Turkey And The CTBTO Host Cross-Regional Workshop

Vienna, 11 November 2011

The Government of Turkey and the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) are co-organizing the workshop “Role of the CTBT [Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty] in regional and global security” from 15 to 17 November 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey. The workshop aims to promote the entry into force of the CTBT, which bans all nuclear explosions, and the completion of the Treaty’s verification regime. This unique regime is being established to monitor the globe for nuclear explosions, thereby making the world a safer place. Participants will also review the use of CTBT data for disaster mitigation purposes such as earthquake and volcano monitoring, tsunami warning, and radionuclide tracking. The data proved useful during the March 2011 tragic events in Japan for tsunami warning purposes and radiation detection.

• Opening segment of the workshop open to media (15 November from 09:00 to 11:00, Ceylan Intercontinental Hotel Istanbul, Asker Ocagi Cad No.1, 34435 Taksim, Istanbul, Turkey). Speakers: Deputy Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs Fatih Ceylan who will deliver a statement on behalf of Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Turkey, and CTBTO Executive Secretary Tibor Tóth.

• Photo opportunity at the opening of the workshop

• Interview opportunities with workshop participants

• Visit to the Bogazici University Kandilli Observatory & Earthquake Research Institute, Thursday 17 November, from 10:00 to 12:00

Video and audio recording equipment welcome. Please register your interest in participating.

Countries invited

Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Djibouti, Egypt, France, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Malta, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

Background on the CTBT

The CTBT bans all nuclear explosions by everyone, everywhere: on the Earth’s surface, in the atmosphere, underwater and underground. 182 countries have signed the Treaty, of which 155 have also ratified it. Of the 44 countries that have to ratify the Treaty for entry into force, 35 have already done so. The remaining nine are: China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States.

The CTBT verification regime is approaching completion. Over 280 of the planned 337 global monitoring facilities are currently operational. The monitoring network detected the North Korean nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 in a fast and reliable manner.

For further information on the CTBT, please see www.ctbto.org – your resource on ending nuclear testing, or contact:

Connect with CTBTO on:

http://twitter.com/#!/ctbto_alerts

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http://www.youtube.com/user/CTBTO

ENDS

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