DUSHANBE, December 19, 2013, Asia-Plus — Residents of the Kyrgyz village of Ak-Sai who have blocked the Isfara-Vorukh highway have reportedly made new demands.
“Negotiations between Tajik and Kyrgyz regional officials on unblocking the Isfara-Vorukh highway that were launched yesterday are continuing today,” Iqbol Teshayev, a spokesman for the Isfara mayor’s office, told Asia-Plus in an interview by phone Thursday afternoon.
According to him, Kyrgyz nationals who have gathered at the border do not listen to the authorities of the Kyrgyz region of Batken and demand an immediate resumption of construction of the Ak-Sai – Tamdik highway that runs through the territory of Vorukh, an exclave of Tajikistan within Kyrgyzstan.
“Construction of this road has been suspended following the decision made by the Tajik-Kyrgyz intergovernmental commission in April this year,” said Teshayev. “The sides agreed that construction of this road will be resumed after demarcation and delimitation of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border.”
We will recall that the incident occurred on December 17 after an alleged arson attack destroyed a teahouse belonging to a Kyrgyz national in a disputed area along the Kyrgyz-Tajik border. Some 200 people reportedly gathered on both sides of the Isfara-Vorukh highway. Tensions between local Kyrgyz and Tajiks led to negotiations between Tajik and Kyrgyz regional officials.
According to Radio Liberty’s Kyrgyz Service, Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Tokon Mamytov went to the area on December 19 to join negotiations between local Kyrgyz and Tajik officials.
Vorukh is a jamoat in northern Tajikistan. It is located in Isfara district in Sughd province. Vorukh forms part of an exclave of Tajikistan within Kyrgyzstan. There are several such enclaves, and they all come from Stalin”s drawing of borders in the 1930s.
