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Government's concern over India's nuclear tests
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan has released an announcement over India's five nuclear tests. "It is with deep anxiety and alarm that Uzbekistan received the announcement
on the series of underground nuclear explosions carried out by India. Special
concern arises from the circumstance that these tests were carried out in one
of the most heavily populated regions of the world, very close to the
southern border of the Central Asian states. These actions were carried out
at a time when international society is moving towards the banning of
production and distribution of nuclear weapons on the threshold of the 21st
century. The nuclear tests carried out by India can lead to the escalation of the
arms race in Southern Asia, which would have catastrophic and
unpredictable consequences for the security and stability not only regionally
but globally. In Uzbekistan it is felt that it would be more sensible to use
the huge financial and economic resources that are spent on the production
of weapons of mass destruction for the social and economic development of
countries of the region. Uzbekistan is the initiator of the proposal to turn
Central Asia into a nuclear weapons free zone and condemns the nuclear
tests carried out by India. Uzbekistan strongly works against the distribution
of nuclear weapons in the world. The government of the Republic of
Uzbekistan calls on India to take measures to become a signatory to the
nonproliferation agreement on nuclear weapons and the freeze on nuclear
testing as soon as possible." Tashkent, May 15, 1998
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President Karimov attends ECO summit in Almaty
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President Islam Karimov was in Almaty May 10-11 to attend the fifth summit of
Economic Cooperation Organization. ECO was founded in 1992 by Turkey, Pakistan
and Iran. Soon the organization expanded on account of the five Central Asian
states and Azerbaijan and Afghanistan. Uzbekistan actively participates in the Economic Cooperation
Organization (ECO). At the 5th meeting of heads of state and
government of ECO members in Almaty on May 11, President
Karimov said: "It is my firm belief that today we cannot avoid the
realities of our existence and that of our neighboring countries. The
lack of resolution of sharp problems of confrontation and war in
certain countries of our region is evident. For many years they
have been causing harm to our peoples and states, and the
strengthening of cooperation and trust among countries of the
region." Speaking about the prospects of cooperation, President
Karimov paid special attention to questions of forming a
contemporary, developed system of communications. "Without this,
today it is impossible to fully use the great economic potential of
the region for the benefit of our peoples." He expressed confidence
that all states represented at the forum would recognize the great
significance of attaining today the development of a transportation
network and communications infrastructure. President Karimov
noted that if a critical evaluation of affairs in this area is made,
that the agreement made in Ashgabat in May 1997 on broadening
the transportation network of the region by reconstructing existing
and creating new transport routes is far from being fulfilled. "I
think that today it is necessary to activate the process of agreeing
among the ECO member countries on a 10-year program of action
on transport and communications and to put it into practice," said
the President. The transcaucasian route is the most important and
realistic for Central Asia, guaranteeing access to the European
continent through Turkmenbashi, Baku and Georgian ports.
"Uzbekistan is interested in access to ports in Pakistan to the
Indian Ocean through Afghanistan. Only the ongoing war and
instability in Afghanistan prevent this route from being completed."
President Karimov mentioned another important problem for ECO
members, the problem of the fight against the drug trade. "From
the time of independence," he said, "Uzbekistan has made great
efforts and concrete steps in the fight against drugs. A sober
evaluation of the harm done by drugs makes it necessary for us to
unite our efforts in the struggle with this evil." In conclusion,
President Karimov underlined that initiatives and practical action
should be directed to the solution of economic and humanitarian
aspects of mutually profitable economic cooperation. "In my
opinion, a most important task is to turn aside any attempts to
dominate by any countries," said the President. "If there are such
ideas, we should resist them, and make sure that all decisions
answer the interests of all member ECO states."
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President Karimov meets with Jewish leader
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President Karimov
received a delegation of the Simon Wiesenthal Center headed by its
director for foreign relations Shimon Sauels on May 13. President
Karimov hailed the work of the organization, noting that this visit
is another important step on the road of strengthening relations
between Uzbekistan and Israel and international Jewish
organizations. "During World War Two, thousands of Jews
found shelter in Uzbekistan," said President Karimov. "Up to now,
there has been no anti-Semitism in our country. There are many
functioning synagogues here as well as a Central Asian seminary. In
several of our cities, there are networks of Jewish communities.
This shows that there is inter-ethnic accord." The guests gave a
high mark to Islam Karimov's peace-making policy. They visited
Synagogues in Samarkand and Bukhara The Simon Wiesenthal Center was created in 1977,
and unites more than 440,000 Jews around the world. Its
main obejctive is to gather information on people who committed crimes
against humanity during WWII and to hand them over to the legal
authorities. It also fights racism, international terrorism, Nazi
propaganda, threats to democracy, and human rights violations.
More than a thousand criminals of WWII have been brought to justice.
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Bulgarian President meets Uzbek Prime Minister
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On May 11 President of Bulgaria Petr Stoyanov stopped in Tashkent during a flight to
China. Uzbek Prime Minister Utkir Sultonov and Foreign Minister Abdulaziz
Komilov met with him at the Tashkent Airport and spoke about issues related
to bilateral cooperation. On May 15 on his way back President Stoyanov
again stopped in Tashkent and met with Prime Minister Sultonov. but this time
the Bulgarian president had some chance to see the city. He visited the Museum
of Temurid History.
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National Security Council holds scheduled meeting
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Uzbek and Russian aviation think about their future
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Uzbekistan and Russia continue to cooperate in the
field of aviation. An agreement on this was signed by the two
presidents during their meeting in Moscow May 5-7. The
agreement allows for the concentration of capital for further
working out and producing new planes, for certification and
marketing, and for servicing. Issues of spare parts, payment for
scientific and technical work and certification are included in the
document. A financial industrial group is being formed which will
include the Ilyushin, Voronezh and Ulyanovsk airplane factories.
The agreement touches on questions of joint work on the IL-76MF
and IL-176TF. One important point is cooperation on sales of
transport Il planes produced in Tashkent, which will be purchased
by Russia for the use of the Ministry of Defense and Civil aviation.
At present the IL-76MF is in the certification process, which should
be finished by the end of the year. In the next 2-3 years, the
prospects for transport planes is favorable, and Uzbek planes will
be sold on the international market. Marketing negotiations are
being carried out with CIS and Asian airlines. Fortis and Feerman
Menisk are acting as foreign dealers. One possibility is to sell on
installments. A new leasing company Uzavialeasing has been
formed to deal with this. By the end of this year the Il-114-100
will be produced with a Canadian Pratt Whitney engine which
guarantees more than 6000 hours of flight time. All agreements
with foreign airlines such as Boeing and British Aerospace remain
functional. It is necessary for the Tashkent Airplane Factory to
guarantee international certification, which has already begun. By
the middle of May international certification is expected for the
ISO-9000, giving the factory the right to produce parts for all
foreign airlines. For Boeing orders, it is necessary to have another
certification which meets their standards.
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Uzbekistan to hold PFP exercises for the second year
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Uzbekistan and Kyrgystan will hold military exercises on September 21-26 in the framework of NATO's Partnership for Peace program. Troops from Turkey, the U.S., Georgia, Kazakstan, Russia and the host countries will participate. This will be the second year of hosting PFP exercises for Central Asian states. Last year Uzbekistan (Chirchik) and Kazakstan (Chymkent) held successful NATO-sponsored military exercises.
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