We will reopen the border with Tajikistan only after delimitation and demarcation, says Kyrgyz president

He noted that Kyrgyzstan had reopened the border for Tajik students studying at higher educational institutions in Kyrgyzstan, “because they should continue their education.”  

The issue of complete reopening of the border with Tajikistan will be resolved only after delimitation and demarcation of it, the president noted.  

“Until then, we will not reopen [border] so that there are no conflicts,” Japarov said, noting that the Kyrgyz working group of the intergovernmental commission [for delineation of the mutual border] will go to Tajikistan in the near future.  

Recall, Kyrgyzstan’s Security Council Secretary Marat Imankulov said at a roundtable meeting in Bishkek on August 12 that Kyrgyzstan’s border with Tajikistan will reopen as border issues are resolved.  At the same time, he noted that Kyrgyzstan had not closed its borders first, but only retaliated.

Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have not yet resolved the border delineation problem.  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.