Officials of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan reported on the remarkable progress in the negotiations on the border demarcation of the two countries and revealed some of the details of the talks.
The next meeting and discussion of the government delegations on the determination and marking of the border, which has repeatedly witnessed bloodshed, was held on December 1 in the city of Bustan, Sughd region. The delegations were led by Saimumin Yatimov, the head of the National Security Committee of Tajikistan, and his Kyrgyz counterpart Kamchibek Toshiev.
Saymumin Yatimov, in a speech in the presence of Kamchibek Toshiev, which was published by the State Television of Tajikistan, said that the two sides have reached an agreement in principle on the issues of using the facilities that they have in the disputed territories of each other.
He said: “We have come to this basic decision that … Kyrgyzstan will have permanent access to all the facilities it has in our territory, but the territory will remain part of the Republic of Tajikistan. All the facilities that the Republic of Tajikistan has on the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic are forever and always used by Tajikistan, but the lands remain the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic.”
Saimumin Yatimov did not name any of the facilities, but he said that two main issues, one of which is the use of the Vorukh-Khojai Alo road in Isfara district, have been almost resolved. This road has been blocked many times by the residents of the Kyrgyz border villages, and dozens of times there have been fights and bloodshed between the residents of the two sides. Saimumin Yatimov did not explain the fate of this road and how the issue was resolved.
The chairman of the Tajik delegation also said that the way of using the Dosti reservoir, which is called Tortkul in Kyrgyzstan, will be the same way of using the Vorukh-Khojai-Ala road. This reservoir was built in the 70s of the last century with the aim of irrigating the lands of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and both sides have claimed and fought over it.
Kamchibek Toshiyev, the chairman of the National Security Committee of Kyrgyzstan, also expressed his satisfaction with the results of the talks on border demarcation in the report of the Tajik state television. He said: “We have made some important decisions and these decisions bring us closer together. The next meeting will be held in Botkand, and our state commissions will be working non-stop. That’s why I think that we are very close to making the whole decision (on the border).”
The more than 900-kilometer long border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, about 300 kilometers of which is still unmarked, has been repeatedly witnessing conflicts between the residents and the military of the two sides for years.
People on both sides of the border have fought many times for water, land and pasture and always blame each other for the incidents. In two bloody conflicts that took place in April 2021 and September 2022, dozens of people were killed and injured on both sides.
Negotiations for demarcation of the border have been ongoing since 2002, and it is the first time that the authorities are speaking openly and decisively about the progress and solution of the main problems in the negotiations.
Source : Радио Озоди
