DUSHANBE, January 10, 2014, Asia-Plus — Border talks between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan that took place in the Tajik northern city of Isfara on January 9 resulted in signing of a protocol to organize a joint patrol on the disputed segments of mutual border.
“Tajik delegation, led by Deputy Interior Minister, Major-General Iskandar Rajabov, and Kyrgyz delegation, led by Deputy Interior Minister, Major-General Kursan Asanov, conducted negotiations in Isfara yesterday,” Iqbol Teshayev, a spokesman for the Isfara mayor, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
According to him, delegation members included commanders of border troops of both countries, deputy governors of Tajikistan’s Sughd province and Kyrgyzstan’s Batken region, as well as heads of border districts.
The delegations reportedly discussed interaction between the power-wilding structures of the two countries to ensure maintenance of public order in disputed areas.
“The sides agreed to coordinate issues related to the numerical strengths of joint patrols and their routes during a week,” Teshayev said.
We will recall that Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Tokon Mamytov arrived in Dushanbe on January 7 to discuss with Tajik officials efforts to tackle escalating border tensions.
On the same day, he met with Tajik Deputy Prime Minister Murodali Alimardon and Kyrgyz Vice-Premier Tokon Mamytov to discuss border cooperation between Tajikistan’s Sughd province and Kyrgyzstan’s Batken region. The sides reportedly determined the schedule of meetings of the government delegations and working groups in 2014.
The deputy prime ministers ordered border services and police departments of Sughd and Batken regions to meet in the Tajik northern city of Isfara on January 9 to discuss organization of a joint patrol of disputed segments of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border for the purpose of ensuring maintenance of public order, free movement of citizens and vehicles in the disputed areas.
They sides also agreed to hold such meetings regularly and expressed readiness for further development and strengthening of border cooperation between the two countries in the spirit of traditional neighborliness and friendship
The border talks were initiated by the Kyrgyz authorities last month.
The Isfara-Vorukh highway was closed on December 18 following an alleged arson attack that destroyed a teahouse belonging to a Kyrgyz citizen in a disputed area on December 17.
