Media Clips

International press about the conference

The Straits Time
25 September, 2016

Rising from the scars of its nuclear past to push for a better world

“I am at ground zero. In 1967, 67 years ago, a 22-kiloton atomic bomb exploded at this nuclear test site where I am now standing. There would be 455 more explosions, each one more powerful and deadly than the last as the Cold War raged between the United States and the Soviet Union.” Read more

 

Latin American Herald Tribune
7 September, 2016

Kazakhstan Calls for Nuclear Disarmament at International Conference

“The process of reducing nuclear arsenals should be done multilaterally, with the participation of all states that have that kind of military power,” the Kazakh president said during an international conference in Astana. Read more

IDN – InDepthNews
1 September, 2016

Kazakhstan Leads the Way to a Nuclear-Weapon Free World

As divisions between States on how to achieve nuclear disarmament grow, countries like Kazakhstan must lead the way to common ground and inclusive dialogue. Such leadership is urgently needed to make our world truly secure, said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a message delivered to the conference on ‘Building a Nuclear-Weapon Free World. Read more

Japan Times
1 September, 2016

Marshall Islands speaker urges disarmament during visit to Kazakhstan test site

The people of Kazakhstan and the people of the Marshall Islands are linked by the fact that they both became nuclear test targets of global powers, Kenneth Kedi said Sunday on a visit to the country. Read more

Astana Times
31 August, 2016

Nazarbayev Calls Other Countries to Follow Kazakhstan’s Nuclear Disarmament Model

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev participated in Building a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World, an int’l conference held Aug. 29 in the capital’s Palace of Independence, where he highlighted Kazakhstan’s achievements and efforts in nuclear disarmament, urged other countries to follow and announced the Astana Peace Summit, which will take place in November. Read more

Astana Times
31 August, 2016

Anti-Nuclear Weapons Leaders Adopt “Astana Vision Declaration” at Int’l Conference in Astana

A wide array of issues, including nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament and the physical protection of nuclear weapons were discussed at the Aug. 29 international conference Building a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World at the Palace of Independence in Astana. THe conference also adopted The Astana Vision Declaration “From a Radioactive Haze to a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World”. Read more

Yahoo!Finance
30 August, 2016

President of Kazakhstan launches prize for world leaders promoting global peace and security
Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced the inauguration of an international prize for contributions to global peace and nuclear disarmament. Read more

CommonDreams
30 August, 2016

Building a Better World – One Without Nuclear Weapons
The world is witnessing the unthinkable reemergence of a mini Cold War between nuclear powers: increasingly ominous actions by the USA/NATO and Russia; […] to help meet this challenge, parliamentarians, mayors, religious leaders, government representatives, disarmament experts and members of civil society will meet in Astana, Kazakhstan this week to address these common concerns. Read more

eureporter
30 August, 2016

25th anniversary of #Semipalatinsk closure marked in terms of progress and danger
The global economy remains weak. While we may have agreed on the threat climate change poses, we are still a long way from taking collective action needed. Extremist groups put at risk our safety and stability. And their menace is linked to nuclear weapons. Read more

Transitions Online: Regional Intelligence
29 August, 2016

25 Years Later, Kazakhstan Grapples With Effects of Nuclear Tests

Local residents near the notorious Semipalatinsk testing ground say radiation has left a deadly toll of disease. Read more

Trend News Agency
29 August, 2016

OSCE PA vice president talks about regional security

The main tasks of the international community are to prevent the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and means of their delivery and ensure appropriate internal control over them, Azay Guliyev, vice president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA), said. Read more

The National Scot
29 August, 2016

Our commitment to getting rid of nuclear arms still firm, MSP Bill Kidd to tell international conference

Bill Kidd, co-president of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), will speak at that organisation’s Building a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World conference in Astana, Kazakhstan, and will highlight to delegates what he calls Prime Minister Theresa May’s “absolutely chilling” response of ‘yes’ to the question about whether she would use nuclear weapons. Read more

Independent Catholic News
29 August, 2016

Participants of Int’l Conference in Kazakhstan Denounce N. Korea’s Nuke Tests

Through the “Astana Vision”, participants denounced North Korea’s continued nuclear tests and expressed concerns about the continuous modernization of nuclear arms by countries that possess nuclear weapons. Read more

KBS World Radio
29 August, 2016

Participants of Int’l Conference in Kazakhstan Denounce N. Korea’s Nuke Tests

Through the “Astana Vision”, participants denounced North Korea’s continued nuclear tests and expressed concerns about the continuous modernization of nuclear arms by countries that possess nuclear weapons. Read more

Transitions Online: Regional Intelligence
29 August, 2016

India’s participation in global nuke weapons free conference in Kazakhstan significant, says envoy

India’s participation in a day-long international conference being held in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Monday on the theme “Building a nuclear-weapon-free world”, has been declared as significant by that country’s envoy to New Delhi, Bulat Sarsenbayev. Read more

Business Standard
29 August, 2016

India’s participation in global nuke weapons free conference in Kazakhstan significant, says envoy

India’s participation in a day-long international conference being held in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Monday on the theme “Building a nuclear-weapon-free world”, has been declared as significant by that country’s envoy to New Delhi, Bulat Sarsenbayev. Read more

The Jordan Times
29 August, 2016

Kazakhstan – 25 years of building the model of a nuclear weapon-free state

The closing of the nuclear test site and Kazakhstan’s voluntary renunciation of the fourth largest nuclear weapons arsenal in the world ins considered a profound contribution to the global nuclear disarmament process. Read more

BNews
27 August, 2016

US Rep: We appreciate the people of Kazakhstan for their commitment to nuclear disarmament

U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, chairman of the House Subcommittee on International Affairs of Europe, Eurasia and the new threats, issued a statement about the conference, scheduled for next week in Kazakhstan and dedicated to “building a world free of nuclear weapons,” BNews.kz reports. Read more

Christian Post
26 August, 2016

Support Obama’s UN Resolution on Nuclear Testing (Op-ed by Galen Carey)
Sometimes, ordinary people do extraordinary things that change the world for the better. A quarter century ago, a popular movement in Soviet-controlled Kazakhstan forced Moscow’s communist regime to halt nuclear weapons testing at proving grounds in their homeland where more than 456 explosions had contaminated the land and its people. The last Soviet nuclear test was on August 29, 1991 — a day now celebrated each year as the International Day Against Nuclear Tests. Read more

The Hill
26 August, 2016

25th anniversary of closure of world’s largest nuclear test site: time to act

It may seem strange that the closing of a nuclear test site 25 years ago should play such a prominent role in defining a country’s history and global purpose. But these doubts – and the reasons for the solemn celebration of this anniversary – fade when the impact of the Semipalatinsk site on Kazakhstan is fully understood. Read more

Huffington Post
24 August, 2016

Why The World Needs To Be Constantly Reminded Of The Consequences Of Nuclear Weapons

I am one of those who have been affected by nuclear tests in Kazakhstan. As a result, I was born without arms. I doubt a regular person with two arms can understand what it is like to use your feet for basic things like opening a door or grabbing a fork, or to sign your passport with your mouth. People stare at me. Then they empathise, but none can really, truly imagine what it is like, and no one really wants to. Read more

Astana Times
24 August, 2016

ICRC Reiterates Calls for Nuclear Weapons Prohibition, Setting Timeframe

On the eve of the international conference Building a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World  to be held Aug. 29 in Astana, Christine Beerli, Vice-President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) talked to The Astana Times on modern challenges in achieving global nuclear disarmament. Read more

Astana Times
24 August, 2016

Astana to Host Major Nuclear Disarmament Conference

The Kazakh capital will host the international conference “Building a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World,” dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site and commemorating UN International Day against Nuclear Tests at the Palace of Independence Aug. 29, the Senate of the Parliament announced. Read more

IDN–InDepthNews
22 August, 2016

August 29 Reminds of the UN’s Unfinished Agenda

For the seventh year in succession, the world would commemorate on August 29 the International Day against Nuclear Tests, which would coincide with the 25th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test site the central Asian republic inherited from the Soviet Union in the aftermath of its breakup. Read more

Amta (Norway)
22 August, 2016

Working against nuclear weapons

Local Norwegian newspaper Amta published a short interview with the ex-mayor of Frogn, Thore Vestby. The article says that Mr Vestby is again on his way to Kazakhstan, this time for a global conference marking 25 years since the country closed down the former Soviet nuclear test site at Semipalatinsk. The travel money on his budget has been used up for participation in meetings in Geneva and Brussels (Yper). At this conference he is representing the President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor Matsui of Hiroshima, therefore expenses for this high-level conference are covered by others than Frogn’s taxpayers. Original in Norwegian

Astana Times
22 August, 2016

Kazakhstan Has Led by Example on Nuclear Disarmament, Renowned Expert Says

“Building a Nuclear Weapon Free World”, the international conference to be held Aug. 29, has attracted senior figures from nations that possess nuclear weapons, as well as non-nuclear states. The conference will bring together parliamentarians, representatives of international organisations, civil activists, scholars, as well as mayors and media from around the world. Read more

Tahiti Infos
19 August, 2016

Oscar Temaru, de Genève au Kazakhstan

Durant deux semaines, le président du Tavini va multiplier les déplacements. Oscar Temaru doit rencontrer François Hollande, il doit aussi convaincre des élus de soutenir sa candidature à la présidentielle avant de participer à une conférence internationale contre les armes nucléaires. Read more

Astana Times
20 July, 2016

Kazakhstan and Chain Reaction 2016 – From Nuclear Tests to a Nuclear Weapon Free World

On 29 August 1949, the Soviet Union detonated their first nuclear weapon, code-named First Lightning, a nuclear chain reaction that caused radioactive contamination over a large area of Kazakhstan. Over the next 40 years, the Soviet Union detonated another 455 nuclear weapons in Kazakhstan, 115 above ground and 340 underground. Read more