Tajikistan’s president said he was in favor of a speedy resolution of border issues with Kyrgyzstan. He urged Isfara residents not to give in to emotions. Radio Ozodi reported.
Speaking to Isfara residents, Emomali Rahmon named the demarcation and delimitation of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border as one of the key issues and said that he supports a negotiated settlement.
He said that the Tajik side has been negotiating with Kyrgyzstan since 2002 within the framework of the intergovernmental commission on border delimitation and demarcation between the two states. According to the country’s leader, during this time, more than 170 meetings and negotiations have been held between the delegations of the intergovernmental commission and working groups, and 663.7 kilometers of the 987-kilometer border between the two states, that is 68.4 percent of the border line, have been determined and agreed upon.
He noted that Tajikistan is a firm supporter of negotiations to find mutually beneficial solutions to existing problems, taking into account the national interests of both sides, but «this is a very complicated process and requires a lot of time and efforts of specialists».
Emomali Rahmon also urged residents not to give in to emotions. «I once again remind the residents of Isfara that they must live and work with their neighbors in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and good neighborliness, communicate with them and establish friendly cooperation, be tolerant and not give in to emotions,» he said.
Earlier, the President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov wrote on his page on social media: «It would be good, if the agreement process went faster. In my opinion, the process is slow. This is due to the fact that there are many disputed areas. The most important thing is to have peace, then we can resolve everything in the interests of both sides».
On April 13, he also asked Kyrgyzstanis to refrain from making emotional comments. «When it comes to conflict issues with neighboring states, do not allow yourself to spread various video and photo materials that distort information and insult the leaders of these countries,» the head of state said.
Another shootout occurred at night of April 12 on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border. The border guards of the Republic of Tajikistan opened fire on the servicemen of the Kyrgyz Republic at about 9.17 p.m. during a meeting of border representatives of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, who arrived at the scene of the incident as a reinforcement. After midnight, the parties agreed to withdraw additional forces to the points of their permanent deployment.
