On
behalf of the delegation of the Socialist Republic of Viet
Nam, I should like to extend to Ambassador Insanally warm
congratulations on his election to the presidency of this
forty-eighth session of the General Assembly.
We regard highly the vast efforts made and positive
achievements attained by His Excellency the
Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, in his
position of lofty responsibility, towards the cause of peace,
international security, development and cooperation among
nations. In April of this year it was with warmth and high
esteem, and moved by a desire to enhance Viet Nam’s
cooperation with the United Nations, that our Government
and people welcomed the Secretary-General in our country.
We wish to congratulate the new Members of our
United Nations family.
In the year since the previous session of our General
Assembly, the world has offered us a chiaroscuro picture of
opportunities intermingled with challenges, of hopes mixed
with anxieties. The threat of a global war of annihilation
continues to recede, and we are witnessing an increasing
trend towards dialogue and cooperation, in new forms and
through new mechanisms, in different regions and on a
world-wide scale. The progress towards restoration of peace
in a number of places, especially in Cambodia and the
12 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
Middle East, brings glad tidings to the whole world and
demonstrates that in our day and age it is still possible,
through peaceful negotiations, to settle conflicts that were
once fierce and protracted.
However, humanity’s conscience and reason remain
profoundly disturbed by the bloody conflicts which are
inflicting death and pain on peoples and provoking regional
and international instability, by potentially explosive
tendencies to increase armaments in certain parts of the
world, by the widening gap between the developed and the
developing world and by other important and pressing
problems of a global nature, such as demographic explosion,
environmental degradation, dangerous diseases, transnational
crime, and so on.
In an unstable world whose evolution is fraught with
complexities, the United Nations, while taking account of the
direct responsibility of nations concerned, is facing major
challenges in the discharge of its primary responsibility,
namely the restoration and preservation of peace and
stability. Never before has the United Nations been present
and active in so many hot spots across the continents as it is
today. In this regard the Secretary-General has given us a
comprehensive approach to the problem in his report "An
Agenda for Peace". (A/47/277)
It is the earnest desire of the people of Viet Nam that
peace, closely linked with national independence and
sovereignty, be primary components of the new world order.
We endorse the view expressed in the report of the
Secretary-General on the work of the Organization (A/48/1)
that
"States and their sovereignty are increasingly
recognized as indispensable building-blocks of
international order and problem-solving". (A/48/1,
para. 13)
Respect for the national independence, sovereignty and
identity of each country, the strengthening of international
cooperation, and the settlement of disputes through peaceful
negotiations and mutual accommodation, considering peace,
stability and cooperation to be the fundamental, long-term
interest of each State and of the international community:
all these are guiding principles in inter-State relations,
principles that the United Nations and its Member States
must respect. The Security Council is vested with the
primary responsibility for the activities of the United Nations
in respect of the restoration and safeguarding of peace. This
mission, however, devolves not solely on the Security
Council but on all nations. Member States should therefore
have a say in determining the objectives and guiding
principles for decisions and actions undertaken by the
Security Council with regard to international peace and
security. Only by so doing can the United Nations truly be
a universal Organization and a common instrument for the
community of nation-States. The principles of respect for
the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, of
non-coercion and non-interference in the internal affairs of
States, of attainment of the consent of the parties concerned,
and perseverance in the settlement of disputes through
peaceful negotiations: such are the principles that should
govern the Security Council’s decisions.
Today the world is witnessing miraculous advances in
science and technology. In that world, however, some
hundred countries and with them billions of human beings
are in danger of falling behind in the general advancement
of mankind, while the wealth and property of the world are
concentrated in the hands of a few developed countries. The
gap in development levels is steadily widening. This,
together with the accumulated external debt burden, has put
developing countries at a constant disadvantage in
North-South economic and trade relations. This reality
carries potential challenges to security and stability, both
regional and international. We should therefore fully
comprehend, now more than ever, the interrelation between
peace, security and development.
We support the proposal for the United Nations to work
out a comprehensive and effective "agenda for
development", considering the implementation of such an
agenda through enhanced resources as a fundamental factor
for the establishment of a new, sound and equitable world
order. Development programmes of the United Nations and
assistance from highly developed countries to developing
countries, especially poor countries, are undertakings which
do not benefit one side only; rather, they are necessary for
the overall stability and development of the world and the
various regions as well as of each State. We are of the view
that attaching political conditions to development assistance
and cooperation runs counter to the principle of equality and
mutual benefit of wholesome international relations.
On the other hand, poor countries hope that the rapidly
increasing cost of peace-keeping operations will not affect
the ability of the United Nations in the field of development
cooperation, and they wish to see balanced attention on the
part of the United Nations to both the Agenda for Peace and
that for development.
One important direction of the United Nations activities
that reflect the broadening attention given in this regard by
Forty-eighth session - 6 October l993 13
the international community is the promotion of democracy
and human rights. The World Conference on Human Rights
held in Vienna last June clearly pointed out the close
relationship between democracy and human rights. In our
view, one should accord equal importance to, and promote
concurrently, democracy within each country and democracy
in inter-State relations. Respect for human rights must go
together with respect for equality among States as well as
between the United Nations and Member States. The United
Nations itself needs to reform its organization and mode of
operation so as to ensure democracy, justice and equality for
all Member States.
An enlargement in the membership of the Security
Council to enhance its representativeness, the promotion of
greater transparency in the work of this body of authority
within the United Nations system, the strengthening of the
effectiveness of the General Assembly, the improvement of
the relationship among the United Nations organs, together
with perfecting the mechanisms and streamlining the
machinery to ensure better efficiency and effectiveness of
the United Nations activities - all these are urgent demands
facing us as we are approaching the fiftieth anniversary of
this Organization. Together with many other countries -
member States of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries,
in particular - Viet Nam considers human rights to be
primarily the concern and interest of each country, the
pursuit of democracy and human rights in one country to be,
first and essentially, the responsibility of that country and
nation. At the same time, States may cooperate with one
another in the promotion of democracy and human rights on
the basis of respect for national independence and
sovereignty, the right to self-determination, the right of a
nation to choose its own path of development, in accordance
with the purposes and principles set forth in the United
Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and the two basic International Covenants on Human Rights.
We consider using imposed standards of human rights and
democracy as preconditions for inter-State cooperation to be
a manifestation of inequality and lack of democracy in
international relations.
The Vienna Conference identified areas of agreement
and at the same time revealed outstanding differences of
views on human rights. We hope that, proceeding from the
commitment to the common cause of human rights
protection and promotion, from the recognition of both the
universality and the specificity of human rights, countries
will engage in a dialogue in a spirit of mutual respect with
a view to achieving a unity of purpose in a diversity of ways
and means of implementation in the field of human rights.
The Vienna Conference also put forth recommendations
aimed at consolidating and strengthening the role and
effectiveness of the United Nations in regard to human
rights. To achieve this end, it is our view that we should
make full use of the relevant existing machinery and
mechanisms of the United Nations and enhance their
efficiency and effectiveness. Taking account of the need to
streamline its machinery, the Organization must carefully
scrutinize and weigh any initiative for the establishment of
new mechanisms.
Viet Nam is a country that has lived through protracted,
devastating wars in which the use of millions of tons of
bombs, ammunition and toxic chemicals has caused
destruction of the environment, misery, loss of life and
serious consequences for several generations now. It has
been undertaking a process of renewal, overcoming many
difficulties and challenges to achieve stability, development
and integration into the international community.
Located in the most dynamic region for development in
the world, Viet Nam has both assets and difficulties,
opportunities and challenges stemming from its specific
historical circumstances, natural conditions and its
geopolitical and geoeconomic position. We are now facing
the acute challenge of how to overcome, soon, our state of
poverty and underdevelopment, and join the mainstream of
progress in the region. The only way is to tap all domestic
resources, which, first and foremost, means bringing into full
play the dynamism and creativity of every Vietnamese, and
at the same time expanding international cooperation in
friendship with all countries based on the principle of mutual
respect for national independence and sovereignty, and on
equality and mutual benefit.
This imperative need impels us to initiate and step up
efforts towards renewal in every sphere of social life; at its
core, this is focused on a market economy and on perfecting
the rule of law in a State that is truly of the people, by the
people and for the people.
The process of renewal focuses on the economic field
with a view to developing a multisectoral economy operating
under the market mechanism, to establishing an economic
system that is open both domestically and externally, and to
improving the functions and management patterns of the
State. Under embargo conditions, and at a point where
sources of major assistance from the countries of the Council
for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) are no longer
available, the renewal process has helped Viet Nam’s
economy overcome the most difficult hurdle and end the
recession, reduce and maintain control over inflation, achieve
average growth in gross domestic product of 7.2 per cent
14 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
during the past three years, 1991 to 1993, accumulate
initially modest levels of domestic savings, and gradually
improve the life of the people.
Viet Nam has been attracting increasing foreign direct
investment and development assistance. On behalf of the
Government and the people of Viet Nam, I should like to
express our sincere thanks to various agencies of the United
Nations system, such as the United Nations Development
Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United
Nations Population Fund, the World Food Programme, the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
the World Health Organization, the United Nations Industrial
Development Organization, the Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific and others, as well as
many Governments and non-governmental organizations in
the world, for maintaining, resuming and increasing
development and humanitarian assistance to Viet Nam.
We highly appreciate the timely support extended by
the Governments of France, Japan, Sweden and other
countries, together with the international financial
institutions, for helping Viet Nam settle arrears with the
International Monetary Fund, thereby creating a
breakthrough initiation of credit assistance from international
monetary and financial institutions; such assistance is
absolutely essential for building up socio-economic
infrastructures in Viet Nam.
Our appreciation goes also to the many companies,
from nearly 50 countries, that have come to Viet Nam for
investment and business cooperation at this initial stage of
our development.
In our journey towards a dynamic and sound market
economy that is well-managed at the macroeconomic level,
and achieving healthy, rapid and sustainable growth aimed
at achieving the objectives of a prosperous nation, a strong
country and a civilized and equitable society, we still face
numerous difficulties, weaknesses and challenges. At this
juncture, increased assistance from the United Nations,
international financial institutions and non-governmental
organizations, as well as cooperation and support from
various countries, is extremely valuable and meaningful.
On the basis of the fundamental approach of having a
socio-economic development strategy up to the year 2000 in
which the human person constitutes both the end and the
driving force, Viet Nam is simultaneously carrying out
economic reforms and a step-by-step renovation of the
political system in order to promote the rights of people and
citizens’ rights, both economic and political, cultural and
social. Strenuous efforts have been made to establish the
State’s rule of law through the promulgation of the amended
Constitution of 1992, the election of the new National
Assembly Legislature, an enhancement of the power and
responsibilities of the elected organs and a stepping up of
the law-making process.
In accordance with our nation’s tradition of
humaneness, we stand for abolishing prejudice and
vengeance, and for looking towards the future. Those
previously in the ranks of our adversaries have all been freed
and given full citizens’ rights. All Vietnamese who wish for
a prosperous and strong Viet Nam, and who respect the
laws, will find a place in the great unity of the nation, even
if they are of different political opinions.
The process of renovation and the policy of universal
national unity constitute the prime mover for development in
the country and at the same time bring into full play the
potential of Vietnamese overseas to contribute to the
construction of their former homeland.
Viet Nam has concurrently deployed a foreign policy of
openness, diversifying and multilateralizing its relations of
friendly cooperation with all other countries, thus creating a
favourable international environment for our country’s
renovation and development.
In that spirit, Viet Nam has actively contributed to the
peaceful solution of the Cambodian question and has
implemented the Paris Agreements and cooperated with the
United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia. We
have established relations of good-neighbourliness with
Cambodia in the hope that Cambodia will become a country
of peace, independence, neutrality and non-alignment that
entertains friendly relations with other countries.
We wish to congratulate the new Government in
Cambodia, and stand ready, together with that Government,
to settle, jointly, any questions of mutual concern. We
express the wish that the Cambodian Government and the
United Nations will take effective measures to protect
Vietnamese residents living peacefully in Cambodia, and to
Forty-eighth session - 6 October l993 15
ensure their safety and the same rights and benefits as are
enjoyed by people from other countries who are resident in
Cambodia.
Viet Nam is sparing no effort in building up friendship
and cooperation with neighbouring countries and is
persevering in its policy of peaceful negotiations to find
satisfactory solutions to border and territorial disputes at sea
as well as on land. While working for solutions, all
concerned parties should refrain from doing anything that
further complicates the situation and from the use or threat
of use of force to settle disputes.
The fact that relations between the United States and
Viet Nam have not yet been normalized 20 years after the
end of the war is not normal nor is it in consonance with the
trend of our time. With the desire to close the book on the
past and to look to the future, Viet Nam wishes and stands
ready to normalize relations with the United States on the
basis of equality and mutual respect and without
preconditions. This would meet the aspirations and interests
of the peoples of the two countries, and would serve peace,
stability, cooperation and development in the region and
throughout the world.
Viet Nam still has tens of thousands of people missing
since the war, and their remains have yet to be found; and
millions of war victims need help. We are deeply
sympathetic towards the sentiments of American families
whose loved ones went missing in the Viet Nam war, and
have cooperated, are cooperating and will continue to
cooperate actively with the American Government and
people on the missing-in-action question. We consider this
a purely humanitarian issue.
I am confident that the goodwill and conscience of the
American and Vietnamese peoples, together with the
immediate and long-term interests of the two countries, will
soon prevail over the existing obstacles so that relations
between the two countries can be normalized.
Allow me to conclude my statement with the hope that
the United Nations will rise to the challenge of seizing the
opportunities and surmounting the challenges so that it truly
becomes an institution to which all Member States entrust
their aspirations and in which their views are heard and their
actions coordinated. For its part, Viet Nam, in its efforts
towards renewal, development and integration with the
international community, will always be a positive factor for
peace, national independence and social progress, and a
sincere and reliable cooperation partner in the region as well
as in the world.


At the outset,
permit me to offer to you, Sir, my delegation’s sincere
congratulations on your unanimous election to the presidency
of the forty-eighth session of the General Assembly. Your
professional experience as your country’s Permanent
Representative to the United Nations will undoubtedly be an
asset in our important deliberations.
We pay tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Stoyan Ganev,
for his dedicated service. We applaud the Secretary-General,
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for his bold and tireless efforts
to strengthen the world Organization. We warmly welcome
the new Members and wish them well.
A retrospective look at developments since the end of
the cold war reveals the complexity of advancing towards a
new fabric of international relations. On the one hand, the
spirit of cooperation and interaction is becoming prevalent.
The new democracies are making headway in the face of the
formidable difficulties of transition. Recent events in Russia
are ample evidence of this. We are confident that the
democratic forces, led by President Yeltsin, will overcome
the present ordeal and succeed in their endeavours. The
significance for the region and the entire world of the
success of Russia’s reforms can hardly be overemphasized.

Furthermore, solutions are being found even to the most
protracted regional conflicts. The recent historic act of
mutual recognition between Israel and the Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO) and the interim peace
agreement are a case in point. We hope that this will lead
to a just and comprehensive solution to the Arab-Israeli
conflict.
An important breakthrough towards democracy and a
multiracial society in South Africa has been made. Peace
and the national reconciliation that had eluded Cambodia for
so long has been restored to this land of ancient civilization.
Landmark agreements on the prohibition of chemical
weapons and on the reduction of nuclear armaments have
been concluded.
In the meantime, it is clear that old, deep-seated
problems still await solutions and new ones, once held in
check by the circumstances of the time, are emerging.
Indeed, no tangible progress has been registered in
addressing the issues of poverty, external debt, drugs,
organized crime, the widening gap between the affluent and
the poor, and environmental crises. Though the cold war is
over, the "hot wars" have multiplied. Suffice it to mention
the continuing tragedies of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Somalia, Nagorny-Karabakh and Abkhazia.
It is widely recognized today that the concept of
development has acquired a multidimensional character
encompassing not only economic growth, but also political,
social and environmental aspects. Moreover, greater
emphasis is being placed on the human dimension of
development, as in the final analysis the well-being of
people stands as a true measurement of development. We
believe that the United Nations is the only, and irreplaceable,
mechanism to translate this concept into reality.
In this respect, the United Nations-sponsored world
conferences on population and on women and the World
Summit for Social Development are called upon to open up
better prospects to that end. No lasting solution to today’s
various problems can be sought unless the developmental
challenges are adequately addressed. The concept of
development and its practical aspects will certainly be
enriched by the Secretary-General’s interim report on an
agenda for development and its upcoming discussion during
this session.
Now is the time resolutely to address the long-standing
agenda relating to economic disparities between the North
and the South, including eradication of poverty, debt relief,
elimination of trade protectionism and an early and
successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round. In this regard,
Forty-eighth session - 7 October l993 11
Mongolia welcomes the meeting of the Chairman of the
Non-Aligned Movement and the Group of Seven last July in
Tokyo, which represents a first step towards re-launching the
North-South dialogue. My delegation believes it important
that following serious consideration by the Assembly, at this
session, of the Non-Aligned Movement initiative on the
reactivation of the North-South dialogue to strengthen
international cooperation for development a positive decision
be taken in this regard.
It is of signal importance that we maintain the
momentum gained at the Rio Conference on Environment
and Development through effective follow-up, at both the
international and the national level. We commend the
dynamic role of the Commission on Sustainable
Development as a central political forum for the monitoring
and review of the implementation of Agenda 21. Mongolia
recently ratified the Convention on Climate Change and the
Convention on Biodiversity; our national plan of action to
implement Agenda 21 is being formulated.
As a country where desertification is a major challenge,
Mongolia deems it necessary that a convention on that
subject be concluded by 1995.
Mongolia believes that the observance of human rights
in accordance with universally accepted norms is essential in
promoting equitable cooperation among States. Respect for
human rights and fundamental freedoms can in no way be
reconciled with biased criteria which divide countries into
big and small, developed and underdeveloped, majority and
minority groups, or along ethnic, racial and religious lines.
Furthermore, Mongolia proceeds from the premise that
human rights and fundamental freedoms, as universal values,
do not recognize borders.
It is of the utmost importance that the Vienna
Conference on Human Rights, held last June, was able to
reach an agreement on the indivisibility of economic, social,
cultural, political and civil rights, and on the need to respect
and implement them on an equal footing.
It is gratifying to note that with the demise of the cold
war, propaganda on disarmament issues has faded away and
a businesslike atmosphere of cooperation has taken shape.
Earlier this year the Treaty on substantive reductions of
strategic offensive armaments was concluded between the
Russian Federation and the United States. Also, a
commendable initiative with respect to a moratorium on
nuclear testing took shape. The Geneva Conference on
Disarmament has decided to commence negotiations on a
comprehensive test-ban treaty.
As a country uniquely positioned between the two
nuclear-weapon Powers, Mongolia attaches exceptional
importance to this issue. That is precisely why my country
last year declared its territory a nuclear-weapon-free zone.
In this context Mongolia welcomes the idea of turning
Central Asia into such a zone.
The issue of the timely and full implementation of
agreements on the reduction of nuclear weapons and the
complete prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons
should not escape the priority attention of the world
community. The cessation of nuclear-weapon tests and the
strict observance of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is acquiring special importance.
We support the indefinite extension of the NPT at the review
Conference in 1995. It is of great importance that the
parties to the Treaty, especially the nuclear-weapon States,
honour their commitments and refrain from any action that
might undermine it.
Mongolia is entering its fourth year of democratic
reforms. We, like many others in our position, are facing
formidable challenges. As an underdeveloped, land-locked
country inadequately integrated into the world transportation
network, with a high vulnerability to natural calamities,
Mongolia is experiencing added difficulties in its transition.
In addition to the political and economic reforms there
is the onerous task of dealing with spiritual renewal. During
the years of the socialist experiment, we Mongols were
forced to abandon our centuries-old traditions and cultural
heritage. Suffice it to say that virtually all the houses of
worship - sanctuaries of spiritual life - over 700 in all, were
destroyed, and the traditional script of the Mongols, an
important cultural heritage of mankind, was buried in
oblivion. The task is now to rectify this wrong. This is a
nation-wide task requiring enormous efforts and resources;
we cannot leave it to take care of itself.
For all the problems, Mongolia’s democratic reforms
are steadily gaining ground. The new democratic system of
governance proclaimed in the 1992 democratic Constitution
is being consolidated. The first-ever direct presidential
elections, held last June, culminated in the choice of a
President put forward by the new political parties. The legal
foundation of the ongoing reforms is being strengthened. It
has come to embrace all the key aspects of societal life.
The present Government has set itself the task of
checking the economic decline within a two-year period.
And the target seems to be within the realm of the possible.
We associate these gains primarily with the understanding
12 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
and support of the international community. In recent years
a donor community in support of Mongolia has emerged. A
donor meeting sponsored recently by the World Bank held
its third round in Tokyo, in which 23 countries and 6
international organizations took part. Grants and soft loans
by donor Governments significantly help in alleviating the
present difficulties, and lay a new basis for future
development. In addition, we are keenly interested in
attracting private-sector investment in Mongolia. This would
not only contribute to economic recovery but would also
help make future cooperation with our partners mutually
advantageous. The revised Foreign Investment Law creates
favourable conditions for such investment opportunities.
Furthermore, we consider that active involvement in
regional economic cooperation is an essential factor in
fulfilling the tasks of transition. With this in mind, we are
interested, for instance, in becoming a member of the Asia-
Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (APEC). We hope
that the States members of that organization will find it
possible to understand and support our position.
The United Nations has emerged as an important focal
point of international efforts and has assumed greatly
increased responsibilities in the areas of peacemaking,
peace-keeping and peace-building. The detailed report of the
Secretary-General on the work of the Organization is a lucid
illustration of that point.
Mongolia fully supports the efforts designed to reform
the United Nations, especially to restructure and revitalize
the activities of the General Assembly and to ensure that the
composition of the Security Council reflects the changing
realities of the day and the dramatically increased
membership of the world Organization.
Today, the United Nations is wrestling with many
problems and trying hard to ensure that it is able to meet the
many challenges of a rapidly changing world. It goes
without saying that the success of this undertaking will
depend on painstaking efforts and, above all, on the political
will and greater realism of Member States.


The delegation of the
Dominican Republic takes great pleasure in extending its
warmest congratulations to Mr. Samuel Insanally on his
well-merited election to preside over the General Assembly
at this forty-eighth session. A man from our America - and,
more specifically, from the Caribbean region, where both of
our countries are located - he has the required abilities and
experience successfully to guide our work at this session,
which must confront and deal with the major challenges
facing the international community, namely, the achievement
of peace and the economic and social development of our
nations.
We also wish to express our appreciation to the
outgoing President, Mr. Stoyan Ganev, for the wisdom with
which he led our deliberations at the previous session.
I should also like to take this opportunity to extend our
thanks to the Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for his commitment and for his
efforts to carry out the principles and purposes of the
Organization’s Charter.
Today, in our America, we are witnessing the
beginnings of a negotiated solution to conflict, and we are
pleased that in Central America, and particularly in El
Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala, the disputes that have
disturbed the peace and hindered the development of our
peoples are now being resolved at the negotiating table. In
our Island of Hispaniola, imperial and colonial rivalry
divided the population into two peoples who, over the course
of time, established two independent States - the Dominican
Republic, which we represent here, and the Republic of
Haiti. The efforts being made by the Haitian people and
their leaders, with international assistance in the form of
negotiations under the aegis of the United Nations and the
Organization of American States, are now beginning to bear
fruit and will, we trust, restore normalcy to that fraternal
country with the re-establishment of constitutional order.
In that connection our delegation reiterates its appeal to
the international community to lend real assistance to
stabilize the democratic regime and to ensure the economic
reconstruction of Haiti - assistance and cooperation adequate
to meet the needs of peace and employment. The
Dominican Republic, in so far as it is able, remains ready to
continue to cooperate with this fraternal people to lighten the
heavy burden of its current problems.
In this respect, we are pleased to report that the Prime
Minister of the Haitian Government, Mr. Robert Malval,
recently made an official visit to the Dominican Republic,
with a view to fully normalizing relations between the
Dominican and Haitian peoples and establishing the full
spectrum of relations between the two countries, in their
mutual interest. I am happy to say that the Haitian Prime
Minister was given a very warm welcome by the President
of the Dominican Republic, Mr. Joaquín Balaguer, who has
always been interested in finding a solution to our brother
country’s political conflict and especially in alleviating the
serious economic situation there. As a result of the meeting,
the two statesmen reached an agreement, subsequently
formalized, that will ensure the speedy and constructive
normalization of relations, with real reciprocal cooperation,
between our two States.
There is no more appropriate forum than this for me,
on behalf of my country and Government, to appeal again
for massive aid from the most developed nations of the
Earth to that afflicted and impoverished neighbouring brother
country.
Since the conquest and colonization of America, the
Dominican Republic has defended human rights. It was in
our island, Hispaniola, that a loud voice was first raised on
behalf of the rights of the indigenous inhabitants of our
American lands - the voice of Brother Antón de Montesinos,
in his famous Advent sermon. Faithful to that first call for
the redemption of our continent, our Government honours
this historical tradition, which is fully valid today in our
country’s official and private practice. It has been working
on instruments - which might eventually become
international in nature - that will contribute to giving
juridical force to that tradition.
18 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
Our country has advocated the universality of human
rights. We believe that neither geographical, economic,
social, religious nor cultural differences can ever be used as
a pretext for showing contempt for human rights.
The Dominican delegation believes that, because of the
increase in the membership of the United Nations - currently
at 184 countries - there should be a more equitable
representation in the Security Council, while at the same
time we continue to abide by the provisions of paragraph 1
of Article 23 of the United Nations Charter. Now that the
bipolarity of the past has disappeared and the use and abuse
of the veto are fading, the Council should become more
representative of the new international reality. This should
be done in broad consultations, after due reflection and with
account taken of the need for equity, so that the Council can
become more representative without its effectiveness being
in any way mitigated or weakened. Rather, its authority and
responsibility will be enhanced so that it can respond
effectively to any crisis with which the international
community might be confronted, as the Council has done
recently. In this regard, we consider that it would be
practical and feasible to give the Council greater flexibility
in meeting the just aspirations of nations, such as the
Republic of China, that wish to become Members of the
United Nations and cooperate in carrying out its principles.
I would now like to express our views on developments
in the international situation, particularly on conflicts that, in
one way or another, have been affecting international peace.
I shall refer first to the Central American crisis, which,
happily, today is on the road to a definitive solution because
of the positive evolution, under the auspices of the United
Nations, of the El Salvador peace agreements, and the recent
return to democracy in Guatemala, which augurs well for the
institutionalization of peace and prosperity in that region.
Next, we would like to refer to one of the most
complex and difficult conflicts facing the international
community today - that is, the existence of extreme
nationalism, which in some cases has led to fratricidal wars
and the annihilation of large groups of people because of
racial and cultural hatred. This has happened in the former
Yugoslavia, where even now, despite the efforts of the
United Nations and intensive diplomatic activity, blood is
still being shed between brother peoples that until recently
lived together under one flag. Our Government wishes to
see a swift solution to the situation in the former Yugoslavia
and reiterates its support for measures taken by the Security
Council, in particular the establishment of an international
war tribunal to pass judgement on crimes against humanity
committed in some areas of the conflict.
We would especially like to point to one positive
development that represents perhaps our best hope for peace
today: the transitional agreement between the Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Government of the
State of Israel. The long-standing conflict in the Middle
East engendered dangerous tension that has kept the entire
world in suspense and has been regarded as the potential
source of a future conflagration of incalculable
destructiveness.
In connection with the development to which I have
just referred - the agreement between the Palestinians and
the State of Israel - it might be time to defer consideration
of or remove the items on that conflict that have long
appeared on the General Assembly’s agenda. With this
reciprocal exchange of olive branches of peace, we can see
the promise of harmony between peoples that have been
living in such uneasy proximity.
We must recognize how the persistent diplomacy of the
United States contributed to securing the results that have
been achieved. The United States considered the situation
with a view to deciding what was possible in relations
between the Arab and Jewish peoples. The agreement
culminated in the signing at the White House in Washington.
In our opinion, that demonstrated unequivocally and very
clearly to international public opinion the sincerity of the
parties, who were fully aware of the extreme importance of
the commitments into which they were entering.
We must constantly stress the importance of the
environment. After economic crisis and the imbalance
between North and South, the major challenge facing
mankind is the environmental crisis. The gradual destruction
of ecosystems and the deteriorating quality of life of human
beings are unavoidable aspects of everyday existence for the
peoples of the world. Thus, it is essential that the course of
events be changed. The political will of Governments and
of all those who participate in organized civilian society will
be necessary to our taking up this great challenge, which
will involve commitment on the part of everyone - a
commitment from all mankind.
In that connection, the Dominican Republic supports the
general outline of the Plan of Action that was adopted at the
summit Conference on Environment and Development in Rio
de Janeiro in 1992. Here we have a valuable instrument for
political programming and regional cooperation to protect the
environment in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The latter part of the twentieth century has witnessed
major changes in world political affairs, ranging from the
end of the cold war to democratization in the countries of
Forty-eighth session - 11 October l993 19
Eastern Europe.Despite this ideological thaw, however, we
still have arms trafficking and nuclear arsenals and,
therefore, a serious threat to peace.
Let me refer once again to the situation in the Korean
peninsula and mention specifically North Korea, which is
continuing its nuclear research and investing enormous
resources in this undertaking. Let us invite the Government
of North Korea to become a party to the universal
agreements on the control of nuclear weapons. Let us invite
it to cooperate transparently and effectively with the
International Atomic Energy Agency in that body’s
important task of inspecting and monitoring nuclear
facilities. Willingness to do so would constitute evidence of
that Government’s respect for its own nation and of its
concern for the future of its people and of all mankind.
We support United Nations measures to put an end to
arms trafficking. We support efforts to ensure transparency
in military expenditures so that military activity may be
made more predictable, and peace and international security,
at the regional and world levels, strengthened.
Let me now turn to two important issues that are still
on the agenda of this Assembly.
May I, first, draw the attention of the international
community, as represented here, to the positive
developments in the area of drug trafficking, which are due
to the success of many measures aimed at combating and
eradicating what has for too long been one of the most
ominous scourges of mankind. None the less, we must
redouble our efforts to ensure that measures are implemented
both internally and internationally and result from
coordinated policies of all the nations represented here today.
The Dominican Republic has just become a party to the
1988 United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and the 1972
Protocol Amending the Single Convention on Narcotic
Drugs of 1961, bringing itself up to date on international
legislation in order the better to play its role in collaborating
with other States and agencies.
The other issue to which I wish to refer is the economic
crisis affecting most countries of the world. Today, the
phenomenon of globalization of the economy and integration
of regional blocs is typical of the international situation,
which is evolving so rapidly that countries such as mine can
no longer put off negotiations to determine their participation
in multilateral free-trade agreements, customs unions or
regional markets.
In this connection, the international activities of the
Dominican Republic focus on the economic programmes of
countries in our region and regional organizations that can
help in our development and in our enjoyment of technical
and financial cooperation.
The implementation of appropriate domestic policies by
our Government will ensure that trade and investment will
become the ideal means to strengthen bilateral relations,
underpinned, of course, by the unilateral granting of trade
benefits under the Caribbean Basin Initiative and by the
opening up of our market under the Americas Initiative.
In the new international order, another of the major
challenges that the Dominican Republic must face is the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its
possible implications; we understand that NAFTA, as a
theoretical possible outcome, would imply an effort towards
the complete liberalization of trade throughout the
hemisphere.
I should like to emphasize the Dominican Republic’s
strong support for holding a World Summit for Social
Development to take up matters relating to the social
situation in the world, particularly that of women, young
people, the elderly, the handicapped and families. The
Summit will have to deliver a clear undertaking for common
policies to defend and protect these important segments of
the world’s population collectively, and we hope that many
of our countries will take measures to extend coverage and
protection for these social sectors, especially for children and
the elderly.
We should like to draw to members’ attention a subject
of serious concern to my Government and country, and that
has complex and serious ramifications that will be brought
before the appropriate forums during the forty-eighth
General Assembly session. This is the Secretary-General’s
proposal to merge the International Research and Training
Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) with
the United Nations Development Fund for Women
(UNIFEM). Theoretically, the General Assembly will study
this proposal in November.
My Government attaches the greatest importance to this
decision, and requests this world forum to give it its closest
attention in order to avoid committing a grave injustice by
taking hasty action or the like.
INSTRAW was conceived at the First World
Conference on Women, held in Mexico City in 1975, and
was established as the result of a series of resolutions,
including, we should like to recall, Economic and Social
20 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
Council resolution 1979/11 of 9 May 1979. This resolution
specified clearly that the permanent headquarters of the
Institute was to be my country, the Dominican Republic, a
developing country.
Moreover, my Government gave the United Nations the
building that is being used as the Institute’s headquarters.
Not only that, it had to make significant investments in
terms of money and other resources in order to overhaul the
building to bring it up to the specifications required by the
Organization.
We request the Secretary-General to postpone any
action leading to merger between INSTRAW and UNIFEM
until such time as the General Assembly considers his
proposal and comes to its own conclusions on the matter.
Also, it would seem that there is an attempt being made
to ignore, unilaterally, the Agreement between the United
Nations and the host Government that is the legal framework
within which INSTRAW operates. My Government regards
this as a serious - an extremely serious - impropriety, and
reserves the right to use all relevant legal means to assert its
legitimate rights.
Finally, the delegation I lead calls upon the consciences
of all nations and on all those leaders who bear upon their
shoulders responsibility for the destiny of their countries and
the world, for peace, common sense and mutual respect to
prevail over violence and for there to be cooperation and
solidarity between peoples; for these are the supreme
purposes of this Organization.


At the outset, I wish to
congratulate Ambassador Insanally on his election to the
presidency of the General Assembly. The fact that he was
selected to guide our deliberations signifies the confidence
that Member States have in his well-known professional
qualities. I am sure that, under his guidance, the present
session of the Assembly will tackle the issues on its agenda
with courage and realism.
I would also like to place on record our appreciation for
the competence and wisdom of his predecessor, His
Excellency Mr. Stoyan Ganev, and for his outstanding
performance in steering the work of the General Assembly
during an eventful year.
My delegation takes joyful pride in welcoming Andorra,
the Czech Republic, Eritrea, Macedonia, Monaco and the
Slovak Republic to the family of nations. We believe that
their admission represents yet another milestone in further
consolidating the universality of this Organization. There is
no doubt that our community will be enriched and
strengthened by their contribution to the realization of the
ideals of the United Nations.
The excitement and hopefulness of 1989 already seem
to be part of a distant past. We both welcomed and were
unprepared for the events that marked the dramatic end of
the cold war. They generated a tidal wave of optimism
about the future of international relations. Fervent talk about
a rapidly changing world was the order of the day when we
entered the present decade. Little was done, however, to
determine and shape the dynamics and scope of the change.
It was more or less taken for granted that this change would
turn out to be for the better. That did not prove to be the
case. Accordingly, the creation of a new, desirable
international system continues to top the political agenda as
the most challenging task of our times.
The past 12 months have demonstrated yet again that
the new world in the making might at times be as dangerous
as the old, if not worse in certain respects. Nevertheless, we
should resist the impulse to indulge in a dark pessimism for
which there can be no legitimate cause. The crucial phase
of history we are going through calls for reflection and
positive action, not a defeatist mood. The international
community should not stand by in desperation and watch
conditions deteriorate. It must display the will to redirect
the course of history towards our expectations. There
definitely exists a political space for constructive initiatives
and a basis for cooperative action to that end.
It is the United Nations which defines and guards that
political space. Indeed, the United Nations is the foremost
symbol of modern internationalism. In these turbulent post-
cold-war years, hardly a day passes without the Organization
Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 35
being called upon to take the lead on some important task.
These tasks include missions for preserving or restoring
peace and security, the upholding of the rule of law, and
missions to ensure the survival of mankind, to help save the
environment, to combat social scourges and to rescue the so-
called failing societies.
Since the cold war drew to a close and the conflicts of
the transition era rose to the fore, United Nations
peace-keeping operations have undergone considerable
expansion in terms of their functions, size, geographical area
and degree of complexity. This process has occurred in
tandem with the rapid evolution of the international
landscape. The same background conditions have prompted
the emergence of preventive diplomacy, peace- enforcement
and peace-building as new concepts awaiting urgent
translation into practical and mutually supportive instruments
at the disposal of the international community. Turkey’s
response to this urgency is reflected in our contribution to
peace-keeping operations
As highlighted in the Secretary-General’s report entitled
"An Agenda for Peace" (A/47/277), effectively managing of
the crises currently confronting us and responding adequately
to the challenges ahead call for the elaboration of a shared
vision for the future of our Organization.
In this connection, the focus of priority attention should
be the Security Council. Today, the prestige and credibility
of the United Nations depend more than ever on the
effectiveness of that principal body. There is a widespread
call for the Security Council to become more responsive to
the needs of the current international scene. This can be
made possible only by making the Council more
representative of the new geopolitical realities. In other
words, the post-cold-war environment requires a fresh
approach towards the Council’s renovation and restructuring.
Hence, the discussion on the twin themes of equitable
representation and membership enlargement is very timely.
Turkey firmly believes that enlarging the Security
Council membership would enhance its effectiveness.
Enlargement should not be conceived of only as an increase
in the number of members, but should also envisage the
creation of a new category of seats to be held by States that
could be qualified as semi-permanent members.
Semi-permanent membership in the Council could rotate
among a specific number of States designated according to
certain objective criteria: population; geopolitical posture;
economic potential; record of contribution to the
maintenance of international peace and security; and
equitable geographical distribution. Since Turkey fully
meets these criteria, it considers itself qualified as a
candidate for that new category of membership.
A Security Council more responsive, representative,
transparent and accountable is a requirement inherent in the
spirit of Article 24 of the Charter. Hence, the
democratization of its structure would ensure more active
participation in the Council’s work. The moral ground for
the full implementation of the Council’s resolutions would
thereby be strengthened.
Few, if any, would contest the fact that it was the
tragedy of Bosnia and Herzegovina that dispelled the
euphoria prevalent during the earlier period of the post-
cold-war era. Genocide and "ethnic cleansing" were the
hallmarks of the tragedy. They were conducted with
impunity. We could neither halt, nor roll back the Serbian
aggression. Nor could we alleviate, in earnest the suffering
of the survivors.
The example of a civic State, embracing all its citizens
as equals, irrespective of their ethnic origin or religion, was
given to us in Bosnia where a mature multicultural
civilization had evolved over many centuries. No lament
over its destruction at the hands of ethnic chauvinism could
be exaggerated. Moreover, denying the Bosnians the means
for their legitimate self-defence amounts to a failure in due
support for democracy against tyranny. A most serious blow
has been dealt to the moral essence of international law and
to the contemporary principles of conduct among nations.
Any document endorsing the consequences of
expansionism, genocide and "ethnic cleansing" cannot usher
in real peace. No peace throughout history has been lasting
when based on rewarding injustice, aggression and racism.
We cannot relieve our conscience by fabricating realpolitik
excuses for our inaction and silence. Appeasement is no
policy, but partnership in wrongdoing.
The stakes in Bosnia are much higher than those related
to the survival of the Bosnian State and its people. They
include the validity of our hope to do away with ethnic and
religious warfare in the future. The betrayal of Bosnia as a
multicultural, multi-ethnic State, invalidates this hope - and
with it the fundamental principles of our Organization. If
we allow dictatorship and adventurism to get away with the
crimes they have committed in Bosnia, the post-cold-war
disorder may worsen. Continued denial of the right of the
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina to defend itself
aggravates the responsibility of the international community
for what is happening there. Should Bosnia and
Herzegovina disintegrate, not only the Balkans and Europe,
36 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
but the whole world, will eventually suffer the bitter
after-effects.
Turkey will continue to pursue actively the course of
justice and legitimacy to support the brave people of Bosnia
and Herzegovina in their struggle for survival and
democracy.
The sinister success of Serbian expansionism in Bosnia
has emboldened aggressors elsewhere. A tragedy of similar
proportions is occurring in the Caucasus, where Armenians
have occupied a fifth of Azerbaijani territory. Peace and
stability in a sensitive region neighbouring Turkey has been
seriously undermined. Security Council resolutions 822
(1993) and 853 (1993), calling for the immediate,
unconditional and complete withdrawal of the occupation
forces, are being ignored.
It should be borne in mind that short-term military
opportunism is not compatible with long-term interests.
Moreover, it is fraught with unpredictable dangers. Neither
in the Balkans nor in the Caucasus - nor, for that matter,
anywhere else - will Turkey ever accept the acquisition of
territory by force. Unless such gross violations of
international law are prevented and the principles of the
United Nations Charter vigorously upheld, the present
turmoil and confusion cannot be replaced by a just and
peaceful order.
It is with these thoughts in mind that Turkey strongly
endorses the observations made by the Secretary-General,
Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, in his statement on 30 August
last, at the sixty-sixth session of the Institute of International
Law in Milan. There he appropriately referred to ultra-
nationalism and micro-nationalism as two of the greatest
dangers menacing today’s international society. He
underlined that, by strengthening the nation State as the main
subject of international law, multilateralism preserves the
world community from these two great perils. His
admonition that
"Ultra-nationalism today may still be a temptation, at
times, for a number of major Powers nostalgic for the
period of hegemony"
is of particular relevance at this juncture of post-cold-war
developments.
Indeed, the darkening shadows of ultra-nationalism and
micro-nationalism, ethnic chauvinism and neo-racism have
loomed like phantoms behind the scenes in the crises that
have erupted during the last two years. The international
community has to cure itself of these diseases. We should
not let irredentist, hegemonic tendencies plague our future.
The newly emerging geopolitical pluralism of Eurasia has to
be kept alive with a moral commitment to the quest for
global democratic interdependence.
Most of the threats to international peace in our time
are bred in climates of intolerance. We have to develop a
new mind-set for the recognition and acknowledgment of
other peoples’ right to be different. We have to enlarge our
capacity for give and take.
Tolerance is the foundation of civil society. To build
a just and peaceful world order, such societies must
proliferate. To that end, we need to promote a culture of
tolerance all over the world.
In this spirit, and as a follow-up to resolution 47/124,
Turkey will submit during the current session a draft
resolution proposing the proclamation of 1995 as the United
Nations Year for Tolerance. Adoption of that draft
resolution would help to accelerate the pace of the efforts
made in the struggle against all forms of fanaticism,
fundamentalism, discrimination and persecution.
Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 37
Tolerance and social development are correlated
concepts. Accordingly, my Government attaches great
importance to concerted action at the global level aimed at
solving social problems and easing the tensions they cause.
Hence, we are amply satisfied that the Chilean initiative for
the convening in March 1995 of a World Summit for Social
Development has borne fruit. Turkey will prepare for this
Summit in earnest, and looks forward to contributing to its
success.
In this connection, Turkey welcomes the Secretary-
General’s latest report on the work of the organization, in
which he courageously addresses the gravity of the situation
stemming from the difficulty in raising funds for
development aid experienced since the end of the cold war.
He accurately observes that the poorer countries no longer
hold the same interest for the rich as they did in the previous
decades of ideological competition. My Government
believes that activities for development are just as important
as peace-keeping operations. Indeed, it is those activities,
including their humanitarian assistance dimension, which
provide the foundations for global peace and security.
Turkey, stretching its budgetary means to the utmost,
continues to be increasingly active as a donor and
contributor in the fields of economic and humanitarian
support and solidarity.
Since the beginning of 1992 we have implemented an
economic assistance package amounting to $2,893 million.
The package includes technical assistance, project financing,
training grants and soft loans, made available to 32 countries
in four continents. We are firmly committed to continuing
our efforts in this domain. To increase efficiency in terms
of coordination, we have set up the Turkish International
Cooperation Agency.
Over the same period 28 countries in three continents,
stricken by natural and/or man-made disasters, have received
humanitarian aid worth a total of $213 million from Turkey,
in cash or in kind, as well as various forms of relief and
accommodation for refugees.
Offering as they do a gloomy general picture, the past
12 months are nevertheless not totally bereft of reasons for
optimism, which include: the processes culminating in the
restoration of democracy in Haiti and Cambodia; the positive
developments leading towards the building of a democratic,
united, free and non-racial South Africa; and the peaceful
evolution of Eritrea to independence. A new diplomacy for
democracy seems to be making headway. All of us must
bring our full energies to bear on this phenomenon so that
it may gain momentum. That momentum, in its turn, will
give impetus to the consolidation of peace, because
democracies seldom fight each other.
The only way to advance towards democracy is
progressive and sustained democratization. The distance
covered in this process is measured by the degree of respect
for human rights and the rule of law. The convening of the
World Conference on Human Rights earlier this year enabled
the international community to identify clearly the
indispensable common denominators needed in the building
of pluralistic civil societies. The Conference re-emphasized
the importance of the global task of promoting and
protecting all human rights and fundamental freedoms, and
confirmed the commitment of the international community
to securing the full and universal enjoyment of those rights
through increased and sustained international cooperation and
solidarity.
The Vienna Declaration includes a comprehensive
definition of terrorism as any activity aiming at the
destruction of human rights, fundamental freedoms and
democracy, threatening the territorial integrity of States and
destabilizing legitimately constituted Governments. We
strongly endorse the call by the Conference to continue
taking the necessary steps to prevent and combat terrorism.
The historic breakthrough achieved in the Middle East
peace process holds the promise of concord and cooperation
not only between the Palestinians, Israel and their Arab
neighbours, but on a much wider regional scale. Its positive
ripple effects may set in motion multi-dimensional dynamics
that could transform an entire area, stretching from the
Atlantic to the Gulf and from the eastern Mediterranean to
the Indian Ocean, into one of harmony, dialogue and
co-prosperity.
As a country that neighbours the Middle East, has a
record of constructive involvement in the region’s affairs and
good traditional ties with all the parties to this dispute,
Turkey hails with the utmost satisfaction this momentous
shift from enmity towards reconciliation.
The momentum so gained should be fully utilized.
Irreversibility of the process is not enough; the process must
advance at an accelerated pace towards the ultimate
objectives defined in Security Council resolutions 242 (1967)
and 338 (1973).
The wise, far-sighted and courageous architects who
designed this blueprint for rebuilding amity and peace in the
Middle East may, as ever, rest assured of Turkey’s firm
38 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
support for and contribution to their mission. We are
committed to assisting their endeavours in every way.
Three years after the outbreak of the Gulf crisis the
people of Iraq are still subjected to hardship. This
regrettable situation results from the Baghdad Government’s
reluctance to comply fully with the requirements of the
Security Council resolutions relating to the Gulf War
settlement. Compliance would tangibly demonstrate Iraq’s
interest in resuming its place in the international community.
However, we cannot remain indifferent to the suffering
of the people of Iraq. My Government firmly believes that
the international community must urgently consider
imaginative ways to break this vicious circle.
Turkey has been forthcoming in providing Iraq with
humanitarian assistance since 1991. By the same token, we
have decided to launch a new humanitarian assistance
programme worth $13.5 million aimed at the entire needy
population of northern Iraq. Our approach is without
prejudice to Iraq’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.
Along with the Iraqi people, a number of countries,
particularly Iraq’s neighbours, are also exposed to the
adverse effects of the continued economic sanctions. The
international community should also devise a set of measures
aimed at redressing their mounting losses.
My Government is concerned over the worsening
situation in Jammu and Kashmir. We wish to see the
dispute between Pakistan and India over the Kashmir issue
resolved through the resumption of sustained dialogue. To
that end, Turkey will continue to support Pakistan’s
endeavours in pursuit of a negotiated settlement of this
long-standing problem.
As to Cyprus, it is certainly not my intention to indulge
in a consideration of the past. I am quite aware that this is
not the time, not would it be profitable, to enter into
recriminations over history. What is important is to
understand the issue correctly while acknowledging the facts
underlying the present problems and the profound mistrust
between the two communities. We must take careful
account of those problems and the present difficulties, but
we must build for the future.
Today the Cyprus question has reached a stage where
the common desire and purpose of the international
community is to promote an early and comprehensive
solution. To that end, the Secretary-General continues his
mission of good offices. As ever, Turkey supports the
Secretary-General’s efforts aimed at bringing about a freely
negotiated, just and viable settlement. No doubt the
realization of that objective requires a display of goodwill,
understanding and patience by both negotiating partners in
the island. Moreover, it also calls for a carefully balanced
and determined approach in order to heal the profound
mistrust driving the parties apart. It is with such
considerations that Turkey has endorsed the concept of
confidence-building measures, the scope and contents of
which must be acceptable to both communities.
Whatever the reasons that may still divide the two
sides, the negotiating process must continue. It is high time
for all concerned to display realism and act with vision in
search of a negotiated, durable solution.
At present a campaign is under way for early general
elections in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. We
earnestly hope that once the elections are over the Turkish
Cypriot side will again be able to continue to play its
constructive role in the negotiating process.
Turkey lies at the very epicentre of several regions
making up the most turbulent part of the Northern
hemisphere. We are actively engaged in the post-cold-war
search for new approaches to build peace through
multilateral action. Our objective is to reinforce the
international security system. Only the United Nations can
provide legitimacy to regional arrangements and institutions
should the latter decide to act in the fields of militarily
backed preventive diplomacy, peace-keeping and peace
enforcement.
All three of those categories of action are in demand on
Turkey’s periphery. My Government deploys all of its
available assets to help defuse and resolve these crises. We
strive to create and consolidate interlinked areas of solidarity
and processes of cooperation.
In that effort we proceed from two basic tenets. First,
we believe that the evolution of the international
environment towards a better future is not only desirable but,
in certain conditions, also possible. Secondly, we are of the
opinion that such a future may materialize only through the
reinforcement of respect for the rule of law along with the
universal observance and implementation of the principles of
democracy and tolerance.
The United Nations was created to preserve peace.
However, it cannot be expected to help resolve the collective
security problems of our times unless its Member States are
willing and prepared to assume their responsibilities as
Forty-eighth session - 30 September l993 39
upholders and enforcers of the United Nations Charter and
the contemporary norms of international behaviour.
With the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the
Organization to be celebrated in two years’ time, all of us
here must admit that the main objective defined in the
Charter, namely, "to save succeeding generations from the
scourge of war," has not yet been achieved. In the
strengthening of peace and security our immediate task is
fully to mobilize the potential of the United Nations for
resolving regional and local conflicts, which have
proliferated since the end of the cold war.
For the future well-being of all nations, it is high time
to act with the vision and forbearance that peace requires.
Turkey stands committed to continue making its own
contribution to attaining that objective.


On
behalf of the Federated States of Micronesia, I am honoured
this morning to address the General Assembly at its forty-
eighth session, and I bring the warm greetings of our
President and our people.
Given the many challenges facing the Organization and
the entire world in the coming year, we are pleased by your
election, Mr. President. You have our confidence and
support as you assume this high office, so ably discharged
by your predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Stoyan Ganev, who
enjoyed our respect and gratitude.
Special recognition must also be given to the
Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, under whose
leadership the United Nations has taken difficult steps in a
process of redefinition and reorganization, which is
necessary if we are to take advantage of the opportunities
presented by the new world order and work together in the
interests of all mankind.
During the past year we have seen the membership of
the United Nations draw ever closer to the goal of
universality. We thus congratulate the Czech Republic, the
Slovak Republic, The Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Eritrea, Monaco and Andorra, and to each of
them we extend a welcome and pledge cooperation and
friendship.
Our people are deeply saddened by the loss of life and
the suffering caused by the earthquake in India last month,
and we express to the Indian people our sincere sympathy
and pledge to them that we will participate in any effort
undertaken by this Organization.
Not many years ago, the appropriate role of the
"micro-States" within the world community was to be seen
but seldom heard, and even to be excluded from many
forums. In our own small island developing State, we, as
the body politic of a classic "micro-State", hesitated to assert
our views on international affairs, thinking that a small
nation could not make a difference in or have an impact
upon the resolution of global issues.
Today I draw attention to a significant but less
noticeable feature of the new order. Throughout history,
international relations have been conducted on a competitive
basis, where power and size made a difference. But I am
happy to note that things have changed for the better, that a
change has begun to take place; and I think it is one that has
gathered increased momentum even within the past few
years. Nations large and small, in the process of working
together under the Charter, have begun to focus their
attention and direct their efforts along the lines of
commonality of interests and problems - and not merely to
pay lip-service. Indeed there is a growing, genuine
phenomenon, which is seen partly in the unfolding of events
in New York, but even more clearly in the impressive
outcomes of the Rio Conference on Environment and
Development and the recent World Conference on Human
Rights. Another sign is the entire world community’s keen

anticipation of the upcoming Conference on Population and
Development and the World Summit for Social
Development.
I do not mean to suggest a disappearance of national
interests; but, across a wide spectrum of social, development
and even security matters, there is a growing recognition that
common interests give strength to new alliances on an
inclusive rather than exclusive basis. Thus, there is good
reason for continued progress towards self-determination
among peoples, since they can now be confident that they
will not be alone in addressing the great difficulties of
starting out. For similar reasons, many of the "micro-States"
have concluded recently that membership in this
Organization is imperative, despite the burdens and
responsibilities involved.
As this session of the General Assembly proceeds, we
are becoming aware of the changes in the Organization in
terms of organization, administration and policy. There may
be some who doubt that Members have the will or
commitment to achieve consensus on these changes and to
re-establish the proper financial basis for a United Nations
that can be responsive to the present. I submit, however,
that any such doubts must be dispelled during our work here
in the coming months, for we simply cannot afford to fail.
The United Nations is no longer an optional feature of the
international community. The common concerns of mankind
in the great issues to which I alluded earlier cannot be
addressed from behind national fences. And so, I appeal to
all Members to commit themselves fully to reaching at this
session the goal of preparing the United Nations to become
the central instrument through which we can work to secure
the future well-being of our peoples.
I believe that the direct experience of my country
within our brief time as a Member provides unmistakable
evidence of the strength of concerted, international action.
Only a few years ago, having emerged from colonialism, our
best hopes for development lay in dependence for an
indefinite period on the generosity of a few friends, chief
among them the United States. Moreover, as inhabitants of
small, low-lying islands, we were helpless in the face of the
looming threat of sea-level rise and other natural disasters
caused by human-induced climate change.
Today, through the work of this body and with our
participation, the special development needs and
environmental concerns of all small island developing States
are being carefully addressed in a number of settings,
including the Conventions on climate change and
biodiversity and the follow-up activities of the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED). The early work of the Commission on
Sustainable Development promises attention to our problems,
as can be seen in the upcoming first Global Conference on
the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing
States.
All this is not happening because of an outburst of
charitable sympathy by the developed countries, but rather
in the context of addressing a complex of issues in which
peoples everywhere have a stake. Herein, I think, lies the
real strength and value of the United Nations - to us and to
all.
During the past year, my Government has found
encouragement in the ways in which this Organization as a
whole recognizes the difficulties that small States encounter
as they try to participate fully in its work. We deeply
appreciate the opportunities afforded to us through the
contribution of Members to voluntary funds that have
enabled our participation in important functions. We also
acknowledge the instances where calls by small States for
the holding of meetings here in New York to make our
presence possible have been heard. Furthermore, we
appreciate that, whenever possible, special measures for our
benefit - such as limiting the number of simultaneous
meetings - are being taken.
For our part, small States are now more often coming
together on common issues to speak with one voice for
greater effectiveness and efficiency. Here, I cite the
Alliance of Small Island States as a successful example on
the issue of climate change and other UNCED-related
matters. In a more general sense, the regional groups
operate to the benefit of small States, affording us
opportunities of access to elected positions by virtue of
allocations and the principle of rotation. I am sure there are
other factors favourable to us that I have failed to mention
here.
Yet, even with all this, I must state that we are very
hard pressed to participate in the broad range of United
Nations activities, both financially and owing to the sheer
volume and complexity of those activities. For this reason,
and because so many other Members are in similar
situations, I propose that the United Nations, as part of its
reorganization efforts, undertake a comprehensive
examination of the obstacles that exist to the full
participation of small States with a view towards identifying
institutional rather than ad hoc solutions. After all,
achieving universality in the United Nations would be a
hollow accomplishment so long as a significant number of
Forty-eighth session - 13 October l993 3
Members remain incapable of reaching their effective
potential within the Organization. We look forward to
addressing this issue during the course of the forty-eighth
session of the General Assembly.
My country is a member of the South Pacific Forum,
an organization of Governments of Pacific island countries
which, each year prior to this date, meets to address matters
of concern to our region and to provide an expression of our
joint views on many issues before this body. I wish to state
our complete solidarity with that expression, contained in the
communiqué from our recent meeting in the Republic of
Nauru, which will be presented for incorporation in the
records of this Assembly.
The Forum members have been outspoken in opposing
the testing of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass
destruction. Our optimism ran very high at the Nauru
meeting because it seemed that at last the nuclear Powers
had found the resolve to bring this dangerous chapter of
history to an end. Now, with reports of a recent test by one
of them, the Federated States of Micronesia is deeply
concerned that the great progress made towards achieving a
comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty will be reversed. We
call on all nuclear Powers not to treat this recent aberration
as an incentive to turn backwards, but rather to restore and
hold to their collective discipline.
The issue of fundamental human rights is interwoven
into every aspect of the activities undertaken by this body.
For too long many Governments have been content to avoid
confronting it directly as a matter of multilateral
responsibility. I am glad to say that we sense some
improvement in the situation despite continuing occurrences
of the most repugnant kinds of human rights violations.
In this decade, we have witnessed unprecedented
changes in world conditions, brought about in part by a
growing unanimity of resolve among peoples to express and
exercise their fundamental human rights. Recently,
prominent States have been dismantled, leading to the
formation of other States that afford broader opportunities
for the expression of these rights. Sadly, at the same time,
other States continue to go to great lengths to suppress them.
The world finds itself rejoicing in newly established
freedoms but also feeling deep revulsion over atrocities and
repression of shocking magnitude. If any lesson emerges
from this dichotomy, it must be that isolated progress is not
enough and that fundamental human rights issues can no
longer be relegated to the background in a set of supposedly
higher multilateral priorities. Rather, human rights must be
the cornerstone of our work, which must be guided by the
principles of the United Nations Charter and the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
Accordingly, my Government expresses its support for
the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action agreed
upon at the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna
in June this year. We support the adoption of that
Declaration by the General Assembly at its forty-eighth
session.
In keeping with the principles of that Declaration, I
wish to affirm my Government’s strong and unconditional
support for the universality of human rights and for the
effective multilateral instruments that give meaning and
definition to the concept.
As an early priority, our new nation has undertaken a
close examination of the existing instruments with a view to
freely assuming obligations under them, as is consistent with
our Constitution. As a first step, we have acceded to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, and we anticipate
further action on other instruments as well.
One of the very important concerns that is interlinked
with all our Government’s hopes for a better future is the
rights of women. We fully support the development of
effective new instruments in the cause of women’s rights in
order to secure their protection against discrimination and
abuse.
As a nation comprised entirely of indigenous peoples,
my Government also expresses its solidarity with all
indigenous peoples of the world and particularly those
subjected to deprivation of their fundamental human rights
within their own homelands.
In this the International Decade for the Eradication of
Colonialism it is important that this body redouble its efforts
to ensure that the peoples of the remaining Non-Self-
Governing Territories are given every opportunity to exercise
their right to self-determination and self-government. While
the obstacles to self-determination for the remaining
Territories are minor compared to those that are being
confronted so dramatically in Eastern Europe and in
Palestine, it remains our moral responsibility to support the
right to self-determination for all peoples under colonial
administration.
Today, the enlarged membership of the United Nations
is in itself strong testimony to the success of decolonization;
let us hark back to our own earlier struggles and recommit
ourselves to the complete elimination of colonialism.
4 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session
My Government welcomes the establishment of the
International Tribunal, and the recent election of its
members, to try perpetrators of war crimes in the former
Republic of Yugoslavia. Still, we would support the
establishment of a permanent international human rights
tribunal. The independent, juridical composition of any such
body should place it above concerns regarding political
intervention while denying human rights violators any refuge
from defined international responsibility.
The Government of the Federated States of Micronesia
attaches great importance to the issue of fundamental human
rights, and will continue to participate in the work of this
body towards a world community in which all peoples live
without threat of encroachment upon these fundamental
rights.
It has been well established by actions of this body that
the right to development is itself a fundamental human right.
But to recognize a right is one thing: to secure the exercise
of that right is much more difficult. A great deal is said and
done here at the United Nations every year to address the
needs of developing countries and peoples, not to mention
the considerable resources that are mobilized bilaterally
towards that end. Yet we continue to see wide variations in
the degree of effectiveness of that assistance and in the
results of efforts by developing countries themselves.
This has led an increasing number of us to question
whether there might not exist a number of identifiable
factors that prevent development efforts from achieving
success. If those factors could be defined with precision and
recognized where they are present, it might well be possible
to attain significant increases in economies and outcomes.
On Papua New Guinea’s welcome suggestion, and with its
welcome leadership - and after considerable discussion and
extensive exchanges of views between eminent leaders in the
developing world - this matter has been placed before the
Assembly as agenda item 151, entitled "United Nations
initiative on opportunity and participation". We shall join
others in sponsoring a draft resolution to be presented under
this item and calling for a comprehensive, systematic and
thorough study of the encumbrances to full opportunity and
participation in development, with particular reference to the
economies of developing countries. If properly supported
and carried out, this initiative would make possible
significant breakthroughs in the effort to secure this
important and fundamental human right, with equality and
equity for all.
The Federated States of Micronesia pays a tribute to the
enlightened men and women who gave life to the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED) process and focused the world’s attention on the
need to begin replacing wasteful and polluting practices with
sustainable development. This movement is especially
well-timed for my country, since our development planning
is still in the early stages and, as a consequence, and with
the encouragement and support of the world community, we
now have in place a national environmental management
strategy that provides an essential complement to our
development-planning efforts.
We intend for our country to become a model of
effective partnership with other nations, and with this body,
demonstrating the application of new, clean technologies in
order to accommodate sustainable development within a
small, pristine environment.
Of course, as a nation of remote and widely dispersed
small islands, many of which are low-lying atolls, we
experience all the difficulties recognized in section G of
chapter 17 of Agenda 21 as inhibiting the development of
small island countries. Thus, we are thankful for the
opportunity now before us to enhance general understanding
of those difficulties through the Global Conference on the
Sustainable Development of Small Island States.
As a member of the Alliance of Small Island States, we
are participating fully in that process. It was most
encouraging to note, at the recent preparatory conference, the
strong participation by developed countries and also the solid
support from our colleagues in the Group of 77. We shall
fully reciprocate that support in all appropriate settings
because, despite our awareness of our own problems, we
know that virtually all developing countries exhibit one or
more disabling characteristics that distinguish them from the
others. While we are part of a relatively large grouping of
countries that share similar characteristics and disabilities, all
developing countries deserve to have attention paid to their
particular obstacles to development.
In that light, we perceive the Barbados Conference next
year as an important early milestone in the post-Rio process,
not only for small island developing States but for all
nations, developed and developing, that believe as we do in
the Rio Declaration and in Agenda 21. The Barbados
Conference is, in our view, the first real test of Agenda 21.
It may seem at times that we of the region of the
Pacific islands are overly-preoccupied about our
environment, and that we take too broad a view of the
potential impact resulting from the actions of others. We
raise our voices loudly and often on the subject of
Forty-eighth session - 13 October l993 5
human-induced climate change and sea-level rise, but many
say that it may not happen. We speak out against nuclear
testing, especially in and among our islands, but those who
are more powerful say that it probably is not harmful. We
strongly urge that lethal toxic substances such as plutonium
and chemical weapons not be transported through or stored
within our region, but even some of our closest friends do so
regardless, insisting that in all likelihood there is no danger.
Are we too concerned? Are we naive? I believe that we are
not, because the Pacific region appears to be a vast, thinly
populated ocean area and thus a prime location for the dirty
business of others - but that region is our home and our
responsibility.
Not only must we provide for ourselves from its
bounty, but we are also stewards of what is coming to be
recognized in scientific circles as the last remaining great
unspoiled natural resource of the planet. Our fisheries are
plentiful, but they could be threatened if experiences
elsewhere in the world are repeated. Our air is still clean,
but we now know we are vulnerable to occurrences
elsewhere. Our water is still pure, but we have seen other
seas contaminated by unsustainable practices. We must, and
will continue to, speak out.
Our region is not simply the victim of the callous
disregard of the powerful for the consequences visited upon
the poor or the weak. Rather, we recognize that for
centuries mankind has regarded the vast oceans as free
space, open to all passage and exploitation. Although
exclusive economic zones and multilateral treaties have had
major impact, the fact remains that the Pacific Ocean is
today the world’s ultimate "back yard".
My country’s plea, then, is quite simple and
straightforward. We call on all members of the world
community to join us, in the spirit of Rio, in a true
partnership for the sustainable development, not just of one
or more Pacific island countries, but of our ocean and all
that is in it. One important focus must, of course, be upon
the land and coastal areas within our region, in order to
accommodate appropriate development without degrading
either the land or its surrounding marine space. But another,
broader, focus must be on the ocean itself - to respect and
build upon the growing scientific knowledge of its complex
ecological systems.
It is well known that the Federated States of
Micronesia, along with other low-lying island countries of
the World, is literally frightened that its scarce land space
may be made uninhabitable and ultimately disappear if even
the moderate predictions of global warming and sea-level
rise come to pass. But if this were the only concern with
regard to human-induced climate change, loss of biodiversity
and unsustainable development, we would be hard put to call
upon the world at large to make fundamental changes in the
way it lives. Ours, however, is by no means an isolated
concern. As the South Pacific Forum Heads of Government
have stressed for some years, the fate of the islands is an
advance warning of things to come, as we have predicted.
Thanks to the trends that I discussed earlier in respect
of the modern realignment of motivations for international
cooperation, I have tremendous confidence that we, and our
children and their children, will succeed not only in
preserving the environment but also in maintaining the pace
towards the ultimate goals of peace, enjoyment of human
rights and social enrichment, as enshrined in the Charter.
My country pledges its efforts within this great Organization,
during this forty-eighth session of the General Assembly and
afterwards, towards the attainment of these ends.