Kyrgyz authorities have asked the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to provide a limited contingent of troops at disputed segments of Kyrgyzstan’s common border with Tajikistan, where dozens of people were killed on both sides in clashes last month, Radio Liberty’s Kyrgyz Service reported on October 19.
Kyrgyz Defense Minister Baktybek Bekbolotov told reporters in Bishkek on October 19 that he had discussed the issue with the CSTO's Secretary General Stanislau Zas earlier in the month.
"An independent mediator must stay between us, such as a limited group of CSTO troops, with the goal of maintaining a cease fire and the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the border. If they solve these two issues, then the political goals on the delimitation and demarcation of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border can start being discussed," Bekbolotov said.
Both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, along with Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia are member nations of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
Bekbolotov's statement comes two days after Kyrgyz Security Council Secretary Marat Imankulov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to provide Bishkek with archived Soviet-era maps to help solve the ongoing border dispute between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
