Nursultan Nazarbayev's book on nuclear disarmament presented in Norway

“The peaceful, voluntary nuclear disarmament of Kazakhstan represents a huge legacy of Nursultan Nazarbayev’s presidency. This year marks the 70 years since the Soviet Union tested its first nuclear bomb near Semipalatinsk in 1949 on 29 August. The same day in 1991 President Nazarbayev officially closed down the polygon. “The Epicenter of Peace” not only speaks the story but also invites the reader to reflect on the ways of making the world free from nuclear weapons,” Yerkin Akhinzhanov, Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Norway, said during the book launch event.

Nuclear weapons are meaningless weapons, the former Prime Minister of Norway, Kjell Magne Bondevik, said during the presentation of the book.

“It is important to have the knowledge and resources that can give new energy to abolishing nuclear weapons. The experience from Kazakhstan, as this book is telling us about, is very useful. The country deserves recognition for the fact that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it removed all nuclear weapons and installations from its territory. This serves as a good example for other countries,” Mr. Bondevik emphasized.

An overview of the process of Kazakhstan’s disarmament, as well as the main issues of the current non-proliferation regime, was provided by Ambassador Kairat Abusseitov, the Head of International Programs at the First President's Foundation of Kazakhstan, as well as Sverre Lodgard, Senior Researcher at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI).

An emotional speech about the human and environmental sufferings of the Semipalatinsk region was made by the artist and activist of the anti-nuclear movement, Karipbek Kuyukov. He spoke about the struggle of the people of Kazakhstan for the cessation of nuclear tests and the historical decision of Nursultan Nazarbayev to close down the polygon. Mr. Kuyukov also called on the audience to support the ATOM project (www.theATOMProject.org) and sign a petition in favor of a world free of nuclear weapons.

Director of the Regional Department Anne-Christie Carlsenalso spoke on behalf of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The book launch event was dedicated to the Day of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The text was translated into the Norwegian by Nikolai Gerov, a political scientist and a translator. The forewords to the Norwegian edition of the book were submitted by the former Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, the Executive Director of the Foundation of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan — Elbasy, Asset Issekeshev, Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide, as well as Sverre Lodgard, senior expert and former director of the NUPI. The book was published by "Steffen Grafisk Tilrettelegging", which in 2009 also released a book by Mr. Nazarbayev "The Kazakhstan Way" in Norwegian.