"United, we will be invincible to defeat terrorism", Foreign Minister of Tajikistan tells Permanent Council

VIENNA, 19 October 2001 (OSCE) - "The Government and political leadership of Tajikistan have expressed total solidarity with the American people and a willingness to closely co-operate with the international community to form a global front aimed at combating international terrorism", said the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan, Mr. Talbak Nazarov, addressing the 55-nation Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) today in Vienna. "United we will be invincible to defeat this evil", he further stressed.

Mr. Nazarov condemned terrorism in all its forms, and considered it unacceptable under any pretext to use acts of terrorism as a means to achieve political or other goals. He recalled that Tajikistan was familiar with the methods and practices of international terrorism, having been the victim of acts of terrorism from outside the country on several occasions in recent years.

"Terrorism not only attempts to hamper the peaceful process in Tajikistan but also tries to destabilize the situation in the vast Central Asian region", he warned the representatives of the 55 participating States of the OSCE.

Mr. Nazarov expressed his conviction that the most serious threat to security and peaceful development, not only in the Central Asian region but also throughout the world, emanates from the territory of Afghanistan and the policies being pursued by the Taliban regime. "The protracted critical situation in Afghanistan is the main source of terrorism, religious extremism and the drugs trade, and continues to be a destabilizing factor and highly dangerous cause of politico-military tension in the region", he said. "The Taliban regime has turned Afghanistan into a breeding ground for international terrorism and drug trafficking."

Mr. Nazarov expressed concern that his country be confronted with the threat of an influx of refugees and an increased stream of drugs and weapons, and called for the creation of "a security zone around Afghanistan", such as proposed by the President of Tajikistan, Mr. Emomali Sh. Rakhmonov, to allow for positive results in the fight against criminal trades.

Speaking about the settlement of the long-standing Afghan conflict, Mr. Nazarov called for a political solution which would allow for a genuinely representative government, taking into account the interests of all groups and strata of Afghan society, to achieve peace, national concord and a revival of Afghanistan's economy.

"It is of vital interest to the Republic of Tajikistan that, in the future, Afghanistan becomes a stable, independent and flourishing State peacefully coexisting with other countries of the region", he said.

Touching upon the socio-economic and environmental issues, Mr. Nazarov invited the OSCE to take a greater part in contributing to the restoration and rehabilitation of the Tajik economy.

"The Government of Tajikistan is taking active steps with a view to strengthening civil society and restoring and establishing favourable conditions for the steady socio-economic development of the country. We hope that the OSCE will, using its accumulated experience, make its contribution to Tajikistan's economic revival", he said.