Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin says he does not believe that the third forces have been involved in destabilization of the situation along the Tajik-Kyrgyz border.
“The instable situation along the Tajik-Kyrgyz border plays into hands of corrupters and smugglers living in border areas of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan,” Muhriddin told reporters in Dushanbe on August 2.
“When the border is restless, these forces engage in their criminal activities,” said the minister. “It is easier for them to fish in troubled waters.”
The minister further noted that the border issues were discussed at all meetings of the government delegations of the two countries.
The minister believes that meetings of the presidents of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in the Tajik northern city of Isfara on July 26 and in the Kyrgyz city of Cholpon-Ata on July 27 will provide an opportunity for progress.
Recall, the latest fatal clashes broke out among residents of border areas of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in the afternoon of July 22. The clashes reportedly left one dead and dozens of wounded.
Each side offers rival account of what sparked the July 22 incident
Residents of Tajikistan’s Vorukh exclave in Kyrgyzstan told Asia-Plus by phone that the clash erupted yesterday when people on the Kyrgyz side sought to erect a roadside sign bearing the name of an adjacent village of Ak-Sai in Tajik territory.
According to them, Kyrgyz villagers used hunting guns in the violence, while Tajiks threw stones.
One resident of Vorukh, Jalol Qarayev, was killed and several others were wounded in the clash. Three of them are reportedly in critical condition.
Meanwhile, Kyrgyz news agency 24.kg, citing the Kyrgyz border service, reports the tensions spilled over when residents of Vorukh exclave began installing Tajik flags on the Isfara-Vorukh road, which angered Kyrgyz villagers. The road has now been blocked by Kyrgyz residents as troops restore calm.
The clash broke out just four days before the presidents of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan met for talks at a conflict-prone border crossing.
Tajikistan’s common border with Kyrgyzstan is 970 kilometers long and just over half – 519 kilometers – has officially been agreed upon. Much of the border that remains undelineated rests between Tajikistan’s Sughd province and Kyrgyzstan’s Batken province. Trouble periodically sparks around the Tajik exclave of Vorukh.
