NATO HQ, Brussel 4 Dec. 2006	Opening Speech President Nazarbayev addresses the opening of the exhibition in presence of the NATO Secretary General News Kazakh President discusses regional stability at NATO Multimedia Audio file MP3/6464kb JAAP DE HOOP SCHEFFER (Secretary General of NATO): Mr. President Nazarbayev, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure, not only to meet the President again, but it gives me great pleasure to say a few words at the opening of this exhibition. Let me first of all thank everyone who has been involved in setting up this exhibition; the authorities of Kazakhstan and the NATO Science for Peace program. I think you'll all agree with me that this exhibition is unique. For many years Semipalatinsk  used to be the major nuclear test site of the Soviet Union and when Kazakhstan achieved its independence it inherited this site, a different inheritance indeed. Not in the least because there was not enough expertise to accurately determine the degree of contamination of this huge area, over 20,000 square kilometres. Faced with this challenging situation Kazakhstan decided to shut down the test site and it subsequently acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear state. These were major achievements and the Kazakh authorities are to be congratulated on them. But the problem of identifying the extent of radiation contamination remained. In 1999 the NATO Science for Peace Program and the Kazakh authorities initiated the SEMIRAD project to address this issue. NATO and Kazakh scientists surveyed different parts of the test site, leading to a better understanding of the various degrees of contamination of the site. The project also helped to train Kazakh experts in meeting the complex task of mapping radiation for the benefit of all the people of Kazakhstan. But the cooperation between NATO and Kazakhstan is, of course, much broader than this single project. Kazakhstan is a key partner for NATO in Central Asia and NATO greatly values Kazakhstan's role in promoting regional cooperation. Indeed, Kazakhstan is amongst NATO's most active partners in the region, and the development of the substantial Individual Partnership Action Plan at the beginning of this year was an extremely important step forward in our practical cooperation. I should also like to take this opportunity to thank you, Mr. President, for your and your authorities' support for the NATO-led operation in Afghanistan, and your commitment to political dialogue in the European Atlantic Partnership Council. Mr. President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, today's photographic exhibition illustrates a very concrete and beneficial element of our cooperation. And the broad cooperation between NATO and Kazakhstan will continue because in today's world cooperation is the only way to address our common challenges and to promote peace and stability. Mr. President, you're welcome to NATO and it's with great pleasure that I hand you the floor. NURSULTAN NAZARBAYEV (President of the Republic of Kazakhstan): Distinguished Mr. Secretary General, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, first of all, I would like to express my gratitude to the international secretariat of NATO for the opportunity to arrange this photo exhibition here and this exhibition represents almost 50 years long history of the largest nuclear test site in the world, that is  Semipalatinsk site. And these pictures today represent the horrifying outcomes of the nuclear explosions for Kazakhstan, the big damage that has been caused to our ecology and environment, and I would like to underline that out of 2000 nuclear tests that had been carried out in the whole world, over 25 percent have been carried out in Semipalatinsk. And according to its total explosion capacity of the nuclear tests that had been carried out on the Kazakhstani land they will equal to 2500 nuclear bombs thrown on Hiroshima. Therefore, we have to consider the history of Semipalatinsk test site as a tragic page, not only of Kazakhstan history, but of the history of the whole humanity. And this exhibition today is a reminder that nuclear weapons... the position of nuclear weapons between the countries has no future and the 29th of August, '91, the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site had been shut down and we have announced our country as nuclear-free country, not only of nuclear weapons, but also with testing. And this decision was one of the first events in the history of Kazakhstan that have shaped the future, in the future, our principal choice for the nuclear status. And I would like to remind you that the beginning of independence of Kazakhstan we have renounced also the fourth largest nuclear arsenal in the world, and thus became an epicentre of peace where the first time in the history people who used to have a nuclear potential have renounced it voluntarily. And the fact that the nuclear test sites in Nevada, in Lobnor, in Novaya Zemlya, have been shut down after Semipalatinsk speaks of the historic significance of that decision. And today Kazakhstan actively participates in the process of providing regional and global stability. On the 8th of September this year in Semipalatinsk five Central Asian countries have signed an agreement on nuclear free zone. And I believe that this is our common contribution to global security and a shining example of high responsibility, not only for its own nation, but for the whole of humanity. Dear friends, we have always to remember about the interrelatedness and fragility of the world. We should always remember that the destiny of humanity depends on the goodwill of each country of the whole global community, on strengthening regional and global security. And the world should know that the weapons of mass destruction, whatever the high price that is paid to possess it, is totally alien to human nature and the world should know that the problem of the possession of nuclear weapons by a state cannot be solved within the fatal forecasts and contradictions, but only based on cooperation, good neighbourhood and dialogue. And we Kazakhstanis have survived the hell of the nuclear testing on ourselves, are convinced, as 15 years ago, that the pillars of truth, security are not nuclear arsenals, but the peaceful external policy, domestic stability, sustainable economic and political development and patriotism of the citizens, and I hope that today's exhibition will help you to deeply understand these values. And now I announced this very small exhibition open officially. (APPLAUSE)