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Border conflict: Enemy was made of Kyrgyzstan to unite Tajiks

An armed conflict took place on the border territory of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the last days of April 2021, as a result of which civilians of both countries were killed. The parties have yet to calculate the damage and, most importantly, decide how to live on. 24.kg news agency asked the former Deputy Prime Minister for Security, Law Enforcement and Border Issues of Kyrgyzstan Tokon Mamytov why the incident turned into a shootout and whether this could be prevented in the future.

— Various incidents and conflicts occur at the border annually, although there has never been such a protracted one with a large number of civilian casualties. Why situation at the border is tense?

— A combination of internal and external factors contributes to emergence of conflicts at the border.

The external factor — if we are talking about the latter — is, first of all, the situation that is developing in Tajikistan: socio-political, social, economic, international. The second is the situation in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region and, directly, in the conflict zone — in particular in Vorukh enclave. One more external factor that we should pay attention to is the presence of opposing sides, political forces, parties, movements in Tajikistan, their goals and objectives.

Internal factors include the socio-political, economic, international situation in Kyrgyzstan. You also have to pay attention to the socio-economic development of Kyrgyzstan, the state of combat readiness of the Armed Forces, including the State Border Service, their ability to adequately respond to aggression, invasion, all sorts of border incidents and conflicts. In general, external and internal factors characterize which principle works in a particular country: the rights of force and powerlessness, or vice versa? In other words, whether the law works or not. Depending on this, the number of conflicts at the border will increase or decrease.

— And yet, what was the catalyst?

— The emerging situation in Tajikistan itself — first of all, where the family-clan regime began to form. And the second is the situation in Gorno-Badakhshan and Vorukh. The president was there recently. People, of course, raised very serious issues — of political, economic, social nature. This later had an effect on the border.

— It was not caused by the statements of Ulukbek Maripov and Kamchybek Tashiev on delimitation and demarcation issues?

— Not. It’s too shallow. This means that we underestimate the actions of the neighboring state. They say that one Kyrgyz politician said something and all the fuss occurred. Nothing like this. These statements are not the reason, they are deeper.

It is not worth looking for a Russian, Turkish, Chinese, American, British or any other trace in what happened. This is a long-planned action on the part of individual leaders of Tajikistan in order to unite the Tajik people.

Tokon Mamytov

Situation in the republic itself, Gorny Badakhshan and Vorukh are three factors that are going out or in the future will go out of the control of Dushanbe. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to unite the people. For this it is necessary to find an external enemy. And it was named — Kyrgyzstan, as the weakest link among the Central Asian states. Moreover, we ourselves have a bunch of problems now: political instability, falling living standards, the recent October events. All this was a condition for the neighboring country to organize this aggression.

— Why hasn’t Kyrgyzstan delimited sections of the border with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan for over 30 years?

— We started the negotiation process with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in 2000-2002. And delimitation has dragged on not because Kyrgyzstan or neighboring states do not want to settle the border issue. Everyone wants, and there is a political will for this. But sometimes international principles delay resolution of the issue.

Thus, the international principle of border registration states that borders are determined only on a bilateral basis and only through peaceful negotiations.

Tokon Mamytov

Each state stands on its own positions and does not retreat, there is both internal and external pressure. Therefore, the process is dragged on. But I think that recent events on the border will push both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to act in an unconventional manner, because all the previous measures taken by the countries to complete the border demarcation proved to be untenable, it is necessary to look for other ways.

— What, in your opinion, are the ways out of the current situation, how can and should the border problems be solved?

— One of them is the exchange of certain plots of land. We have to understand here that such proposals cause dissatisfaction within the country, but world practice has proven that this is one of the most effective methods.

The most important thing is that the border issue can only be resolved through negotiations, peacefully.

One cannot solve border issues, interethnic, interreligious, interfaith relations like a potter. It is necessary to make it like a jeweler, filigree.

Tokon Mamytov

— Perhaps, it is worth involving a third party for this?

— A third party, international participants, can be involved in resolving such issues of course. But there are certain difficulties and conditions. In order to appeal to a third party or international organizations, our countries must admit that they have proved powerless to resolve border issues bilaterally.

I think that it is necessary to conduct negotiations so far, our countries have not yet exhausted all the resources to resolve the issue. We must prove that we have matured, that there is a political culture and that we are negotiable. This is the task facing the two states.

— The parties accused each other of aggression. Could it lead to another aggravation?

— I would like to stress that Kyrgyzstan does not blame all Tajik people, but only the officials who made the decision to violate the border, start hostilities, military invasion.

International organizations and other countries expressed their position that the situation should be resolved peacefully, through negotiations. To date, I think, there is no danger of repetition of armed aggression. But I do not exclude that from time to time the neighboring state will create provocations at the border in order to complicate the situation, in order to provoke us to take some action. I have already said that some leaders in Tajikistan consider it as a way to unite the people. We must behave wisely and competently and not let to draw ourselves into provocations. But I think the world community will no longer allow Tajikistan to act without looking back and commit aggressive actions against Kyrgyzstan.

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