Heads Of Government

"I am aware of the recent discussions about creating a nuclear-free zone in the Korean peninsula. But, in my view, it is meaningless to talk about declaring a nuclear-free zone in Korea alone. For the Korean peninsula to be protected against a nuclear threat, the neighboring countries of China and the Soviet Union must be free of nuclear weapons. To exclude this factor and talk only about U.S. nuclear weapons in (South) Korea--and I am not aware of whether they exist here--is not logical. The three countries that possess nuclear weapons (in this region) should get together and discuss the reduction of nuclear weapons. That, I think, is more logical."

"North Korea’s recent decision to go along with South Korea in joining the United Nations separately means a change in North Korea’s policy toward the South remains to be seen. In these circumstances, I believe that South Korea and the United States must continue to maintain their solid cooperative relationship."

"I emphasized that authoritarianism . . . should be removed and that we should renovate both the system and the way of thinking that then prevailed. In my inaugural speech, I asked political leaders and government officials not to turn me into a Don Quixote. I emphasized the need for a completely fresh way of thinking . . . . Although the authority of the president should be preserved, authoritarianism should be eliminated."

"As the nation transforms itself into a democracy, the public expects and demands more than ever that politicians and political parties work harder in the best interest of the country, the people and society. Our politicians, however, have given the impression that, on the contrary, they are engrossed in self-serving maneuvers to advance the interests of only their parties, factions or themselves, personally. The process of liquidating such negative political legacies of the old era has progressed more slowly than the people expected."

"Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan is one of a handful of leaders from the former Soviet Union who have survived the post-Communist transition while retaining the authoritarian methods favored by the Soviets. His name is synonymous with torture, and there is strong evidence that the United States outsourced the interrogation of terror suspects to Uzbekistan to take advantage of Karimov’s relaxed moral standards. In 2005, Karimov’s excesses came out of the closet when he ordered the massacre of hundreds of his citizens."

"The independence is a great event for us, which has entirely changed the meaning and essence of our life and opened up a new page in our history. The independence is valued and revered by us as it has liberated our homeland and our people from the chains of old despotic regime, paved way to establishing a national democratic state and building a prosperous life, being equal to all countries and nations. It is the independence that will remain forever in our history since it has allowed us to restore our trampled down values, faith and religion, honor and conscience, to realize our identity and build our future that caters to the dreams and aspirations of our people and our national interests."

"The people strongly demand an end to the authoritarian system. It has become a stark reality that an authoritarian system can no longer maintain national unity, achieve economic development and preserve national security."

"Do not interfere in our affairs under the pretext of furthering freedom and democracy. Do not ... tell us what to do, whom to befriend and how to orient ourselves."

"Such people Islamists] must be shot in the head. If necessary, if you lack the resolve, I’ll shoot them myself."

"I place the organization ahead of individuals. I think two ordinary men are better than one genius. I always choose teamwork rather than individual efforts."

"On the threshold of a new century, international security and stability are still among the fundamental problems facing the contemporary world. The only difference is that instead of remnants of the cold war and the associated obstacles, international terrorism, extremism, aggressive nationalism and separatism are the dangerous detonators that can undermine peace and stability. Uzbekistan fully supports the basic United Nations principle of the indivisibility of security."

"Uzbekistan advocates strict and unconditional application by all States of the international nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime. Without this, one can hardly speak about maintaining strategic stability either on the global or the regional level."

"First of all, we have to raise to a new, higher level of reform in the field of freedom of expression and information, human rights and freedoms, to further improve the legal system, the development of civil society, and it should be noted that in these areas there is still a lot to do."

"The military was the last resort to contain social and political chaos. It would have been very dangerous if the military had faltered . . . . The troops were mobilized to save the nation. We did not intend to take power. It is not proper at all to link the incident with a coup."

"I did not desire to become a politician or a presidential candidate. I think it is my fate, shaped by the conditions of an era."

"We never brag. The growth of our GDP is 8 percent. For that there were preparations, every day preparations since we became independent, we've been making plans. Only in our five principles, we never and nowhere, from a big or small tribune, never showed off. If needed, I'll say it again and again, bragging, whoever is bragging, bragging is about just a country, which just has its name and we don't go that way."

"Our countries freed themselves from the repetitive incursions of the bandit and terrorist groups from the territory of Afghanistan, and, most importantly, continuous fears posed by the threat of an assault on our territory of Taliban who masterminded the earlier incursions and went on the rampage. Uzbekistan, the country that had to take a difficult decision to back up the antiterrorist coalition, at the most critical time, extends the words of appreciation for eliminating this threat to all countries involved, and first and foremost, to the USA for taking the lead and shouldering the main burden of disrupting the strongholds of international terrorism and returning Afghanistan to the life in peace."

"One of the most moving experiences for me was to see realized the people’s desire to elect the president with their own hands and to see the release of politicians and others who were imprisoned because of their conviction."

"The other former Soviet republics, except Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, were headed by communist party chiefs who restyled themselves as patriots and used their political patronage to secure themselves in power. Nursultan Nazarbaev in Kazakhstan was typical. He put his long-established group of clients in the main offices of state and gave outrageous benefit to his family as privatisation proceeded. He overrode constitutional and legal obstacles; his police used torture against dissenters. His policies blatantly discriminated in favour of individuals and groups of Kazakh nationality. In central Asia and the south Caucasus it was the same story. The new leaderships had familiar faces. The post-communist presidents and their regimes were more brutal than anything witnessed in the region since the death of Stalin."

"All of northern and northeastern Kazakhstan is actually part of southern Siberia. It is settled mostly by Russians, who, just like the other non-Kazakhs--together making up 60% of Kazakhstan's population--are being repressed in their national, cultural, business and daily life. How can a minority govern a majority? Only through duplicity and force. That's exactly what happened in the recent "elections" in Kazakhstan. Kazakh President Narsultan Nazarbayev today is regarded in the West as a great democrat. But he has already become an effective dictator."

"We managed to build a successful Kazakhstan state with a modern market economy on the ruins of the Soviet Union, create peace and stability within a multi-ethnic and multi-religious Kazakhstan. For the first time in our centuries-old history, international legal recognition of the Republic of Kazakhstan has been secured. Kazakhstan has been put on the world map, where it did not exist as a state. We have our own flag, anthem, coat of arms."

"The systemic transformation of the current world is a strategic challenge for our people. We must be ready to accept them."

"Finally, it is important to move from an unproductive sanctions regime to direct dialogue between the leaders of the key global powers who are shaping the future of the world. In this regard, it is necessary to discuss ways out of the current geopolitical crisis between the representatives of the United States, China, Russia and the European Union. I am negotiating with the leaders of these states. It is necessary to build this work from a dialogue of key think tanks with a further transition to the ministerial and higher levels."

"In a short period of time, we were jointly able to build economic corridors that bypassed complex natural landscapes and geopolitical contradictions. Thanks to modern logistics and mutual understanding of states, goods from Southeast Asia can reach the cities of Northern Europe in just two weeks. At the heart of this is pragmatism and the pursuit of prosperity."

"I have always been and remain a sincere supporter of the well-known formula – "Economy first, then politics". This principle is comprehensive, extending to both domestic and foreign policy of our country. This approach ensured consistency in all spheres of Kazakhstan's development, i.e. from economic reforms to building pragmatic relations with partners in the international arena."

"Fellow citizens, we must all realize that both the fruit of the growth that we have achieved thus far and the opportunity at hand to make a big leap forward are too precious to spoil. Not only I, but all citizens, deeply desire to successfully carry out sustained economic development, a peaceful change of administrations, and the '88 Olympics that will be a catalyst for national prosperity."

"At the same time, however, many of my fellow citizens who remember our political past must be worried whether or not a direct presidential election system will function without a major hitch. And yet, I am confident that if you, my fellow citizens, watchfully prod the politicians in the right direction with such an anxious concern, things will really work out all right."

"The most important thing that we changed was the people’s perception of their own role, because before the revolution the most part of Armenian citizens considered that they did not decide anything: nothing depended on their position, but we made our citizens believe that their position, their voice is the most important factor in our political and social life, and that is the most important change we have made."

"However, I clearly recognize the fact that regardless of the possible merits and demerits of a particular system, and irrespective of the preferences of any specific political parties, the general public has an ardent desire to choose the president directly."

"Because social stability and national harmony were being undermined by the recent continuing demonstrations and strife over the constitutional issue, I believe that you, my fellow countrymen, not only experienced serious inconvenience and anxiety but were also worried that catastrophe might befall the nation if that state of affairs continued."

"Fellow citizens, as I have repeatedly emphasized, the key to democratic development in our country lies in establishing a tradition of the president peacefully handing over the reins of government to a successor at the end of his term of office and then retiring with the blessing of the public."

"No matter how good a system may be, it is of no use if the people do not want it. I believe that the intrinsic function of politics is to carry out the public will, if only on a probational basis, and to make sure it works well."

"I have always maintained an unwavering resolve to set such an example to insure that a tradition of peaceful changes of administrations, which is the long cherished goal of the 40-year political history of the republic, will evolve and take hold in this land. In fact, I have always run the affairs of state with that goal in mind."

"The legacy of mistrust, antagonism, arbitrary rule and extreme confrontation that persisted over the past four decades must now be committed to the dustbin of history. Let us now take the lead in spurring social development by virtue of mutual concession, compromise, trust and harmony."

"We are now in process of getting new people involved in the Armenian economy. We are going to guarantee the equality, and now we can say that all people, all citizens are equal before the law in Armenia. We are going to make economic reforms to liberalize our economy, to make it more attractive to foreign and domestic investors. How are we going to do that? We are going to guarantee the security of any investment. We are going to create high-quality infrastructure, and we are going to make people believe and engage in the economy, create their own businesses, and to have a real opportunity to become successful and make the country more prosperous."

"1981 was a year in which we extricated ourselves from political and social chaos and restored stability. As a result, substantive progress was achieved, including a 7 percent economic growth - a reversal of the negative growth of 1980."

"The ultimate goal of our diplomatic policy is to ease tension and secure lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, thus paving a broad avenue for peaceful unification of the people and the country."

"The fight for the purity and efficiency of the state apparatus will be the best tool in the fight against corruption. This will be concrete work, not the slogans that the authorities are guided by today. Lying will be excluded in the state system. We have become a world of lies, we must start by eliminating those lies."

"We will propose the concept of a working country, we will turn the country into a construction site again. Creating tens of thousands of jobs every year is a priority. We did it once, we will do it again."

"It is fundamentally important that people immediately feel the changes in the country, and people will feel it. We will not give empty promises, the key to our success is professionalism, experience, hard work, discipline and love for the country."

"The KAL plane incident made us clearly realize once again the cold-hearted logic of the international society that force wielded by those who believe in force must be met with force."

"Neither the USSR nor China will allow North Korea to attack South Korea. North Korea is not in a position to attack us. If we were to give them three sports now, afterwards they would ask for five sports."

"In reality, all experts were voicing that the policy led in Armenia made the war inevitable. Different expert circles insisted we were not ready and we night face a controversial and severe war."

"An unduly unfair peace cannot be lasting and sustainable. I want to end this conflict, and we must find a solution which which will be fair."

"I have extensive management experience in crisis situations, accumulated experience, and knowledge in the security and defense system. I have experience in overcoming the economic crisis. The current dangers and the accumulated experience and knowledge practically coincide"

"We will build a country that every Armenian can be proud of. We understand that no one will ensure our security, the development of our country and economy for us. Yes, we have allies, friends, but no one will do for us what we ourselves must do. They will be with us, they will help us, but our fate must be in our hands. We will build everything that I said in my speech. We will bring dignified peace and prosperity. Rest assured everything will be fine. Thank you."

"All my close friends ask me ‘Why are you doing this [running for office]?’. And I always tell myself: ‘If not me, then who?’ I asked this question to myself in 1992, 1997 and I'm asking myself the same question now, today. It feels like it's my destiny to fix what others broke."

"The problem of the danger of war depends on whether the USSR is inclined to fight against the United States in my region. I can assure you that that country does not want war either."

"Today we have not only a government seeking revenge in Azerbaijan, but also a similarly minded Azerbaijani people. And when these two circumstances combine, the danger of a renewed war increases."

"What are we going to do when we come to power? First of all, it is necessary to assess the scale of the damage done to the country in all spheres: economy, legal system, education, science, etc. This is necessary to plan the next steps. Anti-crisis steps must be taken to stem the further degradation of security and governance. We must stop the economic downturn, we must restore the country's creditworthiness and predictability. We have long lost our reputation as a reliable partner in the international arena."