Kyrgyz and Tajik officials meeting to discuss the delimitation and demarcation of disputed border areas between the two countries said they had signed a protocol amid claims that progress was made on the issue, though no details were disclosed.
Saimumin Yatimov, the chairman of the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan, said the deal had been signed on October 2 in Batken, Kyrgyzstan. The two Central Asian countries have been meeting for months in an effort to resolve border disputes that have led to deadly clashes between them in recent years.
"Conflicts are always less [important] than [historical ties]. That's why we have signed Protocol No. 44," said Yatimov. "We will diligently and constructively implement it step by step, aiming to reach a comprehensive and fundamental agreement in the shortest possible time."
Kamchybek Tashiev, the chairman of Kyrgyzstan's Committee for National Security, said in a statement that the protocol "provides a basis for resolving all border issues."
“God willing, we will soon decide to define the state borders. We have decided that our commissions will operate continuously [on this issue]. Our decision today will lead to peace and stability at the border, and our people will live in friendship and harmony,” he added.
The most disputed areas between two countries are the land surrounding Vorukh, an enclave of Tajik territory within Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek maintains that the road leading to the enclave, Tort-Kocho, is part of Kyrgyzstan -- as it is internationally recognized -- while Dushanbe considers it as its own.
The border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan is approximately 975 kilometers long. The delimitation and demarcation process began in 2002 and, as of 2020, some 519 kilometers had been defined. To show the progress made since then, at a meeting last year between Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rahmon, the sides said some 664 kilometers of the border had been defined.
But that total was contradicted by Rahmon in January when he said that 63 percent of the border -- roughly 614 kilometers -- had been demarcated as work on the remaining border was ongoing. Special commissions from each country continue to negotiate the disputed areas.
In Kyrgyz-Tajik border clashes in September 2022, Kyrgyz officials said 63 of its citizens had been killed, while Tajikistan reported a death toll of 41 people. After speaking with relatives and friends of those killed during the clashes, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reported that 81 Tajik citizens had lost their lives.
Kyrgyz and Tajik authorities accused each other of aggression after the two sides used heavy artillery and mortars in the clashes.