The head of the Catholic Church encouraged the Kazakh authorities to move forward on the path of democracy, evoking the repression of demonstrations which had left more than 200 dead in January.
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Pope Francis arrived in Kazakhstan, Tuesday, September 13, for a three -day visit to a “land as vast as they are an ancient”, in his words. In fact of seniority, Astana, capital since 1997, renamed Noursoultan in 2019 in tribute to Noursoultan Nazarbaïev who led the independent country for twenty-eight years since 1991, throws the thousand reflections of its recent prestigious buildings to the visitor. Placed in the middle of the steppe, they testify to the opulence drawn from the income of the raw materials of this immense country, hydrocarbons in mind.
The head of the Catholic Church, in a rolling chair, was greeted by President Kazakh Kassym-Jomart Tokaïev in the monumental ceremonial room of the presidential palace, surrounded by thirty-eight columns of false marble and illuminated by three gigantic crystal chandeliers. A military orchestra with choir resounded there thunderous national hymns. The Argentinian pontiff then addressed to the political and diplomatic authorities gathered in Kazakhstan Central Concert Hall.
“Carrefour of important geopolitical nodes”
Pope Francis paid tribute to the “multi -speaking, multicultural and multi -religious laboratory” in Kazakhstan and did not fail to recall “the imprisonment camps and the mass deportations that have seen, in cities and in Infinite steppes of these regions, the oppression of so many populations “. Then, in this “crossroads of important geopolitical nodes”, he launched a strong call to get out of the logic of “blocks” while “the mad and tragic war caused by the invasion of Ukraine” continues. Once again, on this subject, the pope avoided pronouncing the word “Russia”.
“You come at a critical moment in human history, said President Tokaïev in the preamble, whose country is trying to find its place between Russia, China and South Asia. The family of nations Balance on the verge of an abyss at the time when geopolitical tensions are accentuated, when the global economy suffers, where the proliferating religious and ethnic intolerance becomes the rule. “
While on the ground, the Ukrainian army launched a counter-offensive, the Pope wanted the governments of the involved countries to be able to arouse a “new Helsinki spirit”, reference to the Finnish capital where, in 1975 , during the Cold War, the Western countries and those of the Eastern Bloc agreed on a declaration in the context of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Among the principles that the signatories undertook to respect were the sovereignty and integrity of the territory of States, the inviolability of their borders, the peaceful settlement of disputes and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
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