Kyrgyz-Tajik border conflict

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Border crossing between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

The Kyrgyz-Tajik border conflict is a conflict between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan , which can be traced back to opposing territorial claims in the border area of ​​the two states. The unclear demarcation of boundaries is regularly the trigger for partly armed clashes between Kyrgyz and Tajiks in the disputed areas.

background

The border conflict between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan began with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the independence of the two former Soviet republics. The borders between the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic and the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic were largely based on the demarcation of the late 1920s , but were of subordinate importance due to their status as internal borders within the Soviet Union. As part of collectivization and the progressive turning away from nomadism in Soviet Central Asia , numerous kolkhozes emerged in the Kyrgyz and Tajik SSRs , which were characterized by pronounced central state influence. During this time, a brisk commercial activity developed between the Kyrgyz and Tajik companies, with contracts for the use of pastureland in particular being concluded. The Tajik farms were dependent on the use of land on the territory of the Kyrgyz SSR, as the arable land in the Tajik SSR was very limited. In addition to this economic dimension, the border issue in the region already had a cultural and political dimension during the Soviet era. Against this background, the demarcation in the Soviet Union was based on linguistic and cultural criteria. In this way, numerous exclaves were created in the Fergana Valley , as the local population was linguistically and culturally different from that of the surrounding country. On the other hand, the borders represented a deliberate break with natural borders between the settlement areas in order to weaken the Soviet republics and thus to increase their dependence on the Soviet Union and the central institutions in Moscow . These conflicting influencing factors led to the unclear and controversial demarcation of the boundaries in the region, which the now independent neighboring states have not yet been able to fully clarify.

The Batken area in Kyrgyzstan
The Sughd Province Tajikistan

Disputed areas

The common border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan has a total length of 971 kilometers, with the exact demarcation of the border being disputed over a distance of more than 400 kilometers. Maps from the Soviet era are cited as the basis for the opposing standpoints of both nations, which show the boundaries between the two areas differently. The Tajik side refers to maps from the years 1924 to 1939, while the Kyrgyz side uses maps from the years 1958 to 1959. The difference in the representations is due to the constant changes in the exact demarcation in the region. Due to migratory movements and the resulting change in the ethnic composition of individual areas, through adjustments to increase the efficiency of farms and through regular negotiations between the Tajik and the Kyrgyz SSR about minor changes in the borders, the course of the border was by no means constant over decades, but rather constant changes subject. With the independence of both states, the problem of demarcating borders became acute, but has not yet been conclusively resolved at the diplomatic level. As a result, the course of the border is still unclear and controversial in numerous places.

The conflict focuses on the demarcation in the Ferghana Valley between the Kyrgyz region of Batken and the Tajik province of Sughd . The Tajik exclave Woruch , which is surrounded by Kyrgyz territory, is of particular importance for the conflict . The boundaries of this exclave are controversial between the two states, and there is also controversy over a Kyrgyz road construction project. A new road between the Kyrgyz settlements Ak-Sai and Tamdyk is to connect Kyrgyz towns in the west of Woruch with the regional capital Batken in the east of the Tajik exclave without crossing Tajik territory.

Political map of Ferghanatals

The planned length of Ak Sai Tamdyk Road is 24.5 kilometers, and the cost was estimated at 606 million Som at the start of construction . So far, there is only one road connection that leads to the Tajik city of Isfara for a short distance through Tajik territory. According to the Tajik side, however, the route of the new road runs through the area of ​​the Woruch exclave and is therefore rejected by Tajikistan. The Kyrgyz side rejects these objections and is pushing ahead with the construction of the road, which repeatedly leads to conflicts. Another conflict issue is the road between Isfara and Woruch through Kyrgyz territory. This is the only road connection between the Tajik heartland and the exclave and is therefore of particular importance. The Tajik side feared a blockage of the connecting road and thus the isolation of the exclave from the rest of Tajikistan, particularly as a result of the Kyrgyz infrastructure projects in the region.

There were also repeated conflicts in the border area between the cities of Isfara on the Tajik side and the Kyrgyz Batken and between the Kyrgyz Rajon Leilek and the Tajik Nohija Ghafurow . Often disputes over small areas in the border region between the local population give rise to violent clashes, which are in some cases exacerbated by the intervention of the border guards on both sides. Time and again these conflicts lead to injuries and deaths.

chronology

Diplomatic efforts after independence

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the independence of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the clarification of the border issues became acute. The Alma-Ata declaration and the Charter of the Commonwealth of Independent States created the legal and diplomatic framework for the future relationship between the two states. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in January 1993, these have been burdened by unresolved border issues. With the treaty on interstate relations between the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Kyrgyzstan of July 12, 1996 and the treaty on good neighborly relations and partnership of May 26, 2004, diplomatic rapprochement was achieved between the two neighboring countries, and a solution to the emerging border conflict was achieved but cannot be achieved. With the Intergovernmental Commission on Boundaries, a platform was created for the discussion of the open questions. However, the most important diplomatic solutions were bilateral meetings of the presidents of the two countries, which failed several times due to controversial border issues. During the same period, Kyrgyzstan's borders with two of its four neighbors could be determined by agreements with the People's Republic of China in 1996 and 1999 and Kazakhstan in 2001. These agreements, which also included the exchange of territories and thus the cession of former Kyrgyz territory to neighboring states, met with strong criticism in Kyrgyz politics. After the agreements with its eastern neighbor China, Asimbek Beknazarov in particular expressed sharp criticism of the then President Askar Akayev and was one of the leading figures in the opposition in the 2005 tulip revolution that led to Akayev's fall.

First violent clashes

A Tajik soldier near Khujand in Sughd Province

In addition to the diplomatic efforts between the neighboring states, there were violent clashes along the border. The area between the Tajik exclave Woruch , the Tajik city of Isfara and the Kyrgyz regional capital Batken was particularly affected . In 2004, for example, a local conflict arose over the planting of apricot trees by Tajik farmers in an area that is also claimed by Kyrgyz farmers. The incident described by the Kyrgyz press as the Apricot War culminated in the destruction of the trees by angry Kyrgyz farmers. Local escalations of this type were regularly reported with varying degrees of intensity in the 2000s and 2010s .

Aggravation of the conflict 2013–2014

Enclaves in Kyrgyzstan, including the Tajik exclave Woruch

The start of construction work on Ak-Sai-Tamdyk Street in an area near the Tajik exclave of Woruch, which is claimed by both states, intensified the conflict. On April 27, 2013, during the construction of this controversial road, a violent confrontation broke out, in which up to 2,000 inhabitants of the region were involved on the Tajik and Kyrgyz sides. 12 people were injured and numerous vehicles were destroyed. A month after this outbreak of violence, the two presidents Emomalij Rahmon and Almasbek Atambayev met for talks that, among other things, dealt with the border conflict between the two states. The heads of state committed to strengthening the relationship between the two countries and announced that they would strive for a quick solution to the open border issues. On May 31, four days after the presidents' meeting, there were clashes at the border with several hundred people, and six people were injured. The intensification of the conflict also led to heightened rhetoric on the part of politics in both countries. The representative of the Kyrgyz government in Batken accused the residents of Woruch of occupying all the disputed areas , while the chairman of the Tajik province of Sughd announced that they would not give any land to strangers . Politicians in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek also increasingly dealt with the issue. On June 6, 2013, a demonstration took place in front of the parliament building in Bishkek, calling for increased political involvement in the conflict. Meanwhile, Irina Karamushkina, a member of the Defense and Security Committee of the Kyrgyz Parliament, warned against the Tajiks' silent invasion by buying land and houses in the disputed areas. The Kyrgyz parliament Jogorku Kengesch then decided to provide ten million Som for the purchase of houses by the Kyrgyz side. The Tajik government continued to express its intention to improve relations with Kyrgyzstan.

The year 2014 in the disputed region began on January 11 with an exchange of fire between Kyrgyz and Tajik security forces. The specific reason for the exchange of fire remained unclear, eight people had to be admitted to nearby hospitals due to injuries. Furthermore, the Kyrgyz road construction project in particular caused constant tension in the region. Furthermore, in 2014 there were again conflicts between farmers in the border area. There were violent clashes with agricultural equipment and animal stalls were set on fire. Conflicts in agriculture were mostly caused by disputes over the use of pasture land and water. In addition to water as a resource, oil also played a role in the conflict. In 2014, for example, there was a dispute over an oil and natural gas deposit in the border area used by Tajikistan, to which Kyrgyzstan also made claims. Overall, the years 2013 and 2014 represented a provisional climax of the border conflict with a significantly increased number of violent clashes at the border.

Provisional calming 2015–2017

In 2015 there was a temporary calming of the situation and a significant decrease in the number of violent incidents. In addition, negotiations on the course of the border between the two states were able to progress so far that at the beginning of the year 503 of 971 border kilometers could be determined with mutual agreement. The demarcation in the particularly controversial areas was excluded for the time being. In early 2016, the Kyrgyz authorities stepped up their measures against Tajik residents in the Kyrgyz Rajon Leilek . Buying land in the region by Tajik citizens has been common in the region for a long time, although Kyrgyz law prohibits the sale of land to foreign citizens in border regions. In February 2016, Kyrgyz border guards hoisted the flag of Kyrgyzstan over houses that were then owned by Tajik citizens. In addition, individual Tajik residents of the region were displaced. Later, the Tajik residents of the region were given the choice of accepting Kyrgyz citizenship instead of Tajik citizenship or of leaving the region. In May 2016, the then Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbai Dscheenbekow traveled to Tajikistan for talks. However, the signing of bilateral agreements during the visit failed due to different points of view on the border issue. Due to increasing centralization in both states, diplomatic efforts are concentrated on talks between the governments in Dushanbe and Bishkek. Regional approaches such as the working group set up in 2011 by those responsible for Sughd Province and the Batken area have meanwhile lost their importance.

Presidents Emomalij Rahmon and Sooronbai Dscheenbekow side by side at the 2018 Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Qingdao (bottom row, 4th and 5th from left)
The Kyrgyz Prime Minister Muchammedkaly Abylgaziev

Further tightening from 2018

At the beginning of 2018 the conflict intensified significantly and there was a sharp increase in the number of people injured and killed in clashes in the border area. In the majority of cases, disputes over water or land resulted in violent clashes between groups of mostly unarmed residents of the region. On these occasions, people were often injured, including by throwing stones. Only in very few cases did the dispute escalate into firefights through the use of firearms . On June 4, 2018, against the background of the worsening situation, the governments of both countries agreed on a ban on the use of firearms by military personnel in border conflicts. In March 2019, controversies over the construction and use of roads in the region once again sparked the conflict. The continuation of the work and the impending completion of Ak Sai Tamdyk Street led to renewed conflicts and ultimately to a mutual blockade of important transport links in the region. While Kyrgyz troops blocked the road connecting Isfara and the exclave of Woruch , Tajik troops blocked the road between Batken and Leilek Rajon, which partly runs through Tajik territory. Several people were injured in minor skirmishes in the region and, according to media reports, there were also two deaths on the Tajik side. After this escalation in the border area, talks took place between the Vice Prime Ministers of the two states.

The meeting of Presidents Sooronbai Dscheenbekow and Emomalij Rahmon on July 26, 2019 in Isfara was also an expression of diplomatic efforts . The talks remained without concrete results for the solution of the disputes, but both heads of state announced that they want to push the joint efforts further.

On the night of September 16-17, 2019, there was an exchange of fire on the border south of the Tajik city of Ghafurow , with numerous injuries and a total of four dead, including three Tajik soldiers and one Kyrgyz soldier. The reason for the dispute was construction work near the Tajik town of Ovchi Kalacha . Both sides accused each other of illegal work in the border area. The Kyrgyz government summoned the Tajik ambassador on September 17th and formally protested against Tajik behavior in the region. The Kyrgyz Prime Minister Muchammedkaly Abylgaziev visited the scene shortly afterwards and announced that the government would intensify its efforts to resolve the controversial border issues.

On the night of January 9-10, several shots were fired near the Kyrgyz village of Kök-Tash. As a result, the Kyrgyz Prime Minister Abylgaziyev announced the improvement of the security situation in the border area. In addition, 254 Kyrgyz citizens have been evacuated from Damkha village in the area of ​​the recent gunfire. The cause of the clash remained controversial, with both actors accusing each other of provocation.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan , both countries strengthened their border troops in May 2020 to better control travel movements between the two countries. At the same time, there were increasing outbreaks of violence in the border area. On May 8, 2020, armed soldiers on the Kyrgyz and Tajik sides intervened in one of the numerous small clashes within the regional population after a firearm was used in addition to throwing stones. Five people were injured in the exchange of fire, and shortly afterwards both sides reported the temporary end of the violence and talks between local institutions.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Gulzana Kurmanalieva: Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan: Endless border conflicts . In: Mathias Jopp, Matthias Waechter (Eds.): The EU, Central Asia and the Caucasus in the International System . No. 4 . Berlin February 2019, p. 4-5 .
  2. ↑ Asena Karacalti: Everlasting or Ever-Changing? Violence Along the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan Border. In: Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). June 8, 2020, Retrieved August 5, 2020 (American English).
  3. ^ A b Charles Recknagel: Small Exclave Spells Big Problems For Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan. In: rferl.org. January 16, 2014, accessed August 5, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b Salimjon Aioubov: Simmering Border Conflicts Erupt Between Tajik and Kyrgyz Villagers; Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 10 Issue: 112. In: ecoi.net. Jamestown Foundation, June 13, 2013, accessed August 5, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Ayzirek Imanaliyeva: Fighting flares again on Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan border. In: eurasianet.org. May 8, 2020, accessed on August 5, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Natalie Lee, Timur Toktonaliev: Kyrgyz-Tajik Border Conflict: Mutual Concessions Needed. In: Central Asian Bureau for Analytical Reporting. September 17, 2019, accessed August 5, 2020 (UK English).
  7. ^ Katarzyna Czerniecka: The state at its borders: the internal dimensions of Kyrgyzstan's border security . In: OSCE Academy Bishkek, Geneva Center for Security Policy (Ed.): Central Asia Policy Brief . No. 4 . Bishkek January 24, 2011, p. 7 .
  8. ↑ Anna Matveeva: Divided we fall… or rise? Tajikistan - Kyrgyzstan border dilemma . In: Cambridge Journal of Eurasian studies . 1st edition. February 13, 2017, p. 15th f .
  9. ↑ a b c Anna Matveeva: Divided we fall… or rise? Tajikistan – Kyrgyzstan border dilemma . In: Cambridge Journal of Eurasian studies . 1st edition. February 13, 2017, p. 9 ff .
  10. ^ Paul Goble: Kyrgyz-Tajik Territorial Disputes Threaten Regional Stability. In: Jamestown.org. The Jamestown Foundation, November 30, 2017, accessed August 13, 2020 (American English).
  11. ^ The Road of Contention. The Authorities of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan Begin Negotiations After a Border Conflict. In: CABAR.asia. March 14, 2019, accessed August 13, 2020 (UK English).
  12. ↑ Olzhas Auyezov: Four killed, 18 wounded in Kyrgyz-Tajik border clash . In: Reuters . September 17, 2019 ( reuters.com [accessed August 13, 2020]).
  13. ↑ Kyrgyz-Tajik Border Conflict: Mutual Concessions Needed. In: CABAR.asia. September 17, 2019, accessed August 13, 2020 (UK English).
  14. ^ Kyrgyz PM Orders Increased Security After Incident Along Tajik Border. In: rferl.org. January 10, 2020, accessed on August 14, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Ayzirek Imanaliyeva: Fighting flares again on Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan border. In: Eurasianet.org. May 8, 2020, accessed on August 14, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Five wounded in shootout on Kyrgyz-Tajik border . In: Reuters . May 8, 2020 ( reuters.com [accessed August 14, 2020]).
  17. ↑ Bruce Pannier: Signs Of Hope (And Conflict) On Central Asia's Borders. In: rferl.org. May 16, 2020, accessed on August 14, 2020 .