Editor's Note: Hillary Clinton's statement added in article
Kazakhstan, Astana, Dec. 1 / Trend A.Maratov /
The disclosure of secret information by WikiLeaks will not affect relations between Kazakhstan and the United States, OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Kazakh Secretary of State and Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev said at the Astana summit today.
"This is a natural occasion accompanying our (diplomatic) work," he said. "We will survive this incident peacefully and it will not affect Kazakh-U.S. relations in the future."
Roughly 250,000 secret diplomatic telegrams and letters sent from U.S. diplomatic missions in various countries to the U.S. State Department were transferred via WikiLeaks to the New York Times and several other influential media outlets this week.
The documents, part of which were marked "Top Secret," disclosed correspondence from U.S. President Barack Obama's administration on crises and conflicts, harsh statements by U.S. diplomats about Muslim presidents and European leaders, information from the ostensibly private conversations between world leaders and U.S. officials, and U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's requests to organize a shadowing of members of the U.N. Security Council.
The authenticity of the documents has been questioned by most world leaders.
Saudabayev said Kazakhstan will continue to work on the initiatives put forward during its OSCE presidency.
Over the next year, Kazakhstan will work in the framework of the OSCE troika "together with Greece (the previous chairman) and Lithuania," which took over the presidency for next year.
"We will also work on internal processes in the country aimed at integration with OSCE member states," he said. "First of all, in implementing the 'Path to Europe' program,'" Saudabayev said.
At the briefing, Saudabayev noted great potential in partnership relations of Kazakhstan with the United States, which will be implemented.
According to the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, during the first day of the summit in Astana were discussed not only the importance of strategic partnerships between U.S. and Kazakhstan, but also the manner in which the two countries can work together in and out the region and.
"I very much appreciate the role of the government of Kazakhstan, which has been extremely helpful in support Kyrgyzstan," she said.
Clinton said the meeting with the Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan discussed the possibilities of aid to Kyrgyzstan, and what additional steps can be taken to integrate the countries of Central Asia.
Kyrgyzstan is experiencing a period of political crisis after former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was overthrown in April. Bloody clashes ensued between the ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek communities in the country's southern regions. Current President Rosa Otunbayeva is working to stabilize the situation, which still remains unstable.
Humanitarian aid worth over $11 million has been sent to Kyrgyzstan. Significant amounts of construction materials have also been sent to rebuild homes. Kazakh businesses also actively invest in its economy. About 40 percent of the investments in the Kyrgyz banking sector fall to Kazakh businesses.
"Kazakhstan has done much in terms of economic development of Central Asian region, and we discuss how we can work together to help other countries in the region," Clinton said.