ISFARA, May 4, 2011, Asia-Plus — On Tuesday May 3, Tajik Defense Minister Sherali Khairulloyev met with his Kyrgyz counterpart Abibulla Kudaiberdiyev in the Tajik northern city of Isfara.
A source at one of Tajik power-wielding structures says the sides discussed issues related to cooperation between the defense ministries of the two countries, interaction in combating terrorism and providing peace and stability on the border. Khairulloyev and Kudaiberdiyev also discussed a number of regional issues being of mutual interest.
In the course of the talks, the ministers reportedly noted that peace and stability on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border met interests of both countries and was one of the key factors for providing regional security in Central Asia.
The sides expressed confidence that any issues “of interstate interaction will be resolved in the spirit of neighborliness and friendship between the Tajik and Kyrgyz peoples.”
Tajik Security Council Secretary Amirqul Azimov and heads of border services of the two countries also attended the meeting.
It is to be noted that it was the second meeting of the defense ministers of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in Sughd province this year. On February 8, Khairulloyev and Kudaiberdiyev met in the Tajik northern city of Qairoqqum. The meeting was held behind closed doors and the Tajik Ministry of Defense said ahead of the meeting the ministers would discuss military cooperation and regional security. Some a week before that meeting, Tajik defense minister reportedly took part in a meeting of Tajik and Kyrgyz borer guard chiefs in Isfara.
We will recall that Kyrgyz media outlets report that in a report released at a meeting of Zhokorgy Kenesh (Kyrgyzstan’s parliament), the Kyrgyz National Security Agency chief Keneshbek Dushebayev noted on April 29 that they have reason to suppose that there will be clashes between the government forces and militants in Tajikistan this year.
Radio Liberty’s Kyrgyz Service reported that the next talks on delimitation of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border would be held this month in the northern Tajik city of Khujand. A spokesman for the governor of Kyrgyzstan”s southern Batken district told RFE/RL that Tajik and Kyrgyz officials would discuss steps to delimit the 970-kilometer long Kyrgyz-Tajik border, of which almost 650 kilometers are disputed.
More than 430 kilometers of the disputed border run between the Tajik district of Isfara and the Kyrgyz district of Batken. There are frequent disputes between residents of the two districts.
