During the period from January 10 to January 15, a meeting of the topographic working groups and the working group for legal issues of the Tajik-Kyrgyz commission for delimitation and demarcation of the disputed segments of common border took place in the Kyrgyz city of Batken.
Tajikistan’s state-run news agency Khovar says the meeting participants agreed upon 38.35 kilometers of the border’s disputed segments and signed an appropriate protocol.
The sides will continue work on delimitation of the remaining disputed segments at the next meeting that will take place in Tajikistan, according to Khovar.
Recall, co-chairmen of the Tajik-Kyrgyz commission for delimitation and demarcation of the disputed segments of common border – the head of Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security Saimumin Yatimov and his Kyrgyz counterpart Kamchybek Tashiyev — met in the Kyrgyz city of Batken on January 12.
AKIPress says the parties continued to discuss the issue of delimitation of the remaining disputed stretches of the border and gave specific instructions to further intensify negotiations between the working groups of the Tajik and Kyrgyz government delegations on delimitation and demarcation of the mutual border.
Saimumin Yatimov was cited as saying that they reached agreement in principle on Kulundu, Makcat, and Arka areas.
Kamchybek Tashiyev was quoted as saying that they had already agreed upon another 30 kilometers and “now our working groups just have to inventory all these areas.”
Recall, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has announced that an agreement addressing the long-standing border dispute between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan is set to be signed in March this year. The announcement followed discussions between Fidan and Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe on January 10. The Turkish top diplomat’s visit to Kyrgyzstan the day prior reportedly also featured discussions on the impending agreement.
"As a brotherly country interested in the region, we attach importance to the agreement, which will be a major step in ensuring security and stability in Central Asia," Fidan was cited as saying during a press briefing in Dushanbe without providing further details.
The long-standing border dispute between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan has poisoned relations between the two Central Asian nations since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, leading to frequent clashes along the common border in recent years.
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 Fergana 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. Border talks between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan began in 2002. The countries share 972 kilometers of border and unresolved border issues have led to tensions for the past 30 years.
To-date, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have reportedly held more than 170 meetings and negotiations on delimitation and demarcation of the common border.
Co-chairmen of the Tajik-Kyrgyz commission for delimitation and demarcation of the disputed segments of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border Saimumin Yatimov and Kamchybek Tashiyev said last month that they have agreed upon more than 90% of common border.
