The

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...

n Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (CANWFZ) treaty is a legally binding commitment by

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the s ...

, and

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

not to manufacture, acquire, test, or possess nuclear weapons. The treaty was signed on 8 September 2006 at

Semipalatinsk Test Site The Semipalatinsk Test Site ( Russian: Семипалатинск-21; Semipalatinsk-21), also known as "The Polygon", was the primary testing venue for the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons. It is located on the steppe in northeast Kazakhstan (then ...

, Kazakhstan, and is also known as Treaty of Semipalatinsk, Treaty of Semei, or Treaty of Semey. The treaty was ratified by Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, and entered into force 2009-03-21.

History

Steps towards the establishment of such a zone began with the Almaty Declaration

in 1992. A resolution calling for the establishment of such a zone was adopted by consensus by the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

in 1997 and reaffirmed in 2000. Mindful of the lack of support by the

nuclear powers Eight sovereign states have publicly announced successful detonation of nuclear weapons. Five are considered to be nuclear-weapon states (NWS) under the terms of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). In order of acquisit ...

for a similar

Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty The Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (SEANWFZ) or the Bangkok Treaty of 1995, is a nuclear weapons moratorium treaty between 10 Southeast Asian member-states under the auspices of the ASEAN: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, ...

, the five permanent members of the Security Council were involved in the negotiations. While

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

approved of the treaty,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

objected to a clause which stated that the Treaty would not affect the rights and obligations of the signatories under previous international agreements because of the already existent

Tashkent Treaty Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...

which involved

. The United States also objected on principle to establishment of any zone disturbing "existing security arrangements to the detriment of regional and international security or otherwise abridg ngthe inherent right of individual or collective self-defense guaranteed in the UN charter". The United States also objected to possibility that

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

could apply to join the Treaty, so this provision was removed. The

, and

were finally concerned about the possibility that the Treaty could forbid the transit of nuclear weapons through the territory. In spite of attempts by

, and

to block the Treaty, it was finally signed in September 2006, although they voted against the General Assembly Resolution which welcomed the signing of the treaty in December 2006. All five Permanent Members of the Security Council (also the five NPT nuclear weapons states) signed the Protocol to the treaty on May 6, 2014, which provides legally binding assurances not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against CANWFZ Treaty parties. As of May 2016 all Permanent Members of the Security Council except the United States have ratified the protocols.

List of states

Membership

Protocol

References

Sources

IAEA report

{{Nuclear weapons limitation treaty Central Asia Nuclear technology in Kazakhstan Treaties of Kazakhstan Treaties of Kyrgyzstan Treaties of Tajikistan Treaties of Turkmenistan Treaties of Uzbekistan Nuclear weapons policy Treaties concluded in 2006 Treaties entered into force in 2009 Treaties establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones Kazakhstan–Kyrgyzstan relations Kazakhstan–Tajikistan relations Kazakhstan–Turkmenistan relations Kazakhstan–Uzbekistan relations Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan relations Kyrgyzstan–Turkmenistan relations Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan relations Tajikistan–Turkmenistan relations Tajikistan–Uzbekistan relations Turkmenistan–Uzbekistan relations

History

List of states

Membership

Protocol

See also

References

Sources