During his speech at the Jogorku Kenesh (Kyrgyzstan’s parliament), the head of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) of Kyrgyzstan, Kamchybek Tashiyev, spoke about the agreement on the delimitation of the border with Tajikistan and also mentioned the road to Vorukh, Tajikistan’s exclave in Kyrgyzstan’s Batken region. The Tajik side has not yet disclosed the details of the agreement, and based on Tashiyev’s statement, we have tried to understand what this road is and where it runs.
"The parties have reached an agreement on the construction and use of roads with neutral status: Khojai A'lo—Dacha—Kapchygay—Vorukh, with a length of 3,425 meters and a width of 40 meters, and Min-Oruk—Samarkandek—Oriena—Shuriston, with a length of 3,241 meters and a width of 40 meters," Tashiyev stated.
He also specified that the road to Vorukh would be built by the Tajik side, while the road to Samarkandek would be built by the Kyrgyz side.
Other details of the agreements on the road to Vorukh remain unknown, but most likely, it refers to a bypass road around the Kyrgyz village of Kapchygay (Tangi).
The Vorukh bypass road
The two sides had previously signed a similar agreement. After the armed conflict in late April 2021, both parties signed Protocol No. 39 and agreed to jointly construct a new bypass road from Khojai A'lo to Vorukh, bypassing the eastern side of the Kyrgyz settlement of Kapchygay (Tangi).
At that time, topographic working groups were instructed, together with design organizations, to conduct a field survey of this section on the lands of the "practical use of Batken district" by June 1, 2021.
The Tajik side then prepared a project for this road, and a delegation from the Tajik Ministry of Transport, led by the Deputy Minister, traveled to the border for the planned meeting. However, representatives of the Kyrgyz Ministry of Transport did not attend the negotiations. Neither the Tajik nor Kyrgyz authorities officially commented on this breach of agreements.
Experts speaking to Asia-Plus have repeatedly expressed confidence that resolving the issue of building an independent road to Vorukh would put an end to conflicts on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border.
Initially, Vorukh was not an enclave—it had a direct territorial connection to the Isfara district of the Tajik SSR. However, due to numerous territorial disputes, border changes, and unilateral decisions made over different years, the situation changed. As a result of the gradual transfer of land, unilateral ratifications, and the construction of settlements on disputed territories, Vorukh found itself surrounded by Kyrgyz territory and became an enclave.
