They can use a wide spectrum of preventive measures, such as “planting” the culture of peace, bringing the sides to the negotiating table and constant monitoring. Border issues, the distribution of water and natural resources, the rights of ethnic minorities: we in Central Asia need international legal expertise in all these areas, as well as the introduction of proven legal, political, socio- economic norms and regulations.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“Kyrgyzstan welcomes the peace talks based on the Washington Agreements on the creation of a State based on the federal principle. We are convinced that the time has come to focus the world’s attention on the situation in Afghanistan. There can be no peace in Asia without the settlement of the conflict in Afghanistan. It is impossible to be a mere spectator when the flames of wars and conflicts scorch our borders and decrease stability. Kazakstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have announced their willingness to create a peace-keeping unit under the auspices of the United Nations. We are convinced of the need to have such United Nations operational peace-keeping forces in reserve, so they can be called upon in extreme situations.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“This is true for both Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. I strongly support the proposal by the Secretary of State of the United Kingdom, Mr. Malcolm Rifkind, for the establishment within the United Nations of special programmes for stabilization and transition. It is a sign of the times that, in the face of horrible and prolonged conflicts, all the major countries, for the first time in half a century, have joined together to build and keep the peace. Step by step, the knot in the Middle East is being untied. We would like to congratulate Israel and Palestine on the recent signing of an agreement on the West Bank, 17 and we hope that both parties will have patience, courage and success on this difficult road to peace. There are promising hopes for a settlement to be reached that will end the conflict in Bosnia.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“Hidden tensions based on religious and ethnic grounds erupted in Central Asia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, requiring the involvement of the United Nations, the OSCE and the CIS. We commend the mediating role of the United Nations, which led to a cease-fire agreement and the beginning of a dialogue between the sides in the inter-Tajik conflict. The five countries of Central Asia, along with the Russian Federation, are doing their best to launch the fifth round of talks on the conflict in Tajikistan. These should lead to a dialogue regarding fundamental issues pertaining to the political future of the country. Actions taken by the organs of the United Nations system, the donor countries and international financial institutions should range from humanitarian assistance to long-term development programmes.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“As countries with economies in transition and as developing democracies, we receive extremely important and urgent aid and support from the United Nations: medicine, food and technical equipment. The Gramin Bank is fighting rising poverty by giving the people microloans. We are trying to build a civil society by educating the non-governmental organizations, lawyers and journalists. On 24 December 1995, open presidential elections will take place in Kyrgyzstan, to which we would like to invite observers from all over the world. One of our most significant achievements during our first years of independence, as our President, Askar Akayev, has pointed out, is — in addition to our small economic advances on the road to a free market — the attainment of an inter-ethnic consensus, internal stability and peace in our country.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“Within only four years of attaining independence, Kyrgyzstan has become a Member of the United Nations and has joined the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC) and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), as well as many other international political and financial organizations. The United Nations represents the main axis of the foreign policy of our young country, and we will work without respite to increase the effectiveness of our Organization. As small countries, we see in the United Nations a guarantor of our independence, security and justice, based on mutual respect for international law. The law is our strongest argument in the family of the United Nations.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“However, the Soviet Union’s attempts to use its republics to increase the number of votes in its bloc within the newly formed international Organization were not successful. Only three out of the 15 republics were accepted as Members of the United Nations. Frozen by the years of the cold war, we gained our independence without any violence or bloodshed. Now, almost half a century later, we have entered into the community of fully-fledged Members of the United Nations. Since then, the world has gone through dramatic changes. Today we need the United Nations as never before. Through the United Nations, we, the post-socialist countries, enter into the world and interact with countries of the North and the South, the West and the East.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“On behalf of the delegation of my country, I would like to congratulate Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral on his election to the lofty post of President of the fiftieth, anniversary session of the United Nations General Assembly. We would also like to express our deep gratitude to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who is at the head of our Organization at this momentous time, for his tireless efforts to strengthen peace and security around the world. The fireworks commemorating victory in the Second World War still resounded when our Organization was coming into being, but the world had already been divided by military and ideological confrontation. In the Soviet Union, Ministries of Foreign Affairs were founded in each of the republics and hastily staffed with diplomatic personnel.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“We realize that a long and thorny path awaits us. But the most important thing on that path is peace, which is the same for everyone on this Earth and is indivisible.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“But the people of Kyrgyzstan, headed by President Askar Akaev, having made its choice three years ago, firmly and unwaveringly stand for democracy and a market economy. 33 A tectonic political, social, and economic shift is taking place across the enormous Eurasian land mass. The success of the present transformations in Russia strengthens our own awareness of the irrevocability of the choice of the democratic way. Kyrgyzstan, like other nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States, is deeply committed to democracy, the principles of freedom and independence, and the philosophy and spirit of the creation of peace. My ancient people, yet still a young nation, like the "Manas" - a Kyrgyz epic poem of a million lines - the millennium of which we will celebrate in 1995, is undergoing a renaissance.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“On the basis of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities adopted at the forty-seventh session of the General Assembly, my country, together with the Russian Federation, cosponsored a CIS convention on the rights of ethnic minorities, which is currently open for ratification to all other Commonwealth members. Democracy in my country is very fragile. Political pluralism, freedom of the press and speech, and adherence to human rights and fundamental freedoms in the Republic are not accidental gifts from above but genuine values for which a real struggle is being waged in society - the struggle between openness and isolation, blind force and respect for the law, totalitarian ways and commitment to freedom.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“In other words, it is the most important issue on the eve of the twenty-first century for an agenda for humanity. In my country, we will fully support and are ready to cooperate with the newly appointed United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. We in Kyrgyzstan, a country in which over 80 ethnicities reside, seek to create equal and just conditions for all of our citizens. There are no restrictions on the development of culture, the arts, education or media in the languages of all ethnic groups. Along with an increase in mosques, the number of Orthodox and Protestant churches is growing. Committed to ideas of friendship and concord, we are consistently working on programmes and measures to halt migration from our country and to preserve the present multi-ethnic composition of society.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“The Kyrgyz Republic welcomes and shares the objectives and fundamental parameters of development set forth in the preliminary report of the Secretary-General, "An Agenda for Development". These are peace, economic growth, the environment, justice and democracy. The recent World Conference on Population and Development in Cairo and future Conferences on social development and the improvement of the status of women testify to the world’s deep concern about the situation of basic human needs at the turn of the next century. If human rights are all-inclusive, universal and inalienable, then these rights also pertain to all women and children on Earth. The improvement of the status of women is key to resolving vital social problems such as those involving population, education and health care.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“We are firmly convinced that the timely rendering of full-fledged, effective assistance to us - countries with transitional economies that must now choose their own paths at this difficult time - will help us to stand more quickly on our own two feet, form the foundation for a market economy and develop democratic foundations for society. We ourselves will then be able to render speedier assistance to the more needy. We support such a policy of reaching out towards solidarity, mutual support and collaboration. Bearing in mind the close collaboration of countries with transitional economies with international financial and economic institutions, precise coordination and deeper interaction of the work of the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions are becoming increasingly necessary.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“As a whole, we would like to see greater action and coordination of the work of the United Nations specialized institutions with the new States, both at their headquarters and in their regional offices. It is noteworthy that not only traditional developed countries, but also developing countries, which bear the burden of their own numerous economic and social problems, have helped in the establishment of the newly independent States and their entry into the world order. And this has particular significance.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“The people of Kyrgyzstan are grateful to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and other institutions in the United Nations family that have sought to help us at this difficult time. In the face of a sharp increase in drug trafficking, interwoven with transnational organized crime, first in our region and then through Russia to Europe and other continents, we need energetic and massive measures to block the drug-distribution routes and destroy production. The United Nations International Drug Control Programme has become truly critical in our region.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“As a country experiencing a period of emergency and in need of immediate assistance because of natural disasters and social hardships, we warmly support the proposal of Argentina’s President Menem that a civilian service be created to provide immediate humanitarian assistance under the auspices of the United Nations. 32 Development is the main problem facing young democratic societies. Thirty years’ experience of North- South collaboration has taught us, the new 1990s generation of independent countries, instructive lessons. It is easy for our achievements and our real advantages to become lost in the picture of the protracted drop in production levels and the destruction of the social infrastructure.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“Fully aware that peace-keeping operations are an important factor in the future new world order, my country, with its highly qualified doctors, nurses, engineers and rescue workers, would like to participate in peace-keeping operations. We accept and support the proposals that many countries have made here at the General Assembly during discussions of peace-keeping issues with regard to the need and opportunities for conducting training of military and civilian personnel on both a multilateral and a bilateral basis. Such possibilities are also open to us as participants in the Partnership for Peace programme of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“We know that 75 countries are participating in 17 United Nations Missions overseeing the holding and monitoring of elections, rendering humanitarian assistance during disasters and restoring what has been destroyed, as well as ensuring a United Nations military and police presence. The issue of creating reserve peace-keeping forces has now been raised. From this rostrum we hear the commitment of dozens of countries to peace-keeping operations. We need the blue helmets of peace, not the mercenary black helmets of death which have recently participated with increasing frequency in conflict zones around the world.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“I recall with great excitement the unseasonably warm day of 13 September 1993 at the White House in Washington when, after many years of conflict, a declaration of principles on Palestinian self-rule in Gaza and Jericho was signed by the Israeli Government and the Palestine Liberation Organization. It is with great satisfaction and happiness that we see together with us in this Hall representatives of the Government of South Africa that was elected on a democratic basis. Let us stock up on patience. We can achieve breakthroughs and visible results on the difficult path to peace and concord only if we do not give in to fatalism. United Nations peace-keeping efforts are achieving significant success in settling many of the conflicts of our time.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“Kyrgyzstan, as a non-nuclear State, signed the Treaty on the Non- Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and advocates transforming it into an agreement of unlimited duration. We welcome the efforts of all countries - and first and foremost the United States of America and France - to reach a consensus on the issue of a comprehensive nuclear- test ban. We support the initiatives put forward by President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan on confidence-building measures in Asia, and we envisage our region of Central Asia, located as it is between two nuclear Powers, as an area free of nuclear weapons. That would be our Central Asian treaty. Our world, so full of anxiety and so weary, believes that hope for peace is not an illusion.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“Afghanistan has a plethora of weapons. The country is prey to a non-stop and intensive arms race. Hope for peace can be guaranteed only if the international community devotes its unwavering attention and political will to unravelling the knot of the Afghan conflict. That is why my country has consistently called for completion and effective implementation of the Register of Conventional Weapons. We support the initiative of the United States announced by President Clinton on the ratification of and support for General Assembly resolution 48/75 K of 16 December 1993 on a moratorium on the export of land-mines. The Kyrgyz Republic has consistently stood for a comprehensive, effective reduction in conventional arms. We are actively and diligently working on the conversion of our defence industry to civilian production.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“We are following with great concern and alarm the situation in Afghanistan and welcome the efforts towards settlement. The restoration of peace in that country and the achievement of national reconciliation would bring long- awaited peace to the Afghan people, who have suffered so much, and drastically improve the situation in our region of the world. That region is exhausted from gunfire and war. It is yearning for trade and a return to tilling the soil. Notwithstanding the tremendous difficulties inherent in our search for peace and accord in that country, we urge the world not to give in either to moral or to donor fatigue. It is not possible to dodge responsibilities during this trying period because the deadly conflict in this country has been brought about by participation on many different sides.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“We greatly value the efforts of the Secretary- General, his Mission and the Observer Group of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) to resolve issues peacefully in Tajikistan. We welcome the recently signed cease-fire in Tehran, in accordance with which hostilities have temporarily ceased and political prisoners and prisoners of war are being released. We have great hope for the gradual end of this crisis and for the unification of the Tajik peoples, who have experienced more than enough sorrow and suffering, for the return of all refugees to their homes and for the restoration of peace with our neighbours. We express this hope now, before the coming winter, and call upon all 31 countries to render vitally important humanitarian aid to Tajikistan.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“Violence and intolerance among people have led to unending war and bloodshed in the former Yugoslavia. The tragedy of Bosnia poses a challenge to all humankind. Fifty years ago the nations of this world, having united, put an end to nazism and genocide. Why then are we now moving so slowly in the face of the violence that is obviously based on ethnic and religious discrimination and that is reverberating throughout the planet? We stand for a political settlement of conflicts. We call for both sides to put an end to the bloody slaughter. In our view, the recommendations of the Contact Group provide a way out of this crisis and hope that peace can be restored in the heart of Europe.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“It could systematize the approaches, principles and paths for the resolution of traditional issues of dispute such as border issues, the sharing or allocation of water and other natural resources, the self-determination of nations and territorial integrity, and the protection of minorities on the basis of ethnic, religious, linguistic and other differences. This would allow the United Nations to establish a legal basis for decisions that would help decrease the potential for new conflicts and aid in the resolution of existing problems. Only by following the highest authority of law, and only on the basis of international law, can we weave a solid fabric of peace throughout the planet, in all of its smallest corners, no matter how remote or provincial.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“In his report "An Agenda for Peace" the Secretary General spoke of the concentration of efforts towards preventive diplomacy, of steps for increasing international confidence-building and achieving early recognition of conflict situations. Such measures have taken on special importance in our countries with the fall of totalitarianism, because we have inherited many long- standing issues of conflict that had previously been hidden and suppressed by a regime of terror in the conditions of that time. The United Nations, in our view, could play a leadership role in the study of typical conflict situations.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“I wish to congratulate the President on his appointment to this highly responsible and important post. My delegation will work constructively with him during the course of this, the forty-ninth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Since the end of the Second World War, the fiftieth anniversary of which we shall be celebrating next year, the world has been engaged in peace-building. It has been a long road, and it has not been without its dramatic moments. Over the past half century the world has come to the brink of nuclear war many times. Now, with the end of the cold war, with the dissolution of the bipolar world, a new challenge has arisen in the shape of a series of wars and conflicts based on ethnic and religious intolerance that have exploded in many different areas of the world.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)