Aral Sea crisis became one of the biggest ecological disasters in the history of mankind - N. Nazarbayev

Speaking to journalists and members of official delegations, the Head of State thanked the President of Turkmenistan for the traditionally warm welcome and noted the Summit’s high level.

- It is symbolic that our meeting is held right after Kurban Ait, the holy holiday for all Muslims. Taking this opportunity, I would like to wish our fraternal nations prosperity, peace and well-being,  Nursultan Nazarbayev said.

The President of Kazakhstan pointed out that the Aral Sea crisis became one of the biggest ecological disasters in the history of mankind and noted that over the past half century the area of ​​the sea water area had decreased by 9 and the volume of water by 30 times.

- Annually to 80 million tons of poisonous salts wind up from the dried-up bottom of the Aral Sea. They move faster by dust storms for many thousands of kilometres - from Western Europe to the peaks of the Himalayas, adversely affecting the health of people and ecosystems of all our countries, the Head of State said.

Nursultan Nazarbayev noted that the parties found it necessary to appeal to the world community, the UN, all funds and banks that deal with this problem, to support the efforts of the founding states of IFAS aimed at improving the environmental situation in the Aral area.

- We have in turn agreed to improve the Fund’s activity. In a narrow format, we frankly and honestly discussed all the issues, including the revision of outdated decisions, and also analyzed the activities of all its governing and executive bodies, the President of Kazakhstan said.

The Head of State noted the importance of economical use of irrigation water and modern technologies, including drip irrigation, which reduces water costs by 50-60% and increases productivity by 4-5 times.

- There have been very useful proposals based on modern scientific approaches. For example, to strengthen the salt at the bottom of the green plantations that are resistant to it, which help improve the ecological situation and at the same time serve as a source of feed for farm animals,  Nursultan Nazarbayev said.

The President of Kazakhstan indicated that all proposals are in the Summit Communiqué and noted that the Turkmen side will summarize them, and the executive committee will develop a clear plan for further actions.

In conclusion, the Head of State said that the parties had considered in detail the issues of convergence of positions on water management, water and energy and environmental aspects of the area, and stressed that Kazakhstan highly appreciates the results of the talks.

“The Qazaq Times”