In a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin noted on July 27 that not all protocols signed by Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are fulfilled by Kyrgyzstan.
“Border talks have been going on with Kyrgyzstan for several years. We started negotiations in 2002. We have completed some of the documents, but Kyrgyzstan has refused to sign them for various reasons for already 6-7 years” Muhriddin noted.
According to him, Tajikistan strictly adheres to its position and fulfills all agreements.
“In general, we are not concerned over the progress of the negotiations between the official authorities of the two countries, but the fact that separate groups provoke and aggravate the situation on the mutual border for their own ends evokes concern,” the minister added.
It is to be noted that many border areas in Central Asia have been disputed since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The situation is particularly complicated near the numerous exclaves in the Ferghana Valley, where the borders of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan meet.
The border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan has been the scene of unrest repeatedly since the collapse of the former Soviet Union. The countries share 971 kilometers of border – of which only 504 kilometers has reportedly been properly delineated.
The latest incident along the Tajik-Kyrgyz border reportedly occurred on June 2 in Kyrgyzstan’s southern Batken region. According to the Kyrgyz border service, unknown individuals opened fire at a car with Kyrgyz license plates in the Eski-Tash district at around 1.30 a.m. local time. The man in the car was wounded and was taken to a hospital in the village of Samarkandek.
It was reportedly already the fourth shooting incident in the area in recent weeks.
The previous incident along the Tajik-Kyrgyz border reportedly took place on May 27, at 11:55. A statement released by the Main Border Guard Directorate at the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) of Tajikistan, in particular, says that contrary to previously signed agreements, Kyrgyz national Soat Bakhtibekov, resident of the Koktash village, shot a 25-year-old Tajik woman Zuhrona Sharopova (Mutabarkhonum Zuhriddin), who was hospitalized with a gunshot wound.
The two countries have accused each other of escalating tensions along the border since early May.
Last year alone, there were at least fourteen cases of violence, in which six Tajik nationals and one Kyrgyz citizen were killed and more than 60 other people were injured.
