Editing Nursultan Nazarbayev (section)

===Nuclear disarmament ===
Kazakhstan inherited from the Soviet Union the world's fourth-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons. Within four years of independence, Kazakhstan possessed zero nuclear weapons.<ref>{{cite web|title=NTI Kazakhstan Profile|url=http://www.nti.org/country-profiles/kazakhstan/|publisher=Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI)|access-date=28 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224065903/http://www.nti.org/country-profiles/kazakhstan/|archive-date=24 February 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> In one of the new government's first major decisions, Nazarbayev closed the Soviet nuclear test site at Semipalatinsk (Semei), where 456 nuclear tests had been conducted by the Soviet military.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kazakhstan and US Renew Nonproliferation Partnership|url=https://thediplomat.com/2016/04/kazakhstan-and-us-renew-nonproliferation-partnership/|work=The Diplomat|access-date=2 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423184956/https://thediplomat.com/2016/04/kazakhstan-and-us-renew-nonproliferation-partnership/|archive-date=23 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.eureporter.co/world/kazakhstan/2023/05/25/kazakhstans-nonproliferation-model-offers-more-security/ | title = Kazakhstan's Nonproliferation Model Offers More Security | website = eureporter.co | date = 25 May 2023 | accessdate = 7 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://thehill.com/opinion/international/4006816-pursuing-nuclear-weapons-makes-nations-less-not-more-secure/ | title = Pursuing nuclear weapons makes nations less, not more, secure | author = Stephen Blank | website = thehill.com | date = 17 May 2023 | accessdate = 7 July 2023}}</ref>

During the Soviet era, over 500 military experiments with nuclear weapons were conducted by scientists in the Kazakhstan region, mostly at the [[Semipalatinsk Test Site]], causing radiation sickness and birth defects.<ref>{{harvnb|Nazarbayev|1998|p=141}}</ref> As the influence of the Soviet Union waned, Nazarbayev closed the site.<ref>{{harvnb|Nazarbayev|1998|p=143}}</ref> He later claimed that he had encouraged [[Olzhas Suleimenov]]'s [[anti-nuclear movement in Kazakhstan]], and was always fully committed to the group's goals.<ref>{{harvnb|Nazarbayev|1998|p=142}}</ref> In what was dubbed "[[Project Sapphire]]", the Kazakhstan and United States governments worked closely together to dismantle former Soviet weapons stored in the country, with the Americans agreeing to [[Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction|fund over $800 million]] in transportation and "compensation" costs.<ref>{{harvnb|Nazarbayev|1998|p=150}}</ref>

Nazarbayev encouraged the [[United Nations General Assembly]] to establish 29 August as the International Day Against Nuclear Tests. In his article he has proposed a new [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty|Non-Proliferation Treaty]] "that would guarantee clear obligations on the part of signatory governments and define real sanctions for those who fail to observe the terms of the agreement."<ref>[http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-oped-0411-nuclear-20100411,0,4341414.story Right time for building global nuclear security]. ''Chicago Tribune'' (11 April 2010). Retrieved 3 February 2011. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710152841/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-oped-0411-nuclear-20100411,0,4341414.story|date=10 July 2015}}</ref> His foreign minister signed a treaty authorizing the [[Central Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone]] on 8 September 2006.<ref>{{cite web|title=Central Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone (CANWFZ)|url=https://www.nti.org/learn/treaties-and-regimes/central-asia-nuclear-weapon-free-zone-canwz/ |work=Nuclear Threat Initiative|access-date=19 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620001209/https://www.nti.org/learn/treaties-and-regimes/central-asia-nuclear-weapon-free-zone-canwz/|archive-date=20 June 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

In an oped in ''[[The Washington Times]]'', Nazarbayev called for the [[Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons|Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty]] to be modernized and better balanced.<ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/24/nazarbayev-toward-a-safer-nuclear-community/ oped] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327000320/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/24/nazarbayev-toward-a-safer-nuclear-community/|date=27 March 2014}}, ''The Washington Times''</ref>

In March 2016, Nazarbayev released his "Manifesto: The World. The 21st century."<ref>{{cite web|title=Manifesto: The World. The 21st century|url=http://www.akorda.kz/en/speeches/external_political_affairs/ext_other_events/manifesto-the-world-the-21st-century|work=Akorda|access-date=7 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701055555/http://www.akorda.kz/en/speeches/external_political_affairs/ext_other_events/manifesto-the-world-the-21st-century|archive-date=1 July 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In this manifest he called for expanding and replicating existing nuclear weapon-free zones and stressed the need to modernise existing international disarmament treaties.<ref>{{cite web|title=Manifest by Kazakh President Calls for Global Nuclear Disarmament, Steps to End Global Conflicts|url=http://astanatimes.com/2016/04/manifest-by-kazakh-president-calls-for-global-nuclear-disarmament-steps-to-end-global-conflicts/|work=Astana Times|date=5 April 2016|access-date=7 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513120553/http://astanatimes.com/2016/04/manifest-by-kazakh-president-calls-for-global-nuclear-disarmament-steps-to-end-global-conflicts/|archive-date=13 May 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>