Historic peace between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

The agreement between Kyrgyz and Tajiks-sealed by the embrace between Žaparov and Rakhmon-affects as much as 1,000 kilometers of border and and comes after discussions and clashes dating back to the twentieth century, when both states were under Moscow's control. As recently as three years ago, armed clashes had occurred with several casualties on both sides.

Bishkek (AsiaNews) - The presidents of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Sadyr Žaparov and Emomali Rakhmon, in previous meetings had never even shaken hands. They finally embraced in Bishkek on March 13, when they signed the border demarcation agreement after many years of even bloody conflict, in what is being called the “triumph of diplomacy” between the two smaller Central Asian states, the one more closely related to Mongolian ethnicity with the one of predominantly Iranian tradition. The ceremony was sealed by the opening of the first border crossings, the Kajragač and Kyzyl-Bel, after it had not been possible to cross from one country to the other since May 2021, and the next day the air link was reopened on the Biškek-Dušanbe and Biškek-Khudžand routes.

While the whole world remains with bated breath over the negotiations on the cessation of the war between Russia and Ukraine, two Central Asian countries show how it is possible to resolve long-standing disagreements, also derived from the aftermath of the breakup of the Soviet Union, and made even more dramatic precisely by the new aggressions of the Russians to impose a new vision of the world order. The agreement between Kyrgyz and Tajiks covers as much as 1,000 kilometers of border and deserves the status of “historic peace” of the 21st century in the region, after discussions and clashes dating back to the 20th century, when both states were under Moscow's control.

Even three years ago, more than 400 kilometers remained disputed, and armed clashes had occurred between 2021 and 2022 with several casualties on both sides. A meeting had been held in September 2022 with the mediation of Vladimir Putin, who has since effectively disinterested himself in the issue, having quite other goals to achieve, and Žaparov and Rakhmon had looked at each other in a scowl on both sides of the Moscow czar. Now the three-way embrace at the Biškek airport was solemnized by a parade of Kyrgyz horsemen, dressed in medieval fashions, along with musicians and dancers performing music from both traditions, and a large banner dedicated to the Tajik president, hailed as “Your Excellency.”

Now the border between the two countries spans more than 1,000 kilometers, 519.9 of which were set in 2011, and the remaining 486.94 in the past three years. Now the agreement will have to be ratified by the parliaments of Biškek and Dushanbe, but this is a formality given both presidents' control over their “democratic” institutions. It will remain to be seen how it will change the lives of the inhabitants of the areas affected by the borders, which have repeatedly come into conflict and are now reshuffled in territorial exchanges, in a fairly populous but very poor area with severe water shortages. The clashes of the past years, even before they involved the military, were in fact taking place precisely between the population of the two ethnic groups, mainly over access to water sources.

Then in 2021 it had gone directly to the use of heavy artillery, as well as various shootings, all the way to the assault of foreign-made drones (Kyrgyzstan boasted Turkish Bayraktar Tb2 drones), with numerous deaths left on the ground. The following year the clashes had led to evacuations on the Kyrgyz side alone of over 100,000 people, with serious violations of the law of war on both sides, as Human Rights Watch noted at the time, with assaults even on emergency room ambulances.

The head of Kyrgyzstan's security services, Kamčybek Tašiev, explained in his last speech to parliament that the final negotiations were “very difficult,” mainly because of divisions in the herding areas around Borukh, Tajik land surrounded by Kyrgyz-owned areas. Another sticky point involved a strategic bridge of only about 20 meters to move between the two sides of the Kyrgyz Batken region, which was discussed for six full months. Maps from the 1920s, those still established in Stalin's time, had to be set aside, and the Kyrgyz gave in symbolically, granting their neighbors the village of Dostuk, which translates as “Friendship,” what is hoped to be the normal relationship between the two peoples, in favor of the unity of all of Central Asia.