The Kazakh capital, Astana, is hosting a trilateral meeting of the Presidents of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, Russia Vladimir Putin and Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov today.
Yuri Ushakov, Aide to the President of the Russian Federation, told reporters in Moscow yesterday that Putin will suggest them begin trilateral negotiations on demarcation of the disputed segments of the Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan border.
“We are concerned over periodic aggravation of the situation along the border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Any such conflict and friction between allies on the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) can be exploited by detractors for further destabilization of the situation in the region,” Ushakov stressed.
Russian presidential aide reportedly drew attention to the fact that Russia stands for the settlement of such conflicts by political and diplomatic means.
“Russia stands for diplomatic settlement of the border issue between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and is ready to lend its brother's shoulder, provide any assistance acceptable to Bishkek and Dushanbe, including in the process of delimitation and demarcation of the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border,” Ushakov noted.
He further added that Russia will propose Dushanbe and Bishkek to conduct trilateral consultations at the level of experts.
President Emomali Rahmon visits Kazakhstan to participate in the sixth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), a session of the CIS Heads of State Council and the Central Asia – Russia forum.
Recall, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan signed a protocol (Protocol # 42) on the settlement of the situation along the mutual border on September 25. The document was inked by the head of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) of Kyrgyzstan Kamchybek Tashiyev and his Tajik counterpart Saimumin Yatimov.
The border clashes that erupted on September 14 and continued for two days, where Kyrgyz and Tajik forces engaged in more than 12 places all along the border, after which the two sides agreed to a ceasefire on September 16, which has been largely held up despite several alleged incidents of shelling with a severe escalation on September 16 and 17.
According to Kyrgyz authorities, 62 Kyrgyz nationals were killed and 198 others were wounded in those clashes.
Official Dushanbe said 41 Tajik nationals had been killed and 30 had been wounded in September border clashes.
Meanwhile, correspondents of Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reported a higher number after talking to relatives and friends of victims of the violence.
They concluded that 70 Tajik nationals, including dozens of civilians, lost their lives and have compiled a list of those killed.
