UPDATE - Asian century has become a reality, Kazakh leader says

UPDATES WITH MORE DEATILS, STATEMENTS FROM KYRGYZ, UZBEK, TAJIK, BELARUSSIAN LEADERS

By Burc Eruygur

ANKARA (AA) - Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Thursday said forecast that the 21st century will be the century of Asia has now become a reality.

Opening the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in the capital Astana, Tokayev said that despite the current geopolitical challenges CICA continues to develop dynamically and expanding cooperation between its members.

He said they are currently living in an unprecedented "geopolitical storm" and global economic crisis, which he defined as "global dysfunction."

"Kazakhstan intends to continue to promote dialogue and cooperation aimed at mutual trust and security in Asia. I want to express my deep gratitude to the member states for their constant support and invaluable contribution to the CICA processes," Tokayev added.

The Kazakh leader also proposed to transform the CICA financial summit into a permanent platform.

The Asian century is the projected dominance of Asian politics and culture due to its economy and demographic trends.

- Deliberate destruction

Meanwhile, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan's cities and villages, as well as cultural and religious monuments and mosques were deliberately destroyed during the 30-year occupation by Armenian forces.

“We did not hear any protest from the Armenian community against such vandalism. On the contrary, Armenian vandals and war criminals were admired and glorified," Aliyev told the conference.

Relations between the former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

Baku liberated several cities, villages, and settlements from Armenian occupation during clashes in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Moscow-brokered truce. The peace agreement is celebrated as a triumph in Azerbaijan.

The international community has now taken a leading role in mediating Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization process, which began after the war.

Aliyev said Azerbaijan is among the most heavily mined countries in the world, with Armenia laying more than a million mines during the occupation. "International experts estimate that Azerbaijan needs nearly 30 years and $25 billion to solve issues related to demining," he added.

He said that Azerbaijan with its own financial resources is undertaking large-scale reconstruction works in the liberated areas.

- ‘Lack of dialogue’

In his address at the forum, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov said organizations in Asia do not fully use the opportunities and mechanisms to prevent conflicts.

Japarov stressed that global security problems call for the creation and deepening of trust-based cooperation in “ensuring a comprehensive and sustainable system of security and stability at the bilateral and multilateral levels between regional states.”

Meanwhile, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev expressed that they are witnessing an unprecedented lack of dialogue and trust, growing uncertainty in international relations, all of which “undermine the foundations of multilateral cooperation, provokes the escalation of conflicts, and leads to systemic failures in the global economy.”

“New geopolitical realities have a negative impact on the stability of the entire Asian region,” Mirziyoyev said, adding that this crisis directly affects Central Asia and hinders efforts to deepen economic integration.

For his part, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon drew attention to the timely solution of existing problems and mentioned Tajik initiatives to address the global lack of drinking water and climate change.

He called on leaders and international organizations to strengthen cooperation in combating the negative consequences of climate change.

Separately, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko argued that “the West's practice of organizing coups” in countries and imposing sanctions carries the risks of a third world war.

“The West offering peacekeeping only adds fuel to the fire and shows it is not interested in de-escalation,” he added.

The two-day sixth CICA summit started on Wednesday, with heads of state and government in attendance.

Kuwait was accepted as the 28th member of the inter-governmental forum on Thursday.