Central Asia's Importance growing - Nazarbayev

    By E. Ostapenko, Trend
    Central Asian's importance is growing in the world and the region should be associated with successful economic development and not conflicts, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said in an interview with a Russian newspaper today.
    "Central Asia is taking on a new, global dimension," he said. "Accordingly, the world should reevaluate our region's role and importance. Central Asia should not be associated with conflicts, crises or social problems, which are happening in Afghanistan now, but rather with successful and dynamic growth and prosperity."
    Nazarbayev made the statement in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
    For this purpose, it is necessary to direct all of the international community's efforts toward "our economic development" as opposed to strategic military aims, he said.
    In this context, holding the OSCE summit in Astana in late 2010 is an
    honor for Kazakhstan, he said. Nazarbayev added that the decision to
    hold the summit is a victory not only for his country, but for the
    entire CIS.
    The OSCE summit will be held in early December in Astana and bring together the heads of states from the OSCE's 56 member countries and 12 partner countries, as well as the heads of 68 international organizations. The summit has not convened for 11 years. The last summit was held in Istanbul in 1999.
    "I am sure that the Astana summit will give a new impetus to the development of the OSCE," the president said. "Astana will become a center of global politics."
    He also expressed confidence that the summit will bring together all of
    the OSCE's members.
    "We all have to accept the idea that Europe and Asia are a vast continent, and European security cannot take place without Asian components," the president said. "I am sure that together we can find effective approaches to solving the existing problems of Eurasian security."
    Nazarbayev agreed with the global priority of making joint decisions.
    "One thing is certain - the future of humanity depends on decisions made
    by consensus in the international community," he said. "Thus, the OSCE
    has a huge potential that has yet to be fully disclosed."