The presidents of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have held one-on-one talks for the second time in the space of a week in an apparent effort to soothe a surge in tensions over border issues.
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rahmon, spoke on September 19 in New York on the sidelines of the ongoing UN General Assembly.
A statement issued by Japarov’s office said the issues of delimitation and demarcation of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border were object of special attention. A more cursory press release from Rahmon’s office omitted this detail.
This second meeting, following the one the two men held in Dushanbe on September 14 during a Central Asian presidential consultative meeting, has come on the heels of some diplomatic discord.
Whatever goodwill was fostered at that first exchange was quickly undone by remarks made on September 15 by the head of Kyrgyzstan’s security services, Kamchybek Tashiyev, who demanded in markedly aggressive terms that Tajikistan relinquish its territorial claims to sections of the contested border. He was speaking to reporters on the eve of the first anniversary of a border conflict that claimed dozens of lives.
“Until now, we have tried to resolve this issue peacefully, and we will continue to do so. Our head of state has directed us to resolve issues through negotiations. But at the same time, it must be said that an act of aggression was committed against our state last year. We will not allow such aggression in future,” Tashiyev said.
Source : Eurasia