Ashgabat, 3 December 2009 (nCa) --- Representatives from eight regional countries gathered Wednesday in Ashgabat to mix and match the elements required for formal start of disarmament talks.

The diplomats and experts from the foreign ministries of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan singled out three elements that would form the backbone for multilateral dialogue on disarmament:

• Review and analysis of situation on disarmament issues in Central Asia and Caspian Region
• The assessment of international legal framework and the challenges of its further development
• The role of international organizations in addressing the issues related to disarmament

In addition, the participants discussed the sub-themes of the upcoming conference, the level and format of participation, the possibility of inviting the international organizations, and several organizational and protocol questions.

The International Conference on Disarmament Issues in Central Asia and Caspian region will take place in the first half of 2010.

The idea of region-wide disarmament was floated by Turkmenistan during the 64^th session of the UN General Assembly, in New York this year.

Central Asia is already a nuclear-weapons free zone, the first and only such zone in the world.

The treaty creating the Central Asia zone free of nuclear weapons (CANWFZ) came into force on 21 March 2009. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are parties to the treaty.

Under the treaty and additional protocol, the Central Asian countries have voluntarily agreed to refrain from development, manufacture, stockpiling, acquisition and possession of any nuclear explosive devices within the zone. They have also accepted enhanced IAEA safeguards.

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