DUSHANBE, February 28, 2014, Asia-Plus — A well-informed source says Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Tokon Mamytov heading a Kyrgyz delegation will arrive in Dushanbe on March 2 for participation in the next meeting of the Tajik-Kyrgyz intergovernmental commission for demarcation and delimitation of disputed segments of mutual border.
According to him, Kyrgyz Ambassador to Tajikistan Urmat Saralayev, who was recalled after a January 11 border incident, is also among members of the Kyrgyz delegation.
“Co-chaired by Tajik Deputy Prime Minister Murodali Alimardon and Kyrgyz Deputy Minister Tokon Mamytov, the commission will meet in Dushanbe on March 3,” the source said.
The Tajik delegation members reportedly include the Aide to the President of Tajikistan for National Security Affairs Sherali Khairulloyev, who co-chairs the group for military and border issues, Chairman of the State Committee on Land Management and Geodesy Mahmadtohir Zokirov, who co-chairs the group for the border demarcation and delimitation issues, and Minister of Transport Khairullo Asozoda, who co-chairs the group for use of border roads.
We will recall that the last meeting of the Tajik-Kyrgyz intergovernmental commission for demarcation and delimitation of disputed segments of mutual border was held in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek on February 15.
The meeting reportedly discussed the results of the work carried out by the joint working groups in disputed areas on the Isfara stretch of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border from February 5 to February 10. The Tajik sides submitted its specific findings for consideration to the Kyrgyz delegation. For its part, the Kyrgyz side noted that it will submit positions regarding the discussed issues for consideration to Tajikistan through diplomatic channels in the near future.
During the previous meeting that took place in Bishkek on January 31, Alimardon and Mamytov agreed the two countries” working groups on border delimitation must expedite their activities.
Five Kyrgyz border guards, one Kyrgyz policeman, and two Tajik border guards were hospitalized with injuries on January 11 after tensions escalated into exchanges of gunfire along the Kyrgyz-Tajik border. The clash started when Tajiks protested Kyrgyzstan’s construction of a bypass road through a disputed area. Tajikistan has requested to halt the construction of the road until the border is delimited.
Kyrgyzstan recalled its ambassador to Tajikistan and unilaterally closed border crossing points (BCPs) on its common border with Tajikistan
