Report

Sir, thank you. I feel guilty standing up here trying to do justice do the breadth and depth of the panellists and the discussion, but I will do my best.

Minister Gül started us off by saying that it was 9/11 that brought Central Asia back to prominence, that we need to bear in mind it is not a monolithic area but we have to recognize the individuality of each state. Promotion of political and social reform in the area is essential.

Turkey with its traditional links to the region has a lot to offer. Tolerance and advancement of democracy are going to be the keys that will deliver stability in the area. We have to make efficient use of the current NATO mechanisms because they do offer excellent potential.

From his recent experience and visit he said that the Kyrgyz Republic is passing through a key stage in its development. Its leaders are advancing greater democracy and international support for these efforts is now required. He then contrasted this with the current situation in Uzbekistan.

His Excellency Minister Volkov from Kazakhstan said the international community acknowledges the vulnerability of this region to modern threats, particularly trafficking and terrorism. He said recent events show the importance of promoting democracy as a method for achieving stability. Kazakhstan's political model, he said, is close to the Western European model and Kazakhstan is ready to move to a new level of cooperation with interested nations and organisations including NATO.

He highlighted his country's drive for interoperability with NATO demonstrated by their engineering unit which is contributing to Polish-led efforts in Iraq. He hoped that his IPAP will be adopted by the end of the year. He particularly stressed the importance to address the problem of drug trafficking and he mentioned that future cooperation in the development of border security will be vital. Finally, he highlighted his country's offer to host the next EAPC Security Forum.

His Excellency Ambassador Emerson stated that as he is not from any aligned organisation he had the freedom of being totally frank, and he would concentrate on Uzbekistan. He stated that the Karimov regime has a long history of human rights abuses and he took issue with his description of the cause of the recent events. He stated that whereas Karimov says that the source of the problem was radical Islamists with international terrorist links, Ambassador Emerson stated there was no credibility to this. To the second argument, that attempts to develop democracy in the country will only favour radical Islamists and could have serious and tragic consequences, Ambassador Emerson said that the exclusion of non-violent and moderate Islamists is actually counter productive, both for the people and security as a whole.

So he proposed a way ahead that says an international inquiry obviously is essential but that NATO, the US and the EU need to do more than talk about consequences. He suggested that NATO should suspend Uzbekistan's membership of Partnership for Peace. He said the EU should suspend the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement and that the US should close its military base in the country.

Miss Sattorova from Tajikistan highlighted that her country is surrounded by four very interesting countries, but that radical Islam is not the only concern. Stability in the region has deteriorated. Drug trafficking and border security are major issues, but so also is the threat of terrorism, the problems of labour migration and human trafficking and she made an interesting analogy, saying a fire in your neighbour's house also affects you.

She stressed the importance of targeting development on education, information and culture, highlighting the importance of developing your future leaders, raising public awareness, enhancing integration of the ethnic groups and the national minorities, and also empowering women, especially in decision making.

Our first discussant was Mr. Simmons who is the Secretary General's Special Representative for Caucasus and Central Asia. He said yes, the countries are diverse but they do share some features: They are all on the front line of many of the modern challenges, and he concentrated on what he believes NATO and other partners can offer to the region.

He highlighted particularly defence reform, border security, acknowledging that although NATO doesn't have all the tools, it can help in this area. He highlighted the virtual silk highway with the access to information and enhancing communication, and he also stressed that civil emergency planning is a useful area for cooperation.

Mr. Unaibaeva from Kazakhstan said that the active participation of academia and civil society is also key in enhancing security and stability and that education and forum, such as today's, are necessary to enhance informed dialogue and these will be a key component in building confidence security measures.

Mr. Sikorski highlighted a personal impression of Afghanistan which he said is also a major influence in the region. He was impressed by progress that that country has made, highlighting business development, the education of women and the development of infrastructure.

He believed there are two models for the development of the country: The secular Kabul-based model which thrives on massive external investment and the moderate Islamist model in Herat under Ismail Khan which is more patriarchal in nature, but responds to the local culture. He also hoped to see an Afghan delegation at the next EAPC Security Forum.

In discussion, the key points that came up were the challenges to partnership in the region. The deficit of democracy in some states, the differing priorities and expectations. It was stressed that NATO has many instruments available but needs to enhance cooperation in the region with the other international organisations.

In a discussion that was to a large extent focused on Uzbekistan, Mr. Simmons replied that he thought that dialogue should be maintained with that state, but that no benefits should be offered. One participant stated that Uzbekistan has signed up within the EAPC to democracy and human rights and should therefore be held to account, another speaker said that it is a highly complex region, it is important to control the current situation, that the role of China, Pakistan and Russia needs to be taken into account and that tackling the drugs problem with its source in Afghanistan is key to tackling many of the region's wider problems.

Another speaker said that while he agreed that dialogue with Uzbekistan is required, action now is also required before the issue drops out of the headlines.

There were some differences of view of how the events in Uzbekistan unfolded and where responsibility for the outbreak of violence lies. The Kyrgyz Republic being at a key stage of development, the international community support is required and it was here that Ambassador Emerson suggested that the European Union and Turkey should cooperate together.

It was pointed out that although the discussion had concentred on the well known problems there are a number of positive developments that further outside assistance should support, and I think that it was therefore (inaudible) that in conclusion what was stressed was that cooperation between NATO and the region is good, there is a need to follow up on the positive developments, especially in the Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan, and that NATO with its Trust Fund and training facilities in particular could be highly beneficial.