Astana, Kazakhstan: Kazakhstan artist, Honorary Ambassador of the ATOM Project Karipbek Kuyukov was declared the winner of the 2018 “For a Nuclear-Free Future” Prize. The decision of the members of the international jury was published on July 16 on the website of the Foundation for the “For a Nuclear-Free Future”. The ceremony will take place in October this year in Salzburg (Austria).
Together with the Kazakhstani activist, the awards were awarded to Jeffrey Lee from Australia and Linda Walker from the United Kingdom. Two more honorable prizes were awarded to the French couple of activists Didier and Polet Anger and their Austrian adherent Peter Weish.
According to the artist, the award is a sign of recognition of the work carried out by Kazakhstan to inform the international community about the threats and consequences of nuclear weapons tests.
“This award is the merit of all of Kazakhstan! This is an assessment of the huge and hard work of our country, President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the initiator of the ATOM Project. Our republic demonstrated by its personal example how to fight for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, and it helped other states of the world that are hesitating in the matter of making a decision for or against a nuclear-free future, “the winner of the international award K. Kujukov said.
The ATOM project (Abolish Testing, Our Mission) is an important initiative of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N. Nazarbayev in the field of global nuclear disarmament and public diplomacy. This initiative was announced at the international conference “From the ban of nuclear tests – to a world free of nuclear weapons” on the International Day against Nuclear Tests on August 29, 2012 in Astana.
In the six years since the announcement of the ATOM Project, significant work has been done to promote it both inside the country and abroad, including presentations of the initiative around the world and the organization of exhibitions of paintings by K. Kuyukov, himself a victim of nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk test site. To date, more than 300,000 people from 100 countries have signed an online petition of the ATOM Project calling on the world leaders to ensure the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
As an active fighter for stopping the testing of nuclear weapons and, ultimately, for freeing the world of nuclear weapons in 2017, the Honorary Ambassador of the ATOM Project K. Kujukov was invited to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for efforts to destroy nuclear weapons awarded to the International Movement for prohibition of nuclear weapons.
