by THE ASTANA TIMES

In 1990, “The Semipalatinsk nuclear test site” was first mentioned in the UN General Assembly. At that time, Kazakhstan was still one of the constituent states of the former Soviet Union, and Akmaral Arystanbekova, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, spoke about the damage caused by nuclear testing and the movement in favor of the closing of test site, and called for a worldwide halt to nuclear testing. Last August, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence, Arystanbekova herself contributed an article to the Astana Times about that time (including quotes from her speech). The article can be found here.