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DIPLOMATIC HERALD 3 (52) 2015

UN at 70 and Kazakhstan

In the XXI century the center of development is shifting to Asia - the largest continent in the world, home to 2/3 of the world's population, has enormous resources. Powerful breakthrough marked a new reality in global processes. It is important to use this historic opportunity to give new impetus to relations between states, taking into account in this process. So offer to think about translating the UN headquarters in Asia.

President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev

EDITORIAL

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Dear Reader!

One of the most significant events in 2015 was the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, an Organization that can rightly be considered the most successful invention of humanity during the 20th century.

The United Nations demonstrated its capability during the Cold War, preventing the opposing sides from triggering a global confrontation, which would have led to irreversible effects on the future of humanity. However, the organization had to deal with sad moments too. The world community has suffered a lot during its history and there is every reason to say that currently and in the foreseeable future there is no better alternative to the UN. The Republic of Kazakhstan’s accession to the United Nations in spring 1992 was one of the first examples of a truly independent state that chose a civilized course of development. It is to the credit of Kazakhstan and its leadership that it didn’t just become a bystander in world affairs, but immediately presented itself as an active and creative member of the international community.

This is clearly demonstrated by Kazakhstan’s global initiatives put forward by the country’s remarkable leader and implemented at the international level, as well as fruitful cooperation between Astana and different international organizations, programs and UN special agencies.

The 70th UN General Assembly was no exception to Kazakhstan’s active participation on the international stage. During the session, President Nursultan Nazarbayev put forward noteworthy initiatives that were welcomed by the world community.

This issue is centered on multidimensional activities of the UN in response to challenges of our time, as well as problems and difficulties of the organization through the lens of politicians and diplomats. Taking into consideration that image and reputation of the UN is built by the people, including our compatriots, who work in the Secretariat and the UN special agencies in many regions of the world, we tried to go beyond the anniversary theme. In addition, we have also included a summary of 2015.

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CONTENTS

Major outcomes of the foreign policy activities of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2015 and priorities for 2016

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Kassym-Jomart TOKAYEV: «ELBASY FOUND THE ARCHIMEDES’S CENTRE OF GRAVITY»

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Bulat KHUSSAINOV, Global Worldtone of Nursultan Nazarbayev

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Erlan BEKKHOZHIN, UN General Assembly: Global initiatives of Kazakhstan

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Aidar SHAYAKHMETOV: “Never in my wildest dreams did I think that at this moment I would hear sincere “Kutty bolsyn, Aideke!” instead of a routine “My congratulations!”

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Ilyas OMAROV, UN, New York: East Side Story

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Pakistan Has Always Sought ‘Connectivity with Central Asia, PM Sharif Says

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“Paint world in blue”

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Rosa SAURAMBAYEVA, Letter from the front

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“CREATOR” and “PEACEMAKER”

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Major outcomes of the foreign policy activities of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2015 and priorities for 2016 Ladies and Gentlemen!

Today we summarize the results of the foreign policy of Kazakhstan in 2015. I wish to thank the Central Communications Service for providing this comfortable platform for our work.

In general, looking at the outcomes of 2015, I believe Kazakhstan’s international authority has significantly increased. With regard to the major areas of the foreign policy, determined by thePresident , we have substantially improved our positions.

This is a difficult year for international relations. It was a serious challenge for our global and multivector policy. However, I am confident, because the foreign multivector policy confirmed its efficiency and accuracy.

The year 2015 will enter into the history of Kazakhstan as a year of successful democratic presidential elections and formation of 5 institutional reforms and “100

steps”. Our diplomats contribute to the implementation of these projects.

Based on the priorities declared by the President , the concrete tasks were assigned to attract foreign investors and promote the economic aspect of the diplomatic service.

Kazakhstan’s diplomats are committed to dealing with these and other concrete tasks. Thus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intends to continue its work towards this end in the new year as well.

Since January 1, 2015 with the entry into force of the EAEU Agreement, the Eurasian Economic Union began its work. During the year, the number of the Union’s participants has increased. Armenia and Kyrgyzstan became full members of the Union.

This is a new alliance of the 21st century, which emerged thanks to the initiative of the Head of the State

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in the beginning of 1990s. Its main principles are equality, mutual benefit and consideration of interests of all participants. Kazakhstan, first of all, takes into account its own national interests. These interests are pragmatic, economic. We build trustful and friendly relations with all states without exception. This is a major message for our partners during the negotiation process within the Union.

The institutional formalization of constituent bodies had been finished. In Minsk the Union’s Court started its activities, Kazakhstan has appointed two judges.

Work is continuing on a draft Treaty for international agreements concluded with third countries, their integration associations and international organizations.

In general, it is possible to state that in turbulent conditions on international financial markets and difficulties faced by the world economy, the policy focused on the integration in Eurasia and increasing the level of connectivity is strategically correct.

*** Significant work has been done towards the implementation of the initiative of the Head of the State regarding the conduction of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.

In June the 5th Congress was held. It had a theme “Dialogue of religious leaders and politicians in the name of peace and development�. Heads of states and various influential international organizations, such as the UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon, King of Jordan Abdullah II, President of Finland S.Niinisto, OSCE Secretary General L.Zanier, OIC Secretary General I. Madani, High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations N. Al-Nasser took participation in the event. Totally more than 71 delegations from 42 states of the world, including representatives of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto-

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ism, Zoroastrism, Baha’I faith and other took part in the 5th Congress. Wide participation of political and religious leaders in the work of the Congress showed that the Kazakh initiative is strongly supported by the world community. *** Needless to say, the MFA also continues active work towards liberalization of the visa regime and extension of the legal framework. At the present moment, visa exemption agreements were signed with 19 countries.

Recently , a visa-free regime agreement was concluded with Cuba. After the ratification of this agreement by the parliaments of two countries, citizens of Kazakhstan and Cuba would be able to mutually travel without visa

for up to 30 days.

As you know, in this June it was adopted the Resolution of the RK on the extension until December 31, 2017 of the “pilot project” regarding visa regime exemption up to 15 days for citizens of some politically and economically stable states (France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, UAE, USA).

In addition, the list was expanded by other 20 countries (Australia, Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Monaco, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland).

We continue intensive talks regarding facilitation of the visa regime with the European Union. Addressing the issue of the Kazakhstan’ participation in the EU program “Partnership Instruments” was initiated to provide a grant for the implementation of the project towards the improvement of visa activities.

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For the purposes of implementing the task assigned by the Head of the State regarding the creation of the “International Financial Center in Astana”, preparations were launched to introduce a visa free regime for the OECD countries, as well as Malaysia, Monaco, UAE and Singapore from January 1, 2017.

Moreover, we continue taking measures to modernize the process of issuing Kazakhstan’s visas to foreign citizens. The revised draft of the “Rules on visa issue in the Republic of Kazakhstan” was developed and passes the process of harmonization. The document novelties include empowering heads of diplomatic missions of the Republic of Kazakhstan to issue single entry visas, changing and extending their validity period on the territory of Kazakhstan, simplifying procedures for certain visa categories and others.

I would like to note that over the first 11 months of this year foreign missions of Kazakhstan have issued 242,645 visas to foreign nationals. *** Another important event of the year, not only for our foreign policy, but also on a global scale, was the signing of documents on the creation of the IAEA Low Enriched Uranium Bank in Kazakhstan.

Let me remind you that our President strongly sup-

ported the IAEA initiative on the establishment of the LEU Bank and offered to host it in our country. It is the first time in the history of nuclear energy that such a bank is created and rerpesents a new unique mechanism of assured supply of LEU to the IAEA Member States.

The LEU Bank will serve for the benefit of the peaceful development of nuclear energy and make a significant contribution to strengthen global nuclear safety.

The fact that Kazakhstan has become a platform for hosting the LEU Bank demonstrates the strengthening of the international image of our country, is a sign of a high level of confidence and recognition of Kazakhstan as a responsible and reliable partner with extensive experience in handling of nuclear material and consistent and strong supporter of strengthening of the non-proliferation regime and global nuclear security. *** The most important foreign policy event of the year for us was the participation of the President of Kazakhstan in the 70th Anniversary Session of the UN General Assembly, during which Nursultan Nazarbayev voiced his flagship and landmark initiatives.

In New York the President took part in the UN Sustainable Development Summit, during which he informed the participants about our country’s progress

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regarding the Millennium Development Goals, including the reduction of poverty, child and maternal mortality, AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis morbidity rates as well as greenhouse gas emissions.

Our President’s statements, as well as his ideas and initiatives presented at these high-level events caused a great resonance among the delegations.

The following initiatives of the President should be especially highlighted: Creation of a Special UN Fund for sustainable development through the annual transfer by each state of one percent of its defense budget. Creation of a Global antinuclear movement. Establishment of an International Centre for the development of green technologies and investment projects under the auspices of the UN on the basis of EXPO 2017. Creation of the UN anti-terrorist

coalition. The last proposal is especially important in the face of the growing wave of terrorist attacks (Beirut, Sinai, Paris, Mali.)

The President expressed his strong support for the international community in the fight against Daesh, decisions of the UN Security Council to address the situation in Syria.

There is much to be done in this area, including the development of a 2045 Global Strategic Initiative Plan, or as we call it briefly the UN Plan 100. *** The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already started to work actively to implement the President’s initiatives.

And one of the positive results was the adoption of the

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UN General Assembly resolution on the Universal Declaration on Achieving a Nuclear Weapons Free World on December, 7.

The initiative on the adoption of the Declaration belongs to the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, who presented it at the first Nuclear Security Summit held in April 2010, inWashington.

On September 28, 2015, in his statement at the General Debate of the 70th Anniversary Session of the UN General Assembly, President Nazarbayev urged the international community to make a nuclear-weapon-free world the main goal of humanity in the 21st century and reiterated the need for the adoption of the Universal Declaration.

This landmark event brought recognition and support by the international community of the President’s vision

to build a world free of nuclear weapons by 2045, reflected an independent foreign policy of President Nazarbayev and his positive image in the world. And this event has certainly made another practical contribution to the promotion of nuclear disarmament in the world. *** The outgoing year has been marked by important, productive presidential visits abroad and high-level visits to our country.

This year, Nursultan Nazarbayev has made 13 foreign visits, received 32 foreign heads of state, governments and international organizations. In total, 38 major international events and 70 bilateral visits have been held. In the outgoing year, I have made 13 visits abroad.

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I would like to highlight the productive visits of our President to Moscow, Beijing, London, Paris and many other capitals, resulted in the signing of 275 economic agreements totaling about 170 trillion tenge ($60 bln.)

The implementation of agreements at the highest level, especially in economic cooperation remains a key priority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In addition, in 2015 Kazakhstan has had an honor to chair the Commonwealth of Independent States and Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, contributing to the strengthening of interaction within these organizations in specific areas of cooperation and their credibility in the international arena.

Kazakhstan also received highly important leaders from Turkey, China, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Russia, Japan and other countries, as well as the US Secretary of State. These visits confirmed the international community’s interest to further strengthen multifaceted cooperation and partnership with our country.

Some foreign commentators interpret the abovementioned visits as major powers’ renewed turf wars in Central Asia. In my opinion, truth and authenticity are distorted in pursuit of scathing headlines. Kazakhstan does not adopt the position of a silent detached observer

in the implementation of someone else’s strategy. Our country is successful in making its own independent way in the world.

We purposefully build good relationships and establish strong economic contacts with large and small states in the East and West, North and South. We work closely with Russia and China. Europe is our largest trading partner, and the US is the second largest foreign investor after Europe.

And it is no accident, but the result of our multivector foreign policy. Our economic progress, with 19-fold GDP growth, is also based on openness to trade, investment and new ideas.

We are convinced that we need to shift from the Great Game philosophy to the Great Gain philosophy.

And we believe that there will be enough space to do so for all the countries in the region and all countries willing to cooperate with us. We stand for the winwin principle when everyone wins including Eurasian countries with Kazakhstan as its geographical center. *** This year, Kazakhstan has joined the World Trade Organization and become one of its newest members.

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All the major economies of the world have recognized Kazakhstan as a country with a favorable investment climate, conducting trade policy in accordance with international law. And most importantly, we have managed to combine the requirements of the World Trade Organization with those of the Eurasian Economic Union, based on our national interests.

No one has any doubt that the WTO membership will give a powerful impetus to Kazakhstan’s economic development through deeper integration with the world community.

At the same time, it paves the way for more intense competition with leading world trade players. *** Finally, another important achievement of the year in our country’s foreign policy was the signing of the new Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Kazakhstan and the European Union two days ago during the visit of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini to Astana.

This event confirmed the transition of the KazakhEuropean relations to a qualitatively new level. The

new Agreement significantly broadens horizons of interaction and opens new opportunities for cooperation between Kazakhstan and the EU in trade, economy and investment, including taking into account Kazakhstan’s accession to the WTO and the development of the Eurasian Economic Union.

An important area of cooperation under the new Agreement is a further simplification of mutual trips of citizens, and during the talks in Astana, the parties discussed further steps in this area.

Kazakhstan has made considerable efforts to both harmonize the national legislation with the European standards in visa policy and facilitate travel of foreign citizens to our country.

Priorities for 2016 As you know, on November 30 our President delivered his annual State of the Nation Address, which paid special attention to the need to increase in the coming decade the annual investment in the economy by more than 3 trillion 100 billion tenge ($10 billion) and export of processed goods at least twice compared to 2015 and boost it to 9 trillion 300 billion tenge ($30 billion.)

Our Ministry and diplomatic missions of Kazakhstan

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in particular were given specific instructions to promote Kazakhstan’s exports and conclude free trade agreements with a number of priority countries.

Systematic work in this area has already started.

Next year, we will take necessary measures to enhance coordinated efforts and cooperation between the foreign missions, ministries, institutions, regional administrations, national and local companies in Kazakhstan to attract foreign investments.

The Ministry and diplomatic missions will focus on the development of contacts with foreign business community.

We will continue our concerted and substantial work to assist in the implementation of the goals and objectives set in the key documents: Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy, Nurly Zhol program, SPAIID and Plan of the Nation 100 Concrete Steps.

Overall, attraction of foreign investments in priority sectors of Kazakhstan’s economy and promotion of domestic products to foreign markets will remain one of the key priorities of Kazakhstan’s foreign policy and an essential element of the promotion of trade and economic diplomacy. ***

This year extensive work has been done to ensure broad and meaningful participation of foreign countries in the International Exhibition EXPO 2017. As a result, 61 countries and 13 international organizations have already confirmed their participation.

Next year, we will continue to attract participation of foreign countries in EXPO 2017, inform foreign audience about the preparations to the exhibition.

Our task is to ensure the participation of no less than 100 countries. The exhibition will make an important contribution to mankind’s search for solutions to one of the key problems of our time – meeting the growing energy needs in the most environmentally friendly way.

As a matter of fact, Kazakhstan strongly supported the outcome of the Paris Climate Change Summit as it is sincerely concerned about global warming; we will continue to work on the greening of our economy. *** In 2016, we will continue to work actively to implement the President’s initiative to promote Kazakhstan’s bid for a non-permanent seat in the UN SC for 20172018.

Membership in the UN SC is a big responsibility to

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the world community. Our goal as a member is to make a meaningful contribution to the Council’s efforts for the maintenance of international peace and security, strengthen the image and position of Kazakhstan as a factor of stability and security in Eurasia, draw the world’s attention to the problems of Central Asia.

Kazakhstan’s campaign is focused on the issues of nuclear, water, food and energy security in the world, as problems in these fields exist on every continent.

Voting for the election of our country as a nonpermanent member of the UN SC is scheduled for next summer. *** As already noted, the multi-vector approach proved its relevance and strategic loyalty in a very challenging period.

Substantive work on the implementation of the Foreign Policy Concept of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2014-2020 will be continued in the next year.

We intent to provide full support to the efforts towards addressing the situation in Ukraine on the basis of the Minsk Agreements. Based on a thorough monitoring and analysis of trends in the evolution of the international situation and key issues (Afghanistan, Syria, cancellation of Iranian sanctions, trends on the world energy market and etc.) we will develop proposals to address them. The course for the development of mutually beneficial cooperation with major partners and closest neighbors-Central Asian brother countries will be kept. *** We are committed to continue providing comprehensive assistance for further integration of the country into the global economy, promoting infrastructure coherence and development of transcontinental bonds in Eurasia.

Together with interested state bodies and national companies the work will go on to create transport-logistics bridges connecting Western and Eastern countries through Kazakhstan (“Khorgos”, railway KazakhstanTurkmenistan-Iran and etc.)

Preparatory work for the summit regarding the legal status of the Caspian Sea and completion of the process of demarcation of the state border will be conducted. *** Social importance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Feedback Protection of rights of citizens and legal entities of the Republic of Kazakhstan, their personal, family and business interests abroad is an essential task of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

For expanding the geography of consular presence,

a consulate in city of Barcelona (Spain) was opened in this year. At the current moment 90 Kazakh consular institutions operate in 67 world countries.

At the same time, 72 honorary consuls of the Republic of Kazakhstan carry out their activities abroad.

22 honorary consuls of Kazakhstan were appointed in this year (Argentine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile, Columbia, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Denmark, Italy (2), Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Thailand, Sweden (2)). 4 patents of honorary consuls were prolonged (Estonia, FRG, Latvia, Monaco).

The special attention was paid to assisting our citizens, who got into trouble in foreign countries.

Among many cases there is a need to note a return of more than 500 Kazakh tourists from Turkey this summer with regard to the bankruptcy of the travel agency “Travel System”. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development organized special transportation to the home country of some our citizens for medical reasons from Germany (A.Akhmetzhanova), Russia (D.Kalysskhan), Ukraine (S.Korlassbayev).

5 women citizens of our country were released from the nets of criminal syndicates involved in human trafficking in Bahrain and returned to Kazakhstan, as well as 2 in Lybia.

In this May 3 bodies of Imankulov’s family members, who died in a plane crash in France were returned to the home country.

It should be noted that we provided financial support for 23 citizens of Kazakhstan, in particular with regard to the evacuation caused by the aggravation of the situation in Syria (1), Yemen (1), and earthquakes in Nepal (7), return to the homeland from Indonesia (2), Turkey (6), France (1), as well as delivery of bodies of 5 our citizens from Afghanistan, China, Russia and South Korea. *** We consistently carry out activities to improve transparency of the Ministry for Kazakh citizens, Kazakhstan’s visibility in the world. The MFA uses all popular social networks as channels of communication.

Work is under way to upgrade the official website. The online conference in Twitter with my participation has been conducting annually.

We also provide permanent feedback for the population through prompt responses to appeals of citizens by means of the blog-platform, MFA social networks. *** In conclusion I would like to congratulate you on the coming New Year and wish you implementation of all designed plans!

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Chairman of the Senate Kassym-Jomart TOKAYEV: «ELBASY FOUND THE ARCHIMEDES’S CENTRE OF GRAVITY» Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Chairman of the Senate, shared his view on the United Nations debates held in New-York and global initiatives of the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev.

– Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich, you have worked as the United Nations Under-Secretary-General, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament. It would be appropriate to ask your opinion about debates at the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly. Does this Summit fulfill related expectations of the international community?

– General debates, started this week at the UN General Assembly, are held against the background of escalating problems: terrorism, poverty, refugees and

migrants, human trafficking, drug trafficking, manmade and natural disasters and, naturally, no progress in nuclear disarmament. Due to division of the international community, no problem was properly addressed. By its 70th anniversary the UN has understood the importance of an open and honest dialogue on all sensitive issues of its agenda. It’s hard to hope for ultimate success in reducing international tension and building large-scale cooperation without such trustworthy and, I would say, creative conversation.

Nations expect from recognized leaders practical ideas, initiatives and proposals aimed at improving the world order rather than reciprocal reproaches. An alarming feeling of upcoming calamity of global scale and destructive nature is in the air. It was our President who managed to grasp expectations of the mankind and at the highest level made concrete proposals with the aim of reforming international relations.

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– In your opinion, what is the main message of the President’s speech at the UN? What is behind his new large-scale initiatives?

– In fact, President Nazarbayev, the most experienced modern politician, architect of integration processes in Eurasia and Asian security, looked beyond the horizon of time and expressed a purely original idea of joint preparing a New Future Concept. Our President is the only one among all heads of states who managed to rise above turbulent reality and proposed to develop a 2045 Global Strategic Initiative Plan, that is the UN 100th anniversary. There is no such comprehensive approach to international security in the word practice.

A second interesting proposal of the Elbasy is to adopt a Universal Declaration on the Achievement of Nuclear-Weapons-Free World. It was not by chance that such representative audience welcomed these initiatives with acclamation. Since, in the modern world President Nazarbayev is the only one who has been consistently and insistently addressing disarmament issues. His political background includes closing the Semipalatisnk Nuclear Test Site (in Soviet time!), Kazakhstan joining the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, signing the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, creating a Nuclear-Free Zone in Central Asia, establishing the Nuclear Fuel Bank, and establishing the International Day against Nuclear Tests by the UN General Assembly. He has a record that might be envied by any Nobel Laureate. It is not accidental that the Elbasy is called the leader of international antinuclear movement, on whom people pin their hopes for progress in this key for mankind future sphere.

Our President also drew attention to such a sensitive issue as the UN role and place in the modern world.

In fact, despite some known drawbacks of the UN, its central role in addressing international problems should not be questioned. The leader of Kazakhstan highlighted the inviolability of main international law principles reflected in the UN Charter and proposed to convene a representative conference with such an agenda. Nursultan Nazarbayev was right to say about eliminating arbitrary application of sanctions bypassing the UN Security Council and violating its Charter. Information, received by me from the UN, proves that such position of Kazakhstan had been welcomed with enthusiasm. Moreover, at the Summit on Countering Violent Extremism the Elbasy stated that the UN Resolutions should have binding rather than recommendatory effect.

– Perhaps, the most popular idea of this Summit is multilateral cooperation and coordination. It concerns terrorism, Syria, climate etc. In your opinion, how does a Global Strategic Initiative Plan correspond with approaches of major powers, particularly the USA and Russia?

– The prevailing opinion in the world is that

there is no alternative to coordinated activities at the international arena. Despite strong divergences among the UN SC Permanent Members, we still need to seek common approaches to address crisis situations. Today no state, even a major and influential one, can solve a global problem by itself. There is serious controversy between the USA and Russia that can be proved by statements of their presidents, but even in this situation efforts are being made through diplomatic channels to find common ground. Nevertheless, the meeting of Mr Putin and Mr Obama has been held at the UN. Confrontation is always changed by lessening of tension. I do not try to simplify the essence of tension in Russian-American relations, but I think that two powers will ultimately reach agreements for the sake of peace and security. This is the logic of international relations development.

President Nazarbayev, as a wise politician, understands better than anyone the direction, which should be kept for developing political thought. A Global Strategic Initiative Plan is aimed at building new type of relations “based on fair conditions where all nations would have equal access to world infrastructure, resources and markets as well as to maintain comprehensive accountability for human development”. I have no doubt that the Plan of the Elbasy will become a relevant issue for brain storming at numerous international forums.

Another relevant initiative of our leader is proposal for establishing under the auspices of the UN of a unified global network to counter international terrorism and extremism. It is known that there is a critical lack of coordination in this area; countries are taking isolated actions against the largest Middle Eastern international terrorist organization in history. The Kazakh President is of the reasoned opinion that terrorism should be recognized by the UN as a global threat. Such a threat requires a consolidated response via both armed forces and attractive ideas. In this respect, the speech of King Abdullah of Jordan, who addressed the Islamic world with a call to say the decisive word in the fight against so-called Islamic State as this terrorist organization threatens the entire Muslim world, drew our attention. It is indicative that the King was among the first to respond to Nazarbayev’s invitation to address the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Astana, where he offered a convincing explanation of the difference between the genuine Islam and those who clothe themselves with robes of Muslims to commit barbaric acts.

– But is it possible to have a world without conflicts?

– A world without wars, which President Nazarbaev referred to, is not a utopia, but a destination towards which the civilized humanity should progressively move.

A conflict-free culture, based on trust, development and cooperation, is spreading slowly but surely across some parts of the world. The Elbasy in his brilliant

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speech at the UN convincingly demonstrated the lack of alternative to both the UN and a multipolar world.

He has once again shown to the whole world that he is a global politician, since he approaches the issue of international security with great responsibility and professionalism.

– A significant part of the President’s statement at the UN is devoted to economic initiatives. How justified is the focus on economy, when the matter concerns the ways to improve the global political situation?

– The whole world knows Nursultan Nazarbayev as an outstanding reformer. His renowned concept “economy first, then politics” has become not only a catch phrase, but also a guide for many heads of state. Being realistic, the Elbasy gives no common prescription for economic ills, after all not a single Nobel laureate in economics could do this. However he proposes to take systematic measures of a global nature.

According to the Kazakh leader, one needs to begin with global reserve currencies that no longer meet the criteria of legitimacy, democracy, competition, efficiency and international control.

Another proposal by the Kazakh leader has generated an increased interest in the UN; it is the transformation of the ECOSOC into a much stronger

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global development Council that, in fact, will serve as a global economic regulator.

The reform of this UN statutory body is certainly overdue as 70 years after the establishment of the UN ECOSOC it looks like some anachronism.

– A big stir in international circles was caused by the proposal of the Kazakh President to move the UN headquarters to Asia...

– Today the UN needs reformatting while preserving the best it has. Even the Europeans, while in Asia, admit that the world looks different from here. Asia has indeed become a dynamic center of world development.

Nursultan Nazarbayev tactfully invited the international community to discuss this idea, realizing that its implementation, in the case of consensus, will require massive financial commitment and time. And this idea is surely interesting and will be widely discussed in the capitals of the UN member states. The placement of the UN headquarters in New York was the result of the agreement reached between Stalin and Roosevelt at the request of the American President.

Subsequently, this decision was questioned as not entirely rational, it was suggested that the UN Headquarters should have been hosted in one of the European countries, such as Switzerland, Austria or

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Sweden. The proposal to move to Asia is an absolutely new one that is why it is so interesting.

– But let us go back to the perception of President Nazarbayev’s speech. Do you see it as historical?

– Without any exaggeration, the statement by the Elbasy is a major event in the 70-year history of the UN, which hosted many public figures. Representing the people of Kazakhstan, President Nazarbayev has fully proven himself to be a realistically thinking peacemaker with a deep understanding of the contradictory dynamics and pitfalls of a changing global context.

In diplomacy it is crucial to understand the role and place of a state in the modern world, offer adequate ideas and suggestions to the international community.

Major states can afford to bring weapons into play, as it is now the case in Syria, but war always gives way to peace or truce and peace-building has an eternal value.

Thinking about the meaning of the speech of the Elbasy at the anniversary session of the UN General Assembly I recalled the lines written by a distinguished diplomat and poet Tyutchev:

“Fortunate is he today who gains a victory

not by blood but by the intellect,

happy he who can find in himself

Archimedes’s centre of gravity.”

– You have known the Secretary-General Ban Kimoon for a long time and worked with him at the UN. Do you think he was successful in organizing the 70th Session of the General Assembly?

– The achievements of Ban Ki-moon as SecretaryGeneral of the UN are a testament to the growing role of “Asian component” in the global situation, as stated by our President. The anniversary session of the UN General Assembly is particularly important to the Secretary-General, as it will be seen by the world community as his political legacy. A big challenge for Ban Ki-moon personally and the world community is the Paris Climate Change Conference that will be held this December. Our President’s initiative on the establishment of the International Centre for the development of green technologies and investment projects on the basis of EXPO 2017 in Astana can become considerable support to this forum. I have worked with Ban Ki-moon in various forums, including the Geneva Conference on Syria, Seoul Nuclear Security Summit, during the sessions of the UN General Assembly. He is an experienced international official, a decent person. The UN Secretary-General sincerely respects Nursultan Nazarbayev, as evidenced by his many visits to Kazakhstan.

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Bulat KHUSSAINOV, Chief scientific officer of the RK MES CS Institute of Economics, PhD in Economics, Professor

GLOBAL WORLDTONE OF NURSULTAN NAZARBAYEV The strategic initiative of President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev regarding the transformation of the UN Economic and Social Council into the Global Devel-opment Council, put forth by him at the General Debates of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly is highly relevant under the modern difficult circumstances. He noted that this Council must have functions of the Global Economic Regulator which would help to significantly decrease global risks and would ensure responsi-ble behavior of states with respect to issues of the economic and social policy.

In fact, talking about the modern challenges, risks, threats and imperatives of the planetary development, he has demonstrated to the world community an inherent to him global worldtone.

Over the last decades, globalization has been a major fundamental trend of the world economy’s development, raising a controversial perception of its prospective and consequences. The process of globalization has aggravated the existing controversies and brought new ones. Today, these contradictions in general are considered as glob-al challenges, which mean problems of the planetary scale. They are caused

by new factors of the world development, unbalancing the stable reproduction of socio-political, economic and inter-civilization relations in the context of the current world or-der.

The notion “global challenges”, which emerged in the midst of the 20th century because of the works of British scientist, researcher in civilizations development Arnold Joseph Toynbee, has become highly topical at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries in anticipation of changes and future of the humanity in the new millennium. A. Toyn-bee calls these circumstances as a challenge, emerging during an abrupt change in the conditions of human life. An adequate response to the challenge is a merit of the creative minority and individuals who are able to generate new ideas, technologies, models of behaviour.

Any change requires reaction, which may be fraught with different consequenc-es. Any challenge requires response. Today, there are two trends for understanding challenges. First, there are challenges as phenomena, defining fundamental shifts in the system of functioning of socio-economic systems; second, challenges, uniting pro-cesses with apparently negative character, involving risks and threats for the society. Thus, modern studies

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use both the notion “challenge” and the notions “danger, risk and threat”. It is difficult to distinguish between challenges, threats and risks, because under different circumstances challenges may turn into threats and risks within a short period of time.

As President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev stated at the General Debates of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly: “Pressing issues on the international agenda - terrorism, demolition of the states, migration and other negative issues - are the result of the economic crisis, poverty, illiteracy and unemployment” /1/. In essence, the Head of State talked of global challenges of the modern times, requiring adequate response.

It is clear that different regions and countries have different sets of global chal-lenges, threats and risks in terms of their impact and priority. For instance, the industri-al system helped to overcome the mass poverty of the agrarian civilization. No doubt that the past decades have demonstrated a significant progress in addressing the is-sues of poverty and inequality.

However, the problem of eradication of poverty and inequality is far from being solved. Moreover, nowadays it takes new features and may have alarming, if not destructive consequences.

The problem of income inequality becomes universal. It can be proved by Nobel Prize laureate J. Stiglitz claiming that “around the world… there is mounting concern about the increase in inequality and about the lack of opportunity, and how these twin trends are changing our ,economies, our democratic politics, and our societies” /2/. He supports this statement by convincing statistical data, “Thirty years ago, inequality in Britain was just average for the advanced industrial

countries. But now it is second on-ly to the United States”, underlying that “finance played pehaps an even more im-portant role in British inequality than it did in the United States” /2/.

In fact, world scandals, which have erupted around financial markets since the beginning of the century, are only strengthening, and in a sense, in their core is Lon-don, which is a world financial center (more than New York).

According to J. Stiglitz, the formation of inequality, especially in the USA, is caused by rent seeking behavior of the American top. where was an significant con-centration of national wealth as a result of rent seeking, including monopoly profits and the excessive compensation of corporate CEOs, especially, that of the financial sector. He is confident that there is a need to be concerned about the growing inequali-ty and its social, political, economic consequences. Even more than the United States, Japan and many of the European countries face large debts and aging societies. They may be tempted to cut back investments in the common

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good or undermine the existing systems of social protections, But such policies would put at a huge risk basic values and future economic prospects. Therefore, it is necessary to increase simultaneously growth and equality – creating a shared prosperity. For Japan and Europe, as for the United States, the question is more one of politics than of economics. In this regard J. Stiglitz asks non-trivial questions, “Will they be able to curb rent seekers and their pur-suit of their own narrow interests, which inevitably harms the economy as a whole? Will they be able to construct a social contract for the twenty-first century, ensuring that the benefits of such growth as occurs will be fairly shared? /2/.

Challenges faced by developing countries and emerging markets are more sub-stantial. Historically, early stages of growth are highlighted by the high level of inequal-ity and its subsequent increase. The growth of inequality is apparently a case in China. The GINI Index, characterizing income inequality has increased from 30 in 1980 to more than 50 in 2010. Meanwhile, Brazil demonstrates decrease in inequality because of investments in education and programs to protect the poor (especially poor children).

Among member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Devel-opment, the average income of the richest 10% currently has grown by more than 9 times in comparison to the poorest 10%. In other countries this correlation is even higher, for example, in Mexico – more than 25 times. In general, income inequality is growing very fast in the large developing

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markets. It is noteworthy that the extreme poverty (income is less than $1.25), which affected more than 50% of the global popu-lation in 1990, has dropped to 22% in 2010, at the same time such reduction is not typi-cal for those who earn less than $3 per day.

Thus, the established world system is mainly characterized by the principal ine-quality of countries and civilizations. The next correlation clearly shows this. According to a survey conducted by the Credit Suisse Research Institute, countries of North America and Europe possess about 70% of the world wealth, while 20% of the world population lives there.

Against this background, the study of Swiss researchers is of undoubted interest, they have tried to find out: who manages world finances? For this purpose, they ana-lyzed information concerning the activities of 37 million companies and detected con-nections between 43,000 transnational corporations (TNC). Then they have discovered a so-called “core”, consisting of 1,318 corporations. Using methods of economic and mathematic modeling, they have defined their links with other similar companies (the average number of ties of one such company from this core reached 20).

Eventually, using satellite firms, these companies owned almost 60% of global incomes. In the end everything led to 147 TNCs, which had in their hands all corporative wealth of the world. It is notable that the largest financial corporations occupied leading positions among them. In particular, the top ten list includes: Barclays plc, Capital Group Com-panies Inc., FMR Corporation, AXA, State

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https://books.google.kz/books?id=EBz0-Ncy4MAC&pg=PT11&lpg=PT11&dq=»the+inequality+debate»+as+i+traveled+ around+the+world&source=bl&ots=ny2AcGZseE&sig=ypzdDLi7l8phLJ8gAgBBZG8i8pY&hl=ru&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEw iZhITMzrrKAhWFs3IKHdoMDlEQ6AEIHTAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Street Corporation, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Legal & General Group plc, Vanguard Group Inc., UBS AG and Merrill Lynch & Co Inc. In this top ten the US is represented by six corporations, the UK by two, France and Switzerland – one /3, p.105-106/.

This example shows another global challenge – transnationalization of the world economy. Despite that the largest TNCs’ activities clearly lag behind the most ad-vanced economies in terms of scale, it is well known that the former are more techno-logically developed and are more mobile, economically efficient, financially successful. As a result, the largest world TNCs are becoming more powerful and influential organi-zational structures of the global economy.

Notably the activities of TNCs being primarily focused on making huge profits, frequently go beyond common beliefs, traditionally structured according to political and legal, national and state criteria. This suggests that possible emergence of qualitatively new players of international economic relations, that are not limited to any geograph-ical borders, can radically change the situation not only in the global economy, but also in the political area /3, p.107-109/.

In the pursuit of sustainable and long-term superprofits, TNCs are ready to use all available resources, including of non-economic character, to achieve their goals. It seems that the largest TNCs have already been addressing issues of new economic and political repartition of the world, in disregard for interests of national states (there are many examples demonstrating

that). Looking ahead, this trend will only strengthen.

This, in turn, is a matter of a serious concern for nation-states. In this regard, it is im-portant to mention a statement of one of the biggest Russian scientists, academician D.S. Lvov, “The world of free competition and trade is increasingly replaced by the world of transnational corporations, which divided between them more than one third of the labor market, more than a half of the capital market, more than two thirds of total sales of high-tech products and a major part of financial capital”/4, p.13/ .

For ten years in a row the World Economic Forum (WEF) has been preparing Global Risks reports /5/, which landscape annually evolves in terms of probability and impact. The global challenges of the past year are geopolitical, social and ecological risks, taking the first place in the hierarchy of the most possible threats.

In previous years, especially after the global economic crisis, geopolitical risks vir-tually did not threaten the world order. However, 25 years after the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the Cold war, geopolitics again returned to the top of the world agenda.

Inter-state conflicts, destruction of state institutions and risks to lose power by national governments up to the full decay of states are considered to be the most probable risks. Vivid examples are the situation in Ukraine, events in the Middle East –Syria and Iraq, where authorities are practically lost the capability to restrain expansion of the “Islamic State” in their territories. Certainly, the participation of the Russian

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aerospace forces has dramatically changed the situation.

But the recent events related to the lack of Turkish authorities’ judgment, are an alarming sign that may destabilize the situation not only in the region, but around the world. We can only rely on the prudence of the top countries leaders.

It is clear that geopolitics more and more influences economic processes in the whole world. Today and it is obvious it is economic instruments that are increasingly used to achieve geopolitical objectives. On the one hand, states try to expand geopolit-ical influence through the policy of inter-regional economic integration, creation of trade blocs or transboundary investments; on the other hand, they use such instru-ments as protectionism or economic sanctions to influence. A bright example is the sanctions against Russia and adequate measures, leading to the embargo on import of food products from sanctions countries.

In Europe, unemployment and underemployment, large scale involuntary migra-tion and deep social instability are mentioned among risks and threats of the down-ward trend (at least in the next decade). First two threats are already a reality of the Eu-ropean life, it is likely they will cause a deep social instability, which signs have been seen for a long time in a number of leading EU economies in particular, and in Europe in general. J. Stiglitz notes accurately, “The irony is that while inequality gives rise to instability, the instability itself gives rise to more inequality” /2/. The emergence of a vi-cious circle is evident here.

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“Shocking energy prices” are among the social and economic risks, to which Central Asian countries and Russia are less prepared. It is understandable that the price shock caused by the fall of global energy prices is an extremely important factor of economic development for Russia and Central Asia in the context of resource pre-vailing economies. Once the world energy price falls, commodity economies turn into a turbulent condition, which is very difficult to cope with.

The problem of water resources is acute in Central Asia, including Kazakhstan. According to forecasts, the global water demand will grow by 40% by 2030.

Agriculture already accounts in average for 70% of all water consumption, and according to the World Bank there is a need to increase food production by 50% by 2030 with respect to population growth and changes in eating habits. The International Energy Agency forecasts that the water consumption will be increased by 85% by 2035 to meet produc-tion and energy generation needs.

It should be noted that the abovementioned global challenges and associated risks and threats, including acute “water shortage”, “growing social instability” are among ten challenges, outlined by President Nazarbayev in his Address “Strategy Ka-zakhstan - 2050” /6/.

We have to reiterate that real risks and threats may represent various challenges for various regions and world countries. Thus, each country needs to classify global challenges depending on the nature and spheres of emergence and influence. How-ever, we believe that

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any classification of global challenges regardless of their nature and spheres of influence finds itself virtually in some way within the framework of economy.

In conclusion, there is an increase of crisis phenomena in the world economy (not the first year and not even the first decade), which are of systemic character, espe-cially in the context of uncertainty of the global geopolitical and geoeconomic situation. The last circumstance is associated with the fact that the USA is weakening as a global leader. It can be argued that today there is no power or coalition of powers, which may propose its model of the world order and its own game rules. Europe is plunged into deep financial, social and migration problems and it seems that it is not able to be such a leader. China is not ready yet. Russia has not acquired its strategic line yet. The Is-lamic world is still divided. International institutions are also not ready to carry out regu-latory functions. The UN, International Monetary Fund, World Bank have been estab-lished under the conditions of the bipolar world and today they at least need serious re-forms /3, p.213/.

In this context it is imperative to implement in practice initiatives and global worldtone of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, presented from the rostrum of the UN General Assembly.

REFERENCES 1. Выступление Президента Республики Казахстан Н.Назарбаева на Общих дебатах 70-й сессии Генассамблеи ООН. 28 сентября 2015 г. // http://www.akorda.kz/ru/speeches/external_political_ affairs/ext_speeches_and_addresses/vystuplenieprezidenta-respubliki-kazahstan-nnazarbaeva-naobshchih-debatah-70-i-sessii-genassamblei-oon (последнее обращение 27.12.2015 г.)

2. J. Stiglitz. The Price of Inequality. – Penguin Books, 2013.

3. Б . Д . Ху с а и н о в . Г л о б а л и з а ц и я , Транснационализация, Интеграция. – Алма-ты, 2012. – 312 с.

4. Д.С. Львов. Будущее российской экономики. Экономический манифест // Экономическая наука современной России. – М.: Наука, №3, 1999. – с.

5-31.

5. Global Risks Report 2015. - 10th Edition. Geneva, World Economic Forum, 2015. – pp. 69.

6. The Address of President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarba-yev to the People of Kazakhstan “Strategy Kazakhstan-2050”. Astana.

December 14, 2012.

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Erlan BEKKHOZHIN, Head of Kazakhstan Radio and Television Corporation JSC

UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY: GLOBAL INITIATIVES OF KAZAKHSTAN 70 years ago London hosted the first Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Yet, geopolitics and strategic planning have resulted in the decision to relocate the UN Headquarters to New York. From that point on, the city has been the center for discussions on global issues.

However, it is quite possible that now is the timeof the other hemisphere.

A bold idea of President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev about relocation of the UN Headquarters to Asia caused ample debates. Moreover, this is not the only initiative, announced by the President during his visit to New York.

Rich in Events New York Autumn is especially challenging for New York. It includes the annual New York Film Festival, traditional session of the UN General Assembly and related events.

Many events drawing attention of the world and causing never-ending headaches for the authorities, take place here. This year, for example, on top of everything the Popepaid the visit that made it necessary to enforce security measures. Those who wished to see the Pontiff were notified that unmanned aerial vehicles, selfie sticks, laser pointers, toy guns and animals were not allowed.

The Pontiff attended the UN General Assembly for the first time over the last 20 years which was not a coincidence. Global problems have become so acute thatthe Pope considered it necessary to share his ideas, given that the UN margins brought together the record

number of participants – approximately 150 Heads of State and Government.

Kazakh Language from the UN Rostrum New York is called the Big Apple. The term could be noticed at the crossroads of West 54th Street and Broadway. Nevertheless, going by the anniversary Session of the UN General Assembly, it is rather the Apple of Discord. Meetings within the forum were uneasy, debates were contentious. Wars and refugees, demolition of statehood and growth of terrorism – the world leaders endeavored to agree on new rules for the game. That is where the irenic narrative of Kazakhstan stood out against the background. Indeed, it should come as no surprise that Nursultan Nazarbayev became one of the most quoted politicians.

The President participated in the General Debates and two Summits.

Tellingly, for the first time ever the President made his speech at the UN in Kazakh.

Amid geopolitical ambitions and confrontations of the leading powers, the speech of the Kazakh leader was notable for its balanced approach and adequate pragmatics. The President looked beyond the horizon, proposing a 2045 joint action plan to the world leaders.

“I believe that in the next thirty years, our civilization will find the wisdom and will to cut through the Gordian knot of wars and conflicts. Our central task in the 21st century should be to implement a strategy that would eliminate the threat of war and its causes. For that purpose, I propose to develop a 2045 Global Strategic

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Initiative Plan for the centenary of the United Nations. Its core idea is to launch a new trend in global development based on fair conditions in which all nations will have equal access to world infrastructure, resources and markets as well as to maintain comprehensive accountability for human development,” said Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Initiatives of Nursultan Nazarbayev The leader of Kazakhstan proposed to fight against root causes, but not against consequences of all anguishes of humanity and put forth five key development concepts. Typically, it was not just a call.

Kazakhstan offered ideas, which had passed through practical approbation.

The first proposal of the Leader of Kazakhstan was to transform the UN Economic and Social Council into the Global Development Council. The Council should act as a global economic regulator.

“The idea of a World Anti-crisis Plan, the draft of which has been actively discussed on the margins of the Astana Economic Forum, considered to be very timely.

Pressing issues on the international agenda – terrorism, demolition of the states, migration and other negative issues – are the result of the economic crisis, poverty, illiteracy and unemployment.

To tackle this global crisis, we need to start with clear rules for the emission and trade of the world reserve currencies as they do not now meet the criteria of justice, democracy, competitiveness, effectiveness and international control,” he said.

The second initiative of President Nazarbayev was about the adoption of a UN Universal Declaration on the achievement of a nuclear-weapon-free world. The President raised the issue of the right of states to the peaceful atom.

Third, the leader of Kazakhstan proposed to convene the UN International conference at the highest level in 2016 to reaffirm the basic principles of international law.

Fourth, it was proposed to establish a unified global network to counter international terrorism and extremism under the auspices of the UN. Fifth, it was proposed to open an International Centre for development of green technologies and investment projects under the auspices of the UN in Astana.

Nursultan Nazarbayev suggested developing a New Future concept under the aegis of the UN as a major step in implementation of the abovementioned tasks.

Nip Terrorism in the Bud Virtually, every leader from the UN rostrum touched upon the serious problems related to the hotspots of tension. To name few: Ukraine, Syria, the Korean Peninsula. The fight against ISIS was the central topic. In the Summit on Violent Extremism Nursultan Nazarbayev offered a legal model to the UN, which would nip terrorism in the bud.

“In combating violent extremism it is necessary to eliminate its fundamental causes, rather than fighting only against its consequences. In this regard, it is important for states to refuse profoundly from supporting unconstitutional and unlawful actions of

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any powers in any country, which lead to demolition of statehood and authority, and organization of chaos there,” stated Nazarbayev.

Perhaps the situation would be different, if leaders listened to the initiative of Nursultan Nazarbayev on the creation of a Universal Peacekeeping Efforts Fund presented from the UN rostrum back in 1992. At this point it is referred to a simple, but effective proposal – to allocate funds for the purposes of sustainable development.

“Poverty across the world is immense. About billion people are undernourished. 750 million people are illiterate and 40 million children die annually.

That is why the rich world must help. In this respect, I suggested for all countries to allocate one percent of military spending – 1 trillion and 700 million dollars of world military spending – it would be a strong support, strong assistance,” – President Nazarbayev addressed the world community.

All initiatives proposed by the Kazakh leader at the UN General session were also discussed at the meeting with Secretary General of the Organization

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Ban Ki-moon. The parties talked how it is important to implement Kazakh initiatives.

Negotiations with Barack Obama Nursultan Nazarbayev – is among few persons, for whom US President Barack Obama, despite his packed schedule, found time to negotiate, although about 80 presidents wanted to meet with the Head of the White House. However, only four countries had such opportunity, and Kazakhstan was among them.

“I am glad to see Presidents of Russia and the USA meeting and discussing topical issues. Mr Obama informed me right now about the outcomes of their negotiations on Ukraine and Syria. He said that they were straightforward. Leastwise, according to Mr Obama, he was satisfied with straightforwardness and honesty. He said, “I am starting to understand the position of Russia, and we will work.” Gladly, he is willing to improve the relations during his presidency – 1.5 years left yet,” later commented his meeting Nazarbayev.

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US Industry Captains The visit of the President to the USA demonstrates yet again that much depends on a leader’s energy, on his capability to address global issues in respect to the interests of Kazakhstan. This is why the schedule of Nursultan Nazarbayev is mapped out to the last minute and includes dozens of meetings. In that way, the President met with the President of Poland, Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Head of the International Finance Corporation and Director of the Cisco Systems company.

The meeting with the US captains of industries is especially notable among other points in his packed schedule of meetings and negotiations. It was attended by directors and shareholders of 40 leading global companies. The total value of his negotiators’ assets amounted to about 10 trillion dollars.

The Head of State invited entrepreneurs to business dinner, but according to the Astana time it was early breakfast. In Kazakhstan it was five in the morning already.

Surprisingly, despite it is almost impossible to bring such busy business persons around one table on Sunday evening, Nursultan Nazarbayev managed to do so. Moreover, moderators themselves said that nobody, including Barack Obama, could ever bring such important people together. Of course, this is a sign of respect to the President of Kazakhstan and interest to our country.

The dialogue was very insightful, and many people were listening to the President with a profound interest, moreover, they asked questions. They even were seeking advice on how better to establish friendly relations with Russia. The US captains of industries found out more about Kazakhstan in the speech of Nursultan Nazarbayev; nonetheless, there were also those who had already been to our country.

The participants of the meeting are of paramount importance not only in the financial world, but also they have a significant say in the matters of global policy.

Nursultan Nazarbayev told a lot about works carried out in Kazakhstan, including modernization of the economy.

It was especially interesting to hear about plans on the creation of the International Financial Centre in Astana.

Greater Eurasia Nursultan Nazarbayev consistently carries out important initiatives both in economic and political domains. Most importantly, the President is creating broad security belt along the borders. For not a single state has a chance to stability when neighbors are suffering from chaos. With that in mind, the President is acting as an initiator and executor of the “Greater Eurasia” project.

Why it is assumed that there is virtually no chance of war within the European Union? That is because economies of the EU member states are closely interrelated, therefore, any conflict is impossible a priori.

The President of Kazakhstan also proposes something of that kind; he urges to rally round the idea of Greater Eurasia. Moreover, he proposes a development plan for the whole world community – the 2045 Global Strategic Initiative Plan.

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Aidar Shayakhmetov: “Never in my wildest dreams did I think that at this moment I would hear sincere “Kutty bolsyn, Aideke!” instead of a routine “My congratulations!”

For someone who gets into the Press Center at the United Nations Headquarters for the first time, many things can be surprising. Watching, for instance, President Xi Jinping of China on a big monitor speaking from the podium of the UN in an impeccable…Arabic. Indeed, multilingualism is a principle that is supported and promoted by Member States and put into practice by hundreds of interpreters, translators, editors and precis-writers working for the UN language services, rightly considered as centers of excellence.

At the UN, multilingualism refers to the use,

in fairness and parity, of its six official (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) and two working (English and French) languages.

UN language professionals deal with a wide range of issues requiring a lot of experience and a high level of competence in various areas of knowledge.

We are proud that our compatriot has been among those top professionals, whose work is not always visible but without whom one cannot imagine the functioning of the UN. Let me introduce Aidar Shayakhmetov, whose entire professional career has been with the UN. In

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1978-2007, he worked as translator, reviser and then senior reviser in the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management of the UN Secretariat in New York. In 2007-2014, he served at the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), where he rose to the position of the Chief of the UNOG Languages Service that employed some 400 professional linguists from around the world.

Aidar Shayakhmetov shared with me some insights into the inner workings of the UN, his profession, the impact of globalization and modern technology on languages, as well as the most memorable moments in his long career at the UN. – How did it all begin, how did you become a translator?

– Lately, I have had to talk to students and interns a lot, and they would often ask me this question: how did I make it to the top of the professional translation.

Looking back, I can say that the interest in foreign languages came from my mother, who attended the Alma-Ata Institute of Foreign Languages. Languages, especially English, have always fascinated me, and, relatively early on, I realized that I was more into humanities than anything else.

In any case, today one can probably only wonder that, back in 1962, Ust-Kamenogorsk, by any measure not a big metropolitan urban center, where I was born and raised, boasted a specialized secondary school No.

30. They taught English there since the second grade as part of a mandatory national curriculum. And taught well. When in 1970 our family moved to Almaty, I went to the newly opened specialized school No. 120, where I completed final two years of schooling, and we became the first graduates of that establishment.

I was very fortunate to be accepted by the translation department of the Maurice Thorez State Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow, which had a very effective, if grueling, five-year programme of intensive study of two foreign languages. With the benefit of the hindsight, I would say that the Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages was probably the best language school in the world at the time.

– In the entire world?

– Yes, I would dare say so, in the entire world. Topnotch professionals, many of whom were authors of well-known textbooks and dictionaries, used to teach there. They really cared about what they were doing.

There were many native speakers among them. For example, the Spanish language was taught by “niños de la Guerra” (“children of war”), evacuated from Spain in the late 1930s. Top-level professionals would come to talk to us to share their experiences. I will always remember talks with the legendary Victor Sukhodrev, who covered English at summit meetings. He willingly shared with us secrets of the trade.

– Was it difficult to study there?

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– It was tough from the very start because, in many ways, it was a catch-up game for me. The first 2-3 years I studied really hard, filling the gaps and absorbing new knowledge. And thanks to my daily efforts, by the third year, I performed better than many of the students who had come to the institute already with a good command of a foreign language, thanks to living abroad with their parents. In 1973, Brezhnev and Nixon signed a package of Soviet-American agreements, including those on student exchanges. Consequently, our school started to send each year 10 of its best students for an internship at the State University of New York at Albany. The translation department recommended me for such an internship in 1975. Back then it was a big deal for those directly involved and for both sides.

– How did it go? It must have been an exciting time?

– That internship gave me quite a lot. Today, studying abroad is a routine matter, but back then, such exchanges were a novelty even for the hosts, who went out of their way to give us a big welcome and at a rather high level.

I would say that we came to America through the front door. We attended classes there for only one semester from mid-August till the Christmas break. During these four months we saw and learned a lot. Every weekend, we would be taken to different cities and places so that we could see all the advantages of the American way of life. We visited the White House, including the office of Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller, the Capitol Hill, where we met with Congressmen, the election campaign headquarters of the Democratic party, where campaign strategists cynically told us what it took to have your candidate elected. We lived in American families. We were given an opportunity to get acquainted with the operation of some flagship plants (General Electric and IBM.) The most important thing, however, was daily interaction with peers and professors, total language immersion. In short, that trip helped me broaden my outlook, overcome a psychological barrier inside me and believe in myself. The outline of the overall context of our life began to take shape in our heads.

– How good did the Soviet education system turn out to be? Were there any problems, say, with pronunciation?

– Our training was quite solid. The system had many strengths, which we failed to appreciate at the time. Teaching methods were influenced largely by German methodology. As for the pronunciation, we were initially taught British English. Our lessons were based, among other things, on the well-known London Linguaphone Course. In America we, of course, got into a very different environment, but quickly found our way around and adapted accordingly. When we came back to Moscow, our professors were not terribly

happy to hear us talk with an American and, in some cases, even a Brooklyn accent. (One of the roommates in the dorm physicist Alan Axelrod spoke with such a thick Brooklyn accent that even Americans could not understand him.) Professors left us alone, though, which was a sensible thing to do.

– What happened after your graduation?

– For me that was not the end of my training. Before the graduation, during the job placement exercise, I got one of the coolest offers at the time: I was recommended to take part in a 9-month UN Language Training Programme, opened by the UN Secretariat at the Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages in partnership with the Soviet Foreign Ministry. Human resources officers from the UN Secretariat in New York administered entrance and final exams.

– How many trainees attended that programme and what was it all about?

– Every year, some 25 trainees would be selected among candidates from foreign language schools in Moscow, Kiev and Minsk, MGIMO and the Moscow State University. The instructors were, indeed, la crème de la crème of the teaching profession of the country. In addition to the introduction to translation of UN documents, we were administered high doses of subjects that were supposed to fill gaps in our education: the Bible and the Koran, mythology, American mass culture, anti-communist doctrines, the fundamentals of economics, sociology, etc.

– And what was the ethnic composition of trainees?

– Trainees with non-Russian last names were rather an exception. Before my arrival there, the programme had among its graduates, in addition to Ukrainians and Belorussians, also Armenians and Georgians, an Uzbek and a Kazakh, my namesake and later my colleague Aidar Karatabanov, who worked first in Geneva and then in Nairobi. In our class, I was the only representative of, so to say, an ethnic minority.

– Did you feel any discrimination?

– Never, as far as my colleagues were concerned.

There was, however, an instance when a personnel officer at the Foreign Ministry wondered aloud, in a politically incorrect manner, “How strange that both you and, at the time, Aidar Karatabanov married Kazakh girls!” As for Americans, in their eyes we were all Soviets, or even Russians.

– What happened next?

– After the successful completion of the programme, I had under my belt: ability to answer foreigners’ hard

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questions and the command of three out of six official languages of the UN – English, Russian and Spanish. I was assigned to the UN Secretariat in New York, where most of the graduates were sent, the rest went to Geneva.

– You must have gone through a long vetting process before going abroad?

– In those days, in order to be allowed to go on a long mission to a capitalist country, which was also considered as the stronghold of imperialism, one had to go through stages of vetting by the Soviet Foreign Ministry, which handled our secondment, and the security forces as well.

Before the actual travel date, my wife and I had an interview at the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. A wellknown song of Vladimir Vysotsky captures so accurately the tone of those “heart-to-heart” talks.

– Are you satisfied with your work at the UN? – I cannot complain. The job of a translator at the United Nations was, perhaps, the most coveted in our profession, well paid and one that offered opportunities to see the world.

During 33 years of my service at the UN, I had to get into the nitty gritty of issues of disarmament, apartheid, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, sustainable development, human rights, numerous wars in the Middle East, Southwest Asia, the Falklands, the former Yugoslavia, post-Soviet countries and Africa. I worked for the drafting committee of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, at the UN Conference on Disarmament and in many other forums. I have been to many UN

duty stations around the world. I had a chance to work in Kazakhstan at the Ministerial Conference on Transit Transport Cooperation in 2003 and at the special s e s s i o n o f t h e C o u n t e rTerrorism Committee of the UN Security Council in 2004.

Recently, I have represented my colleagues at a coordination meeting at the headquarters of the European Union in Brussels.

– The work of a translator, what is it all about?

– A translator usually stays in the background, but what he or she is involved in is, in fact, a creative process. To translate a text adequately, one has to grasp the substance of an issue and then to ensure authenticity of translation, using a minimum of linguistic means. If we take, for instance, the General Assembly, each year its agenda contains some 170 items. I am well familiar with many of them. Over the years, I have sifted through and digested so many resolutions, reports and notes on various topics.

I could even claim with good reason that a solid translator must be close to a polymath.

His or her range of vision simply has to be above average, and he or she must have at least a rough idea about everything.

I am really privileged to count among my friends and colleagues truly extraordinary people, who are pivotal figures in our business.

– Is it possible to have a perfect command of a foreign language?

– I have retired after decades of work as a professional linguist, and I can assure you that neither my English, nor French, nor Spanish, nor even Russian for that matter, is perfect. The more you

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know, the more you realize how little you know. I agree with Plato’s Socratic paradox: “I know that I know nothing.” The thing is each time you climb to what you believe is the top, new vistas open up before your eyes, things take on new meaning and you start to see symbols that you were not even aware of. This is true especially now, in the digital age, when possibilities of obtaining information are truly limitless. However, if you do not know what kind of filters you need to put in place, you can easily stuff your head with trash and miss something valuable and essential.

– And what about the so-called polyglots?

– It depends on what you mean by that. Do you mean knowing dozens of languages? Polyglots may exist but I have not met them in my professional life.

Perhaps, I am setting the bar too high here, but to me it is one thing to read and understand something in a foreign language and another to earn a living using it.

– What basic qualities are required to be a translator?

– In my view, one needs a good command of the mother tongue (according to the existing rules, all UN translators translate into their mother tongues), logic and common sense. If you do have these three qualities, then, even if you do not understand something in another language or if you fail to grasp the essence of a subject, these qualities will prevent you from writing something that does not make sense. You will eventually get to the bottom of it, consulting either with reference materials or people who can give you a hint.

Asking for guidance is nothing to be ashamed of. Top guns in our business are serious analysts and, in some cases, real experts in different subject areas. This comes purely out of necessity because the knowledge of the general context, in addition to language proficiency, allows you to communicate the message of an author faithfully. You are in real trouble, however, when authors themselves have no clue of what they want to say. Unfortunately, this happens quite often.

Many unfortunate mistakes are made in translation due to poor knowledge of the mother tongue or a foreign language, lack of familiarity with the subject matter or the cultural context, lack of logic and common sense, mentioned earlier, narrow-mindedness and lack of attention to detail, or just laziness. Anyone who has ever tried to translate anything, is probably familiar with the so-called “false friends of a translator.” Those who translate and those who commission translations should be fully aware of the fact that we talking about a very specific skill here. Without that skill a person, even if he or she has an excellent command of a foreign language, is often a complete failure when it comes to translation. Not to mention translation from one’s mother tongue into a foreign language. Some people

think that it is enough just to substitute words while preserving the original word order.

– What has been of interest in your work from the professional point of view?

– When I started working at the Secretariat in New

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York in 1978, such personalities as Jamil Baroody, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador, an eloquent speaker and an erudite, were still shining at the meetings. Regardless of the agenda item under discussion, Baroody would eventually change the subject to the Palestinian conflict and conclude his remarks by bashing Israel and Zionism.

He would also quote extensively from the Koran, the Bible, Shakespeare. Interpreters would be allowed to give a loose interpretation but we had to find exact matches in Russian sources. Imagine how many hours would be spent digging deep for them in the UN library.

Back then one could only dream of search engines like Google. Meeting such challenges, however, was a very good way to tone up our skills.

– By the way, what do you think of Google Translate?

– Google is evolving and making the right moves in the right direction in the area of machine translation, although there used to be a lot of skepticism in this regard. I see how that application improves as translation memory expands. There are other translation modules, including those developed within the UN. Fortunately for translators, they cannot completely replace a human, in any case, in the foreseeable future.

It is no secret that such applications come handy when translating standardized texts, technical manuals, patents etc., i.e. when you have to get just the gist of the matter. They are a good tool for those who already have a command of a language because they accelerate

the process. The irony of the situation is that, under these circumstances, the role of a reviser increases dramatically. Reviser can fix the text and turn garbage that Google often spits out into a gem.

– How realistic is the movie “The Interpreter” starring Nicole Kidman?

– That picture boosted the popularity of simultaneous interpretation. For example, most of the students I met in Russian universities, which train interpreters/translators and where I had given master classes, initially preferred to become interpreters. Now these schools have to train interpreters/translators. Back in my day, there was a strict division ‒ one will be trained to become a translator and another an interpreter, which was the right approach because only a few can be equally good at both types of those closely related linguistic disciplines.

As for the movie, some of my colleagues even participated in it as extras. There are some things there that have nothing to do with reality, but the audience, of course, could care less about these nuances.

By the way, one of the inaccuracies in the picture is the fact that Kidman’s character speaks a rare language.

In real life, a UN linguist does not have to speak an exotic language. What is required is that, in addition to the mother tongue, which must be one of the six official UN languages, he or she speaks two other languages of the UN. If a speaker is going to give a statement in a non-

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official language, the delegation needs to provide simultaneous interpretation into one of the UN languages. It has to bring its own interpreters who will interpret the speech into English or any other UN language, and interpreters from other booths will connect to the “pilot” and carry out simultaneous interpretation into their languages. It is clear that due to budget constraints the UN cannot afford staff interpreters into all languages.

– What was the most memorable moment in your career?

– Language is always in flux and under pressure, including due to globalization…

– When late in 1991 the Soviet Union ceased to exist, Kazakhstan’s former Foreign Minister Akmaral Arystanbekova was sent to New York to prepare the newly independent state’s accession to the UN. She describes, in detail, that period in her memoirs. Since she arrived alone and needed time to find her way around, I started to actively help her, in every way I could, but keeping a low profile, since, strictly speaking, it was a violation of the oath of office taken by UN staff members (under the Charter, we were obliged to work only for the Secretary-General and refrain from seeking or accepting instructions from any Government).

I would sort out correspondence, draft letters, translate key documents. Moreover, on the eve of Kazakhstan’s accession to the UN, I even had to commit an act of vandalism, when , at my own risk, I had to remove from a volume of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, at the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, a page with the description of the flag of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (the new flag was not yet approved) so that the UN Protocol Service could have it manufactured in time for the flag-raising ceremony. That day, I filmed the flag raising and subsequent exciting moments on my video camera. Then I took Ambassador Arystanbekova outside the UN compound to the First Avenue, jam-packed with members of diasporas of the 7 countries that joined the UN family on that day.

There were Kazakh elders among them, mainly former members of the Turkestan battalion, who had found themselves in the West after World War II. We all had tears in our eyes. One could never forget that.

– Language is evolving and, I agree, is exposed to strong outside pressures. On the one hand, one has to be a purist and ready to standup for existing language norms, on the other hand, one should be responsive to emerging trends and know when linguistic borrowings are warranted (and they, in fact, facilitate the translator’s task).

– You lived in the US for a long time. The last few years, you have worked in Switzerland, which is a good example of multilingualism, promoted not just in word but in deed. What can you say about this?

– Those who come to the US see how quickly Spanish penetrates the social fabric. For example, advertising in the New York subway has long been bilingual because the number of Spanish-speaking New Yorkers is increasing, and this trend will continue. As for Switzerland, it has four official languages. It has to be mentioned here that while the Romansh language is the least-used and the area of its distribution is limited, French, German and Italian are spoken by many politicians, performers, athletes. Watching TV one day, I was impressed by a hockey player from Zurich who answered questions after a Swiss Hockey League game.

First, he spoke in German, then talked to a reporter from Geneva in French, and then switched to Italian, when he saw a mike with the logo of a channel from Ticino. I do hope that different languages will flourish and continue to coexist in Kazakhstan as well.

– One often hears criticism of the UN. Do you share it?

– Some people tend to believe that the UN is something akin to a world government or a global command and control center. In reality, it is only the largest intergovernmental organization, and Member States themselves are setting the tone there. If there is an appetite to use its capacity effectively, then it will function effectively. Otherwise, the organization turns into an arena where competing interests clash. And this happens often. Yet, as they say, if the UN did not exist, we would have to invent it.

– One particular date comes to mind ‒ 2 March 1992, when the flag of Kazakhstan was raised at the UN Headquarters. That was something we could never even dream of.

– Tell us more about it.

– How was your relationship with diplomats of Kazakhstan afterwards?

– Very constructive and fruitful. I was happy to make friends with wonderful people and top-level professionals who represented and still represent, with distinction, our country at the diplomatic front.

You all know their names. I am proud of being able to contribute to the common cause and of the fact that, until recently, I have been asked to translate into English all the statements of our President at the UN, circulated among delegates.

– And was your work acknowledged?

– I did not do it for acknowledgment, I just followed

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my heart. I wanted to help keep the bar, set by the President back in 1992, high. I admit, nevertheless, that I was really proud, gratified and grateful, when the leadership appreciated my humble efforts by granting me the title “Honored Worker of the Diplomatic Service of Kazakhstan” and the rank of Counselor First Class, as well as by awarding the medal “Eren enbegi ushin”(“For Distinguished Labor”).

– What else comes to your mind?

– Another date – 11 September 2001, when the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. took place. That morning, our security evacuated us from the UN compund because of concerns that it too could be a possible target. Much has been written about that day. I would agree with those who say that it reminded them of a Hollywood horror movie. Yet smoke over “Ground Zero”, seen from our apartment in Manhattan, brought you back to the harsh reality. Army and the National Guard units were deployed in the city, which was shut down for a few days. Nevertheless, the very next day, the UN Security Council decided to demonstrate to the world that the situation was under control and that Member States were determined to show their solidarity with the United States. An extraordinary meeting with a minimal number of participants and support staff was convened. Organizers called on only one interpreter and one translator from each language. I was asked

to translate the outcome document into Russian. I remember making my way, on foot, through the First Avenue, clouded by smoke still coming from “Ground Zero”, through army and police checkpoints and dump trucks filled with sand. Again, it felt as if one were on a set of yet another blockbuster (which is not an uncommon sight in New York City.) Out of hundreds of resolutions of the UN Security Council and the General Assembly, whose wording in Russian I have finalized over the years, one resolution ‒ resolution 1368 (2001) of the Security Council of 12 September 2001 ‒ has been etched in my memory.

– In conclusion, what was the most notable moment in your career?

– On 24 October 2013, the United Nations Day, celebrated at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, I was among a group of UN veterans receiving a gold medal in recognition of 30 years of loyal service to the United Nations. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that at this moment I would hear from the UN Under-Secretary-General and UNOG Director-General, who was presenting the award, sincere “Kutty bolsyn, Aideke!”, instead of a routine “My congratulations!”

Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, who had left a great legacy in that high and important office, was completing at that time his tour of duty in Geneva, and I was very pleased to receive that medal from him. A year later, it was my turn to retire from active service.

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Ilyas OMAROV, Chief Editor of “Diplomatic Herald” magazine

UN, New York: East Side Story

The United Nations, along with washing machine,is called one of the most successful inventions of the 20th century. Recently, however, the Organization is being increasingly criticized, which puts in question the prospects for its existence.

Yet, speaking about the failures of the UN, it should be borne in mind that all of us are responsible forthese failures, because the United Nations representsus, people and nations, who voluntarily called themselves united. During the working days of the General Assembly just before the United Nations’ anniversary one could discover many amazing things in this global “human anthill.”

UN Territory– special status Ahead of the General Assembly meeting many people had questions about the presence at the forum of the leaders of Iran and Belarus, Cuba and North Korea, Bolivia and Venezuela, who could have been denied entry by the US State Department. However the UN enjoys extraterritorial rights, and persons invited by the Organization are issued special visas with “an operational range” up to 50 kilometers. Therefore, I watched the Iranian leader flying to a meeting, surrounded by numerous guards. A representative of Cuba was broadcastingon a large display about his vision of the Organization in perfect English: the simultaneous interpretation service is one of the best thingsleft in the

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UN, think of the well-known Hollywood blockbuster The Interpreter, starring Nicole Kidman.

Love and Hatred of UN The Americans have a good expression “love to hate.” One of the favorite objects of hatred of the Americans, or rather, residents of New York is the UN General Assembly, more specifically, the beginning of its work. The event, which symbolizes peace and cooperation on the planet, causes terrible hassle among motorists and pedestrians, especially on the East Side of Manhattan.Drivers who find themselves in this part of the city these days are unlikely to be pleased to learn that New York has become a place that at the moment gathers the largest number of world leaders per square meter. For example, at the opening of the Assembly’s last session the city welcomed more than 170 presidents, prime ministers and kings, to which one must add their numerous retinue. As the staff of the Organization admitted, “Kings and presidents walk here as ordinary engineers.” For example, theOSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister of Finland Alexander Stubbwas striding vigorouslyacross the intersections of Manhattan: it is easy to cover such a distance for a former triathlete who still occasionally performs at competitions.But there is a silver lining.

Urban economists estimated that the UN activities inject two and a half billion dollars per year in the New York economy. The Organization has provided about 11 thousand jobs in the city. Every year 700 thousand tourists come to see its headquarters. And they all eat and drink in restaurants, sleep in hotels and visit theaters and museums, leaving not only tons of garbage, but also centners of bucks.

Safety First It is no secret, that prices for accommodation in central New York hotels are as high as the average skyscraper. But on the opening days of the UN General Assembly hotel rates may increase in an arithmetic progression. For example, hotel managements, who describe their apartments as “five-star” offer tiny, single rooms for $600-700 per night. With those having humble self-esteem, you can negotiate at best for $350400. And all these fees need to be negotiated as much as six months in advance otherwise the rate will grow two to three times, rising to the heights of the Empire State Building. Sometimes you cannot settle in time into a room you reserved, because it is not ready yet.

Room service is not always up to the mark those days, and hotel administrations explain this by large influx of customers. Usually, you have no choice.

Outside the hotel I saw a kind of field camp: travelling kitchens deployed right on the pavement,preparing food for the New York cops and plainclothes men whocould barely hide their well-trained biceps under classic suits.

Needless to say, security for the UN is sacred.

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No matter how many world leaders are at the UN General Assembly, there will be even more police officers and all kinds of security services. We know for a factthat two years ago the city administrationprovided as many as four thousand people to patrol the event, and the additional costs for security reached $12 million! Today, this amount is probably higher, considering inflation.Whole streets remain closed off during working hours to the great furyof residents, as sometimes processions of kings and presidents pass along them with sirens roaring so wildly that even the noisy bustle of Manhattan fades. The rulesapply not only to motorists but also to pedestrians who have their rights.

These days, you need special permits to have accessto special areas. And God forbid passing bya police officer with a badge fluttering madly inthe Hudson wind that in the most crucial moment seeksto turn its front to you and its back to the cop. You will certainly be stopped and asked to show the front of your badge. If you do not have a badge at all, you will have tokeep a mile away from these areas.

Respecting Islam Once one of the Summits of the UN General Assembly coincided with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. No wonder: among all the UN flags 57 belong to themember countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. On this occasion, the UN Secretariat took the unprecedented step of making Saturday a working day, as the subsequent weekdays coincided that year with the Eid Al-Fitr. Even old-timersdo not remember this happening in New York.

At that time, our delegation also made a valuablecontribution in honor of Ramadan by hosting a special dinner for the members of the AsiaCooperation Dialogue in one of the UN reception halls at First Avenue.

Guests had the opportunity not only to learn about our political and economic initiatives but also to enjoy the Kazakh cuisine. For dessert, Karaganda chocolate was served; diplomats noted that its taste was not inferior to the famous Swiss chocolate.

On the streets of Manhattanone could see the photos with the same title Ramadan in New York. They were subtly reminding everyone that both among the residents of the largest metropolisof the United States and among immigrants there werethe followers of Mohammed’s religion, and their feelings should be respected in the Muslim holy month.

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Pakistan Has Always Sought ‘Connectivity with Central Asia, PM Sharif Says

Ahead of his visit to Astana Aug. 25-26, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan shared his views on the potential of bilateral cooperation, issues of regional security and cooperation, the situation in Afghanistan, the fight against the socalled Islamic State, Pakistan’s cultural diplomacy as well as other issues in an interview.

– What is the main purpose of your visit to Kazakhstan?

– The purpose of my visit is to further strengthen Pakistan-Kazakhstan ties, expand cooperation in different areas, increase bilateral trade, investment and economic cooperation. We will also exchange views on how to work together for a peaceful and stable region.

– Trade turnover between our two countries last year was $33 million. This figure obviously does not correspond to the potential of bilateral cooperation.

With the accession of our country to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), what are the prospects for bilateral trade and economic cooperation?

– The bilateral trade between Pakistan and Kazakhstan is far below its potential. However, there exists tremendous potential for enhancing trade between the two countries. Both sides need to make efforts

to utilise all available options, while simultaneously exploring new areas of cooperation. In this regard, Kazakhstan’s WTO membership will be instrumental in enhancing the country’s trade with Pakistan, a founding member of the Organisation.

– Since Kazakhstan’s independence, Pakistan has actively supported Kazakhstan’s foreign policy initiatives. A case in point is the Conference for Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) process focused on interaction on Asian security, where Pakistan takes the most active part.

What, in your opinion, are the main components of the Asian security?

– Pakistan supports the CICA process and actively participates in its activities. We have recently joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which is also an important organisation for security. Pakistan believes that adherence to the UN Charter is essential for peace, stability and security in Asia. Principles of non-interference in internal affairs, development of friendly relations and settlement of disputes through dialogue should be promoted. There is an intrinsic link between development and security. Therefore, we should focus on regional connectivity and building economic synergies.

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– Kazakhstan is a candidate for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2017-2018. What is your country’s position in this regard?

– Pakistan supports Kazakhstan’s candidature for election to a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the term 2017-2018.

– What do you think about an opinion of political analysts that Kazakhstan can become one of the new peace-building centres?

– Pakistan attaches great importance to the maintenance of international peace and security. We are the largest troop contributor to the UN peacekeeping operations around the world.

Pakistan admires Kazakhstan’s role for the international peace and security and has full confidence in our brotherly country and its visionary leadership.

The Kazakh leadership created CICA, which contributes to peace and security. Kazakhstan is also an important member of SCO. We welcome Kazakhstan’s increasing role as a peace building centre.

– Afghanistan is one of the key issues not only in the region but also in the world. What is the view of Islamabad on how to achieve the stabilisation of the

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situation in this country? How it is possible to prevent drug trafficking from Afghanistan?

Council resolutions, under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, is essential to eradicate the menace of ISIS.

– We fully support an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process. Stability and peace in Afghanistan is very important for Pakistan and the region. We have common interest in having a peaceful and stable Afghanistan. I have been in contact with President Ashraf Ghani since he has assumed the office.

During my recent visit to Afghanistan on 12 May 2015, I met with Afghan leadership. We discussed all aspects of our bilateral relations, especially reconciliation, peace and security in Afghanistan.

With the establishment of peace and security followed by a favourable environment for economic development, we believe all such evils like narcotic drugs will be eliminated from the country.

– Unfortunately, sometimes Islam is associated with violence and terror. What should be done to change these stereotypes?

– What should be done for eradication of so-called “Islamic State”?

– Pakistan unequivocally condemns acts of terrorism committed by the so-called ISIS or ISIL. This is against the tenets of Islam.

We are engaged in Operation Zarb-e-Azb to eradicate the menace of extremism and terrorism. This is successfully going on and we will soon get rid of terrorists and extremists.

The international community should fully implement the UN Security Council resolutions 2170 and 2178 against ISIL. Multilateral cooperation under the Security

– It is absolutely wrong to associate Islam with violence and extremism. Islam is a religion of peace and moderation. The actions of small minority unfortunately create an unfounded impression that Islam is associated with violence and terror. The trend, however, is changing. Thanks to international exchange programmes and people-to-people contacts the world is now gaining more awareness and understanding about Islam. Media can be used as a very strong tool to highlight correct and soft image of our religion. Similarly, we need to remind the world of the achievements of the Muslims that have changed the world for the better.

– Do representatives of Pakistan’s business community plan to use the potential of cooperation with Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)?

– Pakistan wishes to enter into a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Eurasian Economic Union to deepen commercial relations with the member countries. This will facilitate fruitful cooperation between the EAEU and Pakistan business community. Kazakhstan being a member of the Eurasian Economic Union may be very helpful to support Pakistan’s proposal for the FTA.

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– Is Islamabad interested in attracting Kazakhstan to participate in the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor mega project?

– Pakistan views China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as means to achieve its objective of regional connectivity and growth opportunity for the entire region. We welcome any initiatives that lead to fulfillment of this objective. We have always sought to enhance connectivity with Central Asia, which will provide greater economic opportunities and create winwin situation for all.

– Pakistan has a long and rich history, and at the same time it is a relatively young state. What are the basic postulates of the cultural diplomacy of Pakistan?

– Pakistan’s cultural diplomacy is manifestation of its strong Islamic identity along with its geographic location in South Asia and historic ties to Central Asia. Even though Pakistan is a young state, it has rich history embedded in the Indus Valley Civilisation.

Hence, Pakistan has culturally benefited enormously through all these factors. Pakistan conducts its cultural diplomacy through its cuisine, dresses, language and art. The Pakistani community and Pakistan’s missions abroad also promote the culture of Pakistan globally.

– You have a very rich and long political experience at the highest level. What qualities should a modern politician have? Who is your political ideal?

– I think the most important qualities for a modern political leader today are honesty, compassion and integrity. He should be available to the public and work tirelessly for amelioration of all segments of society. Similarly, he should have the vision for creating harmony, unity and prosperity in the nation. Moreover, he should enjoy the trust and popular support of his people.

The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhamad Ali Jinnah is my ideal who gifted us with our sweet homeland and taught us how to live and grow with dignity and honour.

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“Paint world in blue”

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October 24 is 70 years since the founding of the UN. On this day, the world-famous buildings, museums, bridges and many other facilities around the globe will be illuminated in blue - the color of the official United Nations. Kazakhstan joins the international action and one of the main attractions of the capital - the monument “Baiterek” will also be illuminated in blue, Kazpravda.kz reports with reference to the UN Office in Kazakhstan.

“This event provides a unique opportunity to unite the international community, to extend the idea of importance of promoting peace, development, human rights and show commitment to the ideals and principles of decent life and prosperity for all”, - noted in the diplomatic mission of the Organization.

Note that “Baiterek”, built in 2002, symbolizes the state, preserving its historical roots with a firm support and striving for future prosperity.

The UN was established October 24, 1945 by 51 countries. Currently, the United Nations consists of 193 member countries. The main objectives of the United Nations are to maintain peace in the world, develop friendly relations among nations and peoples, to unite efforts to improve living conditions of poor people, to fight against hunger and disease, to eradicate illiteracy and promote respect for human rights and freedoms, as well as to assist countries in achieving these goals.

The Republic of Kazakhstan became a full member of the UN on March 2, 1992.

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Rosa SAURAMBAYEVA, Candidate of historical sciences Honored employee of diplomatic service of the MFA of Kazakhstan

Letter from the front It is already the fourth time we launch the republican literary and historical competition “Letter from the front”. This year it is dedicated to the heroic deed of Kazakh partisans during the Great Patriotic War. School students with Russian and Kazakh languages of education participate in this competition in two categories: a letter of a partisan to close people and a feature story of a war correspondent about a heroic partisan from Kazakhstan.

The opening ceremony was conducted in Almaty.

The venue was chosen to be school No. 16 named after Adi Sharipov, a famous warrior, writer, diplomat.

The competition opening ceremony was attended by the Great Patriotic War veterans, Afghan war veterans, home front workers, foreign diplomats, public figures, journalists, students, teachers as well as relatives of Adi Sharipov.

Declaring the competition open, the jury Chairman, deputy head of the Rossotrudnichestvo representative office in Kazakhstan (Almaty), Consul of the Russian Consulate General in the Republic of Kazakhstan I. V. Pereverzeva noted that “the main goal of the competition is to draw the attention of school students to the experience of their country in development of international relations. We value friendly relations between our nations. We all highly appreciate peace

and our common history, first and foremost, history of the Great Patriotic War, victory in which was ensured by all the nations of a previously united state”.

During the Great Patriotic War, more than 5000 Kazakhs participated in the partisan movement. Names of the majority of them are to become our legacy of the modern time. Members of A. Sharipov community are actively working in this direction. During the preparation process to this competition, archive activities were conducted and some previously unknown names of heroic partisans from Kazakhstan as well as children born in Kazakhstan and brought up in partisan units are found.

The competition was opened by a literary and musical selections dedicated to all Kazakh partisans, eminent leaders of partisan movements in the enemy’s rear Adi Sharipov, Kassym Kaisenov, Zhumagali Sain, Toktagali Dzhangeldin, courageous women partisans Nurganym Baiseitova, Turgash Dzhumabayeva, Zhamal Akadilova. Touching poems, songs of the war times sung by school students and students of the T. Zhurgenov National Academy of Arts, Border Services Academy, Kazakh Women’s Teacher Training University were accompanied by documentary chronicles.

When the screen showed a large list of names of our countryman partisans fighting in the enemy’s rear in

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1941-1945 and a tender girl was singing a song “Aliya” so touchingly and proudly, all the audience stood listening to her till the end. As the General Consul of the Russian Federation in Almaty A. M. Demin noted, “by their emotional intension, content and performance level the participants made a wonderful start for the competition and deserved appreciation and gratitude”.

Sasha-Kazakh. This is the name given by partisans to Adi Sharipov. He was born on December 19, 1912 in the Marinovka village, Zharminsky district, Semipalatinsk region. He was only two years when his father died, and thirteen – when he lost his mother.

Having matured early he understood that the most important thing is to get knowledge. His elder brother Gani worked as a teacher. Having completed school and teachers courses, Adi followed his steps. In 1935 he got higher education. Gani died in the front at the very beginning of the war. Adi replaced the father to his daughter Claire and son Mels for the rest of life The war found Adi on the western borders in Belostok, Belarus, when he was the lieutenant junior grade.

His seventh armored division was one of the first ones that accepted the battle with the fascists. On June 22, soldiers were severely fighting the whole day. Several times lieutenant Sharipov committed fighters to attack. At night the order was to back off immediately.

Soon the division turned to be encircled. Airplanes

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dropped pumphs requesting to surrender. However, Adi Sharipov having gathered a group of 16 soldiers, went to the east. Several days they were wading through impassable bogs in Mukhinsky forests of the Smolensk region. Ammunition was running out, there was no food. And once they got lucky. An enemy plane landed on the fringe of the forest. Sharipov’s forces destroyed it and wiped the crew out, captured the radio set and food supplies, and managed to communicate with commanders that ordered to stay in the forest and establish a partisan unit. Adi became a combat leader of the detachment that was credited with killing hundreds of fascists, dozens of blown up enemy trains, railway bridges, hundreds of kilometers of destroyed rails. In winter 1941 the commander was seriously injured.

Companions hid him at the forester Roman Anodin.

A young Belarusian doctor Kostenko performed on him an operation and took a heap of splinters from his back. A glass of homebrew was used instead of anesthesia. Adi fainted and coming back he saw a girl in a neighboring room that was sewing something, bowing her head. It was a daughter of forester Evdoky. In the morning unexpectedly the forester learned that the Germans were nearby. They had to leave immediately.

Fighters put Adi on a stretcher, but there was nothing to cover him, the whole overcoat was blood-soaked.

And then the forester’s daughter presented him a short

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fur coat, which she was sewing all night long. Later the grateful commander in the shrill and touching story “History of a short fur coat” would write: “the short fur coat sewed by a nice Russian girl in a severe time became a mascot. I wanted to believe in it and I believe that warmth of human sympathy kept me alive and safe in a hellish scorching heat of war”. Twenty seven months Adi Sharipov was at war in partisan groups, went to raids in enemy’s rear in the Bryansk and Smolensk forests of Belarus. From December 1943 to May 1944 he was in the reserve in Smolensk headquarters of the partisan movement. These fighting characteristics were given to him that time. (text of the characteristics).

Many guests recalled Adi Sharipov at the opening ceremony of the competition. “Belarus has been revering the memory of a legend Kazakh partisan,” – G. V. Klyg, Counselor of the Belarusian Embassy in Kazakhstan noted during the ceremony. The Kazakhs also love and remember their far-famed hero. One of the guests, member of the Council of Generals of Ka-

zakhstan, member of the Afghan Soldiers Coordination Council, eminent public figure of Kazakhstan, major general M.D. Kalmatayev told about the numerous meetings with Adi Sharipov already in peacetime: “When I had to fight in Afghanistan, communication with this brave man and his kind advice were very important for me. Once he wrote to me: “Murat, you have been awarded the rank of the major general before the developments in Afghanistan. And now, brother, you need to work this rank out.” This way he encouraged me, inspired belief and gave strength.”

Post-war biography of Adi Sharipov is a striking example of serving people and Kazakhstan. Thanks to natural leadership skills, character toughened up by war, experience as a teacher, having returned from war he held responsible positions in the sphere of education, in particular, he was appointed as the Deputy Minister and then as the Minister of Education.

Leadership skills, intelligence and education gave the Republican authorities an opportunity to promote him to the position of the Deputy Chairman of the Kazakh

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SSR Ministerial Council (document form archives).

Holding this position, he worked as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic. Later a talented writer, doctor of philology headed the Alliance of writers of Kazakhstan, led the M. Auezov Institute of Languages and Literature of the Kazakh SSR Academy of Sciences. His books, particularly, “A partisan daughter”, “History of a short fur coat”, “Far coasts”, “Stars in dungeons”, “Sahar girl”, “Arbasu”, “Shipager” were translated into many languages. For military and labour achievements Adi was awarded the Order of Lenin, two Orders of Labor Red Banner, Orders of the Red Star, Orders of the Great Patriotic War, many medals including those of Belarus. For educational accomplishments he was awarded the title of the Honoured Teacher of the Kazakh SSR. Being the Minister of Foreign Affairs he properly presented Kazakhstan abroad, made a significant contribution in implementation of foreign policy. Adi Sharipov was included to the international reference book of famous people of the world published by the University of Cambridge.

The competition guests had a chance to learn

DIPLOMATIC HERALD

about it visiting Adi Sharipov school museum. It was opened in 2004 with direct involvement and donation support of his widow K.Zh. Mynzhassarova. She and the school director A.Z. Momynkulova were the main guides of the museum for the competition guests. In fact, the museum, though is a school one, is quite unique because it has important original documents, rare photos of war times, huge library of A. Sharipov, presented by his family, his own works, personal belongings including the typewriter in an office interior.

As teachers of the school noted, the museum is the center of patriotic and international education. It is often visited by foreign guests. The widow of the hero K.Zh. constantly renews holding of the museum. The school is proud to be named after a famous partisan and located on the street of his name. It also seeks to live up to this great honor. Everybody who had an opportunity to join the opening ceremony of the fourth republican literary and historical competition “Letter from the front”. It was evident for everybody who had an opportunity to join the opening ceremony of the fourth republican literary and historical competition “Letter from the front”.

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“CREATOR” and “PEACEMAKER”

“Creator: View from Russia”, “For Whom the ring a nuclear bell?” “Peacemaker” - these and other 200’s of books presented at the exhibition dedicated to the Day of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, taking place these days in the domestic “Foreign” office.

A significant part of the exhibition is dedicated to the leader of the nation, the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, its role and importance in the formation and development of our country. The exhibition includes books, magazines, photographs, published at different times in many languages with ​​ the assistance of foreign representations of the Republic of Kazakhstan. This work of President Nursultan

Nazarbayev in Chinese, Arabic, English, German, French, Spanish, Mongolian and other languages.

In total, during the years of independence of Kazakhstan President’s works translated and published in 41 foreign languages in more than 60 countries around the world.

Among the publications there are new items. For example, recently was published tome “Kazakhstan and Central Asian Perspectives”, printed in Albion, in which the author, the head of our state, describing the current problems facing humanity, offers recipes as their effective and creative proposals to solve them.

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DIPLOMATIC 3 (52) HERALD 2015

DIPLOMATIC HERALD

Issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan In circulation since 2004 • Founder The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan • Chief Editor Ilyas Omarov • Responsible for issue, translation and proof-reading: Asel Alimzhanova, Aliya Tussurgaliyeva, Mirat Nurgazin, Dauren Murzabekov, Aima Seitova, Meyram Islam, Saltanat Konuspayeva • Design and page-make up, on-line version: Anara Amanzholova •

Photos: Stanislav Filippov, Viktor Glebov, Ilyas Arhipov, Botbayev Akazhan, RIA Novosti, Xinhua.

•

Materials published in “DZh” periodical does not necessarily reflect the outlook of the editorship.

• Information-Editorial Council (IEC), MFA of Kazakhstan 31 Konaev Street, Astana, 010000 Tel./fax +7 (717) 272 05 50; 272 05 07 Online version of the magazine at: mfa.gov.kz The magazine is re-registered by the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan on April 4, 2007.

Registration certificate No. 8230-Zh. Published on 10.12.2015 Format 60х84 1/8 Printed sheet 4,3. Editorial sheet 2,8.

Print run: 1000 copies

EDITORIAL BOARD Erlan Idrissov – Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Chair of the Editorial Board of “Diplomatic Herald” magazine Dauren Abayev – Adviser to the President - Press Secretary to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kairat Abdrakhmanov – Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations Serzhan Abdykarimov – Director of the Department for Foreign Policy Analysis and Forecasting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Ikram Adyrbekov – Chair of the Committee for Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Doctor of Economic Sciences Maulen Ashimbayev – Chair of the Committee for Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Candidate of Political Sciences Roman Vassilenko – Chairman Committee for international Information Nurlan Ermekbayev – Assistant to the President - Secretary of the Security Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan Rapil Zhoshybayev – The First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Commissioner of the International Specialized Exhibition “EXPO 2017”, Doctor of Economic Sciences Kairat Sarybay – Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Republic of Austria, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the international organizations in Vienna Zhanseit Tuimebayev – Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Turkish Republic and Albania with concurrent accreditation, Doctor of Philology Кairat Umarov – Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United States of America, Candidate of Нistorical Sciences Ilyas Omarov – Chief Editor of “Diplomatic Herald” magazine

Secretary General of United Nations Ban Ki-moon and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov have inaugurated the new building of the UN agency in Astana

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