Mr. President,

Let me first congratulate you on the assumption of the first Presidency of the Conference on Disarmament. I wish you success in your endeavours to advance the work of the CD. You can count on my delegation’s support.

We take this opportunity to thank UN Secretary General for his message to the CD delivered last week by the Acting High Representative for Disarmament Affairs and his interest in the work of the Conference.

Mr. President,

As is very well known, CD is a unique platform, bearing a special responsibility for disarmament and non-proliferation agenda. CD is tasked with negotiating multilateral disarmament treaties.

It is regrettable that this is the 20^th year CD has not fulfilled its task. Once again, we call upon CD members to strive to maintain the relevance of the Conference by resuming its negotiation mandate. In this regard, we hope that the Conference will resume substantive work this year.

Thus, we call upon all CD member states to show flexibility regarding a possible Program of Work.

Although CD could not start negotiations last year, there has been detailed and frank discussions under the Schedule of Activities. We have also noted the Informal Working Group has yielded fruitful discussions.

Mr President,

We are of the opinion that our agenda is comprehensive and flexible, enabling us to address all issues in the field of arms control and disarmament.

Our next step must be to agree by consensus on a Program of Work. This will not only pave the way towards the commencement of negotiations on a Fissile Material Treaty, but also

materialize advances on other agenda items. These include substantive work on the core issues, namely nuclear disarmament, prevention of an arms race in outer space and negative security assurances.

We welcome the consensus report of the Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on a Treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons and other explosive devices. The report has successfully outlined the essential questions regarding a future treaty.

Mr President,

The security situation overall has unfortunately deteriorated over the past years. As diplomats having considerable expertise in the field we should not spare any effort, here within the framework of the CD, that would generate more mutual understanding and confidence. It is neither realistic nor practical to ignore the developments outside the CD. Hence, we should think harder about the terms to break the ongoing deadlock.

In this vein, we commend Mr President, your efforts in drafting a Program of Work. We welcome any effort in search of a breakthrough that would commend consensus.

Mr President,

The problems faced by the CD are not created by its procedures, membership or internal dynamics. It is extremely unfortunate, but

there is a certain malaise throughout the disarmament fora and machinery.
CD does not operate in a vacuum and we need to see the larger picture in assessing the work of the CD.

Turkey is convinced that the Conference possesses the mandate, rules of procedure and membership to discharge its duties. In other words, if we have not yet reached the progress we strive, it is not due to procedural issues.

Mr. President,

Turkey supports the calls for systematic, progressive, verifiable and irreversible nuclear disarmament and encourages all states that possess nuclear weapons to take further practical steps in that direction.

In fact, it was with this expectation that we took part in the 2015 NPT Review Conference, which in turn could not adopt a consensus final document.

Notwithstanding this outcome, the 2010 Action Plan still constitutes a clear guideline towards our goal.
The good and healthy functioning of the NPT is a fundamental goal for us.

The universalization of the NPT is of utmost importance. We call upon States that have not yet done so to join NPT as non-nuclear weapon states without delay.

Turkey is concerned that the 1995 resolution on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction is yet to be implemented. It is disappointing that during the RevCon, it has not been possible to reach an agreement on the matter.



Turkey will continue to support constructive efforts in this direction.

We closely follow the various discussions regarding nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. While we are ready to discuss which practical steps will be more effective, it is of utmost importance that neither the integrity of the NPT nor disarmament machinery should be undermined.

Mr President,

Beginning of this year has already witnessed one positive and one negative developments.
Turkey has joined the statements made by NPDI and MIKTA, respectively read out last week at the opening of the CD by distinguished Permanent Representatives of Germany and Australia on the DPRK’s recent nuclear test. Turkey is gravely concerned with this development which will be bound to affect peace and stability in the region.

This year also marks the 20^th anniversary of the CTBT. We call upon all States that have not done so, especially Annex II states, to ratify this Treaty as soon as possible.

On a positive note, Turkey warmly welcomes the announcement made on 16 January 2016 on the attainment of the “Implementation Day” of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) regarding the Iranian nuclear program.

Turkey has always considered diplomacy and negotiations as the only option in the resolution of the Iranian nuclear dossier.

We congratulate all parties concerned that made possible this outcome which symbolizes the success of diplomacy.

We expect the uninterrupted and full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in full transparency under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency. In this context, we would like to strongly emphasize the need for all parties concerned to demonstrate conduct that is responsible and does not promote dissociation in the period ahead of us, to help reestablish security and stability in the region.

To conclude, let me reiterate our support to Nigeria and future Presidents of this session and wish you success.

Thank you Mr. President.