The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan reacted to the statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan about cases of harassment, intimidation, discrimination and persecution of citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan and ethnic Tajiks in Kyrgyzstan that have allegedly become more frequent in recent days. Press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported.
The ministry notes that since the armed conflict at the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, law enforcement agencies have ensured the safety of citizens of Tajikistan studying in higher educational institutions in Bishkek and other cities.
Employees of the internal affairs bodies regularly contact university professors and students. Embassies of foreign states, including Tajikistan, are protected in an enhanced mode.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan does not stop trying to present our country in an unflattering light before the world community, forgetting that by doing so they are contradicting themselves.
Press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan
The facts voiced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, which have not been confirmed according to the information of the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs:
- The statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan indicated that commercial shops of ethnic Tajiks were closed in Kadamdzhai district, and citizens of Kyrgyzstan evacuated from the border areas were deliberately placed in the homes of ethnic Tajiks. Information about the closure of stores was not confirmed as a result of a check. As for the accomodation of evacuees in the homes of ethnic Tajiks, they did it voluntarily. No one has the right to condemn them for taking an active position in society.
- The information that the correspondent of the Kyrgyz service of Radio Liberty, Nasibakhon Davronbekova, an ethnic Tajik woman, was beaten by unknown persons on ethnic grounds in Osh region is also not true. Journalist Davronbek Nasibkhonov expressed his position on social media. He said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan added his name on its website, transforming it into woman’s name of an ethnic Tajik and an employee of the Radio Liberty service. «But I am a man and have nothing to do with this media, and I don’t want the Tajik Foreign Ministry to use my name for political purposes, I have nothing to do with this country,» he wrote.
- Information that the law enforcement agencies of Kyrgyzstan are planning to deport more than 500 students — citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan studying in higher educational institutions in Osh region, was not confirmed.
- The widely spread information about the delivery of a citizen of the Republic of Tajikistan A. Aliyev to the Department of Internal Affairs of Leninsky district of Bishkek on September 19 and interrogation was not confirmed.
- Reports of pressure and threats against Tajik citizens temporarily working in the country in order to force them to transfer funds to victims in Batken region do not correspond to reality. It is the right of every citizen to take part or not to take part in the collection of funds for the victims, no one has the right to force them.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic considers the allegations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan about harassment based on nationality to be unfounded.
We are convinced that the world community should receive verified reliable information, and not deliberately distorted and false, which is provided by the Foreign Ministry of Tajikistan.
Press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan
It should be noted that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan has previously refuted the information voiced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan.
Emergency situation has been introduced in Batken region. Shooting began at several sites of the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on the morning of September 16. Settlements in Leilek and Batken district came under fire. The Ministry of Health reported 198 victims, 59 people were killed. As a result of the armed conflict on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, residents of seven villages in Batken and Leilek districts, as well as Dzhekendi village in Chon-Alai district of Osh region, left their homes.
The Prosecutor General’s Office of Kyrgyzstan opened a criminal case on crimes against peace.
