Kyrgyzstan says to swap land with Tajikistan, ending years-long spat

BISHKEK, (Kyrgyzstan): Kyrgyzstan announced Thursday it would exchange territories disputed with Tajikistan since the fall of the Soviet Union, ending a decades-long spat between the Central Asian neighbours.

The border between the two countries has seen sporadic deadly clashes since both became independent in 1991, with the neighbours fighting over access to water and resources in the remote region.

Both sides announced a border demarcation deal last December, but neither had detailed territorial concessions until now.

Under the deal, Kyrgyzstan will receive around 25 square kilometres (10 square miles) from Tajikistan in exchange for land and better access to shared water resources, according to the head of Kyrgyzstan’s secret service Kamchybek Tashiev.

“Negotiations have reached the final point and can be discussed openly from today,” Tashiev told the Kyrgyz parliament.

“After parliamentary consideration, the presidents will sign, then ratification, and finally, the final version will be signed by the heads of two states. And a treaty will be drawn up between the two countries.”

Several controversial roads will be declared neutral and be used by both parties under the agreement, while the two will ease access to oil wells, Tashiev said.

The authorities will also relocate the inhabitants of the villages exchanged under the agreement, some of which will be destroyed and rebuilt, he added.

The two countries also reached an agreement on easing access to a zone around a canal vital for agriculture, an important industry in both countries.

The border dispute stemmed from Soviet times, when a simple administrative demarcation was drawn between the mountainous neighbours.

Autumn 2022 saw the worst fighting over the border since the fall of the Soviet Union, with dozens killed and thousands fleeing their homes in frontier villages.

The deal comes amid a general warming of relations between the five ex-Soviet Central Asian republics, which also include Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon had discussed border issues in a rare meeting at a UN summit in 2023, sparking optimism that a deal was possible.