"As a valued NATO Partner, Finland will host the 13th Annual [meeting]," the release stated Thursday. "The conference will address topical issues, such as regional proliferation challenges in the Middle East and in Asia, including in Syria and North Korea."
The CTBCO falls under the umbrella of The Preparatory Commission, an international organization financed by 183 member states who have signed on, in some form, to the test ban treaty, according to the organization's website. The CTBCO functions as a nuclear weapons watchdog and runs a global network of sensors that can detect a nuclear weapons test anywhere in the world.
NATO alliance members and partners are alarmed by the use of chemical weapons in Syria and nuclear and ballistic missile tests in North Korea, the release said. Another issue of concern is the stability of long standing non-proliferation treaties in a rapidly shifting international security environment.
Ambassador Ahmet Uzumcu, Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013, will address the conference, the release added.
