DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTERS OF TURKEY, JAPAN AND UKRAINE ADDRESS CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT

The Conference on Disarmament this afternoon heard statements from the Deputy Foreign Ministers of Turkey, Japan and Ukraine who set out their national priorities in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation and expressed their hopes and priorities for getting the Conference back to substantive work.

Rafet Akgünay, Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkey, reaffirmed Turkey's full commitment to the implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in all its three mutually reinforcing pillars: non-proliferation, disarmament and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The integrity and credibility of the NPT regime required renewed commitment and equal treatment of those three pillars. Those included universalization of the treaty, strengthening the International Atomic Energy Agency's safeguards system, reinforcement of export controls and early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Turkey believed that the Conference on Disarmament had a major role to play on nuclear issues, and would spare no efforts to allow the Conference to reassume its negotiating role in 2008 on a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty, as well as parallel advances on negative security assurances, nuclear disarmament and prevention of an arms race in outer space.

Yasuhide Nakayama, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, said, as the only country to have experienced the destructive effects of atomic bombings, Japan sought a peaceful world free from nuclear weapons to enhance international security. To that end, the importance of the international community's collectively tackling the challenges being faced by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) regime could not be emphasized enough. A grave challenge was the danger of NPT non-nuclear weapon States secretly developing nuclear weapons under the guise of the right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Also, all nuclear weapon States had to fulfil their strong commitment to Article VI of the NPT, on nuclear disarmament. While recognizing the significant nuclear disarmament efforts of the United States and the Russian Federation, Japan hoped for a successor arrangement to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Japan also called for greater transparency on nuclear disarmament and the push for nuclear weapon States to apply the principles of irreversibility and verifiability to their nuclear disarmament measures.

Volodymyr Khandogiy, First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said that Ukraine was open to the constructive dialogue aimed at breaking the current impasse and getting the Conference on Disarmament back to effective work. The issue of a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT) deserved special attention. Ukraine had possessed the world's third largest nuclear arsenal in the past. Having abandoned it, Ukraine had joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a country that did not produce its own nuclear fuel, but used nuclear technologies for power production. In the opinion of Ukraine, negotiations on an FMCT should be the first priority of the Conference. Ukraine was confident that banning the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons or nuclear explosive devices would sharply limit the chances that weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, would fall into the hands of terrorists.

In 2007, the Conference was not able to reach agreement on a programme of work and so was unable to start work on substantive issues. A Presidential Draft Decision (CD/2007/L.1) was submitted as a basis for an agreement to begin substantive work in the Conference, and successive Presidents conducted intensive consultations with a view to reaching agreement on it. Presidential draft decision CD/2007/L.1 calls for the appointment of four Coordinators to preside over substantive discussions on the issues of nuclear disarmament; prevention of an arms race in outer space; and negative security assurances; and to preside over negotiations on a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. The Complementary Presidential Statement, CD/2007/CRP.5, reflects an understanding of the Conference on the implementation of the Presidential decision, and the third text CD/2007/CRP.6 is a short decision stating that when the Conference adopts the Presidential decision, it will be guided by the Presidential statement in its implementation. At the end of the 2007 session, it was decided that the documents before the Conference would be held over for consideration at the 2008 session.

The next plenary of the Conference will be held at noon on Wednesday, 5 March, when the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Sweden will address the body.

Statements

RAFET AKGÜNAY, Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkey, addressing topics on the Conference's agenda from a national perspective, said that, located in a region of particular concern with respect to proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Turkey monitored with vigilance the developments in that field and took part in collective efforts aimed at devising measures to reverse that alarming trend. Turkey's security policy excluded the production and use of all kinds of weapons of mass destruction. Turkey was a party to all international non-proliferation instruments and export control regimes and wished to see the universalization, effective implementation and further strengthening of them. On nuclear issues, Turkey regarded the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as the core of the nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime. Turkey was fully committed to the implementation of the NPT in all its three mutually reinforcing pillars: non-proliferation, disarmament and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The integrity and credibility of the NPT regime required renewed commitment and equal treatment of those three pillars. Those included universalization of the treaty, strengthening the International Atomic Energy Agency's safeguards system, reinforcement of export controls and early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Turkey believed that the Conference on Disarmament had a major role to play on nuclear issues, and would spare no efforts to allow the Conference to reassume its negotiating role in 2008 on a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty, as well as parallel advances on negative security assurances, nuclear disarmament and prevention of an arms race in outer space.

On the equally worrying issue of the delivery vehicles for weapons of mass destruction, Turkey was concerned by the progressive increase in the range and accuracy of ballistic missiles. In that context, Turkey very much valued the Hague Code of Conduct against ballistic missile proliferation, and wished to see that instrument universalised. Cognizant of the damage small arms inflicted on peace and security worldwide, Turkey would continue to support the conclusion of an Arms Trade Treaty, which aimed to halt unregulated and uncontrolled trade in arms worldwide and to establish common standards for the global trade in conventional arms. The proliferation and unauthorized use of Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS) was another serious concern. Turkey maintained the view that the international community should act decisively to improve stockpile security and to strengthen export controls in countries that imported and manufactured MANPADS. With that understanding, Turkey had co-sponsored a resolution in the United Nations General Assembly's First Committee on MANPADS. Finally, Turkey also wished to underline its commitment to ending the humanitarian suffering caused by indiscriminate and excessively injurious weapons. It was a party to both the Ottawa Mine Ban Convention and the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. Moreover, Turkey had been actively contributing international efforts to limit the humanitarian sufferings caused by cluster munitions both through the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons and the Oslo Process.

YASUHIDE NAKAYAMA, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, said it was befitting for his country to speak for peace as Japan had suffered the devastation of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, and had not engaged in any military confrontation since the end of the Second World War. Japan found it extremely regrettable that the Conference on Disarmament had been deadlocked for over a decade. The six Presidents Proposal (CD/2007/L.1), along with the complementary documents (CD/2007/CRP.5 and CRP.6), constituted a pragmatic compromise and Japan called on all Member States to reach agreement on L.1 in order to break the ongoing impasse in the Conference and thereby contribute to an improvement in the international security environment.

As the only country to have experienced the destructive effects of atomic bombings, Japan sought a peaceful world free from nuclear weapons to enhance international security. In that regard, Japan’s annual United Nations General Assembly resolution entitled “renewed determination towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons” had consistently been adopted by an overwhelming majority. To that end, the importance of the international community's collectively tackling the challenges being faced by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) regime could not be emphasized enough. A grave challenge was the danger of NPT non-nuclear weapon States secretly developing nuclear weapons under the guise of the right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. In advance of the 2010 NPT Review Conference, Japan hoped that further meaningful and substantive discussions would be conducted at the Second Session of the Preparatory Commission, based on the outcomes of the First Preparatory Commission chaired by Ambassador Amano of Japan. In particular, all nuclear weapon States had to fulfil their strong commitment to Article VI of the NPT, on nuclear disarmament.

While recognizing the significant nuclear disarmament efforts of the United States and the Russian Federation, Japan hoped for a successor arrangement to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Japan also called for greater transparency on nuclear disarmament and the push for nuclear weapon States to apply the principles of irreversibility and verifiability to their nuclear disarmament measures. In that connection, the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) was crucial, and Japan applauded the ratification of the CTBT by Colombia, bringing the number of Annex II countries that had yet to ratify the treaty to single digits. Moreover, the early start of negotiations on a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or nuclear explosive devices (FMCT) was also of vital importance as it would cap the amount of nuclear weapons. Given the work of the Conference in 2006 and 2007, it was apparent that an FMCT was sufficiently ripe for the commencement of negotiations and Japan strongly appealed to all countries to commence such negotiations without delay. Japan was also ready to examine and discuss the various issues surrounding the prevention of an arms race, including the joint Russian-Chinese draft “Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space", and supported the basic concept of negative security assurances. While last year’s discussions on negative security assurances had shown significant differences in position regarding how to address that issue, Japan called for further discussions to narrow those differences. Holding the presidency of the Group of 8, Japan would host the G-8 Summit in Hokkaido Toyako in July 2008, during which the issue of the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction would be addressed. Mr. Nakayama looked forward to a strong G-8 message toward strengthening the international non-proliferation regime.

VOLODYMYR KHANDOGIY, First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said that Ukraine was open to the constructive dialogue aimed at breaking the current impasse and getting the Conference on Disarmament back to effective work. The existing concerns over threats to international security, caused by recent developments around the world, had sharpened attention to the work of the Conference. The statement of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, delivered at the opening of the 2008 session of the Conference, was conclusive evidence of that fact. Ukraine fully shared the assessments and aspirations expressed by the Secretary-General, in particular with regard to the proposal of the six Presidents of the 2007 session.

Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, together with international terrorism, remained a threat to international peace and security. Today's risks and challenges were much more diverse and multifaceted than decades ago, since they included not only the major risk of nuclear war being unleashed between competing nuclear Powers, but also the quite real possibility of the use of weapons of mass destruction or their materials as a weapon of terror. For its part, Ukraine fully met its obligations under relevant international treaties, conventions and mutually agreed arrangements and considered achievement of their overall implementation and compliance to be a priority. At the same time it believed that the efficiency of existing multilateral mechanisms in the field of disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation had decreased in past years. Turkey therefore supported all efforts aimed at increasing efficiency of existing disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation machinery. Ukraine was also an active member of all existing export control and non-proliferation regimes, in particular, the Missile Technology Regime, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Wassenaar Arrangement and the Australia Group. It maintained strict control over the export of military equipment and related dual-use items and did not export to any conflict areas. The issue of a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty deserved special attention. Ukraine had possessed the world's third largest nuclear arsenal in the past. Having abandoned it, Ukraine joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in the capacity of a country that did not produce its own nuclear fuel, but used nuclear technologies for power production.


In the opinion of Ukraine, negotiations on an FMCT should be the first priority of the Conference. Proliferation of modern technologies in the world, along with the imperfection of the current system of legal regulation in the sphere of fissile material production, created real threats of a global character, including global terrorism. Ukraine was confident that banning the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons or nuclear explosive devices would sharply limit the chances that weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, would fall into the hands of terrorists. Regarding prevention of an arms race in outer space, Ukraine saw the need to focus on directives for providing greater transparency of space programmes; directives on the expansion and scope of information on space objects in orbit; and directives related to rules of behaviour while performing activities in space, including the establishment of a code of conduct. In that connection, Ukraine welcomed the joint efforts of the Russian Federation and China to submit a draft treaty on the prevention of the placement of weapons in outer space to the Conference, which would contribute to the concrete and substantive discussion on the issue of strengthening security in outer space.



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