The Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia-CICA was initiated by President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan at the 47th General Assembly of the United Nations, following his proposal for the establishment of a security and cooperation process in Asia.

The target of the process is to lay the foundations of a cooperative institutional framework having similar purposes and mechanisms as those of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the establishment of a culture of cooperative and comprehensive security (the politico-military, human and economic-environmental dimensions of security) in Asia.

CICA was formally established in 2002 when the founding document of the process, the Almaty Act, was signed by the Heads of State and or Government of 16 Nations (Afghanistan, Azerbaidjan, People’s Republic of China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Paletsine Autonomous Authority, Russian Federation, Tadjikistan and Uzbekistan) at the first Summit meeting held in Almaty. Subsequently, with the accession of Thailand, South Korea, Jordan and United Arab Emirates, the membership increased to 20. The United States, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Ukraine and Qatar are observer States.

Besides the adoption of its founding documents, the CICA process also marked progress in its institutionalization with the establishment of a Secretariat in Almaty in 2006.

Turkey has given strong support to the CICA process from its very inception with the understanding that it constitutes a suitable vehicle for the promotion, in the broader Asian geography, of the principles and purposes of disarmament, arms control, security and confidence building measures, as well as the human and economic aspects of security which Turkey pursues in other international fora, while taking into account Asia’s particularities. Moreover, CICA is the sole multilateral security institution in the Asian geography to which Turkey is a full member.

The Chairmanship of CICA, since its foundation, for the past seven years, has been carried out by Kazakhstan.

In a letter dated 14 April 2008, addressed to the Turkish President, the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has proposed that Turkey assume the Chairmanship of CICA beginning in 2010. This proposal is not only a reflection of the excellent bilateral relations between Turkey and Kazakhstan, but also of the trust and confidence President Nazarbayev places in Turkey towards further promoting and developing the CICA process.

Turkey will be assuming the Chairmanship of CICA in June 2010, for a period of 2 years, until 2012, at a Summit meeting to be held in Turkey.