Kyrgyzstan Security Council Secretary Marat Imankulov  proposes a land to exchange territory with Tajikistan to help resolve a long-standing border dispute.

Imankulov noted in an interview with Kyrgyzstan’s state-run news agency Kabar on April 30 that In order to resolve their long-running border delineation dispute, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan may consider the option of exchanging territories.

“The difficulty here is that the border in the Batken region passes through difficult terrain, densely populated areas, bisecting streets, yards, and even houses.  So you have to cut to the quick.  It's a hard compromise.  But it is impossible [to resolve the issue] without it.  We need to make concessions.  If necessary, then the option of exchanging territories can also be considered.    And of course there must be prior agreement with the local population, this is how the work is going now,” Kyrgyz official said.   

“Of course, we would like everything to be our way, but we must take their interests into account, because the border runs between two states.  And they have their own interests.  We are looking for this balance and must reach a consensus,” Imankulov said, adding that all processes regarding the determination of borders must proceed peacefully, at the negotiating table, through diplomatic channels.  

It is not the first time that the Kyrgyz side proposes land swap as an option to help resolve a long-standing border dispute.

Recall, the Chairman of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan Kamchybek Tashiyev told reporters in Bishkek on March 26, 2021 that Kyrgyzstan proposed to exchange Vorukh exclave for land plots in Kyrgyzstan’s Leilek and Batken districts.  

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon noted on April 9, 2021 at a meeting with residents of Vorukh exclave that the issue of exchange of Vorukh exclave within Kyrgyzstan for any Kyrgyz land has never been discussed and will never be discussed.  “There have not been any talks about the possible exchange of Vorukh for another territory in the last 19 years,” Tajik leader said.  

In October the same year, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov surprised many by proposing a land to exchange territory with Tajikistan to help resolve a long-standing border dispute.

At his October 23 press conference, Japarov spoke about “275 meters” of land that was recognized as Tajik land in a 2009 agreement that also provided for Kyrgyzstan to lease that land for 49 years, saying the land belongs to Kyrgyzstan and he does not accept the 2009 agreement.

The person on the Kyrgyz side who signed that document was Adakhan Madumarov, a long-time politician who in 2009 was the head of Kyrgyzstan’s Security Council.   

Madumarov later noted that the document was a nonbinding agreement and that discussions on the matter were to be continued.

But Japarov said the Tajik side is insisting in talks that the agreement is valid and that land was transferred to Tajikistan in 1924 when it became the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

“I answered that, if that is so, in 1924 we handed over Murgab to you, some 3 million hectares. Why don’t you return it to us?”

Japarov said the Tajik side rejected his proposal.

There was really no way Tajikistan could agree to it and Japarov’s proposal just may have led to increased tensions along an already tense border.

The Tajik government has not made any official response to Kyrgyz president’s remarks, but the Democratic Party of Tajikistan released a statement on October 26 saying that, since the formation of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic, Murgab has been part of Tajikistan’s territory.

To-date, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have agreed upon 90 percent of previously contested territory. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has announced that an agreement addressing the long-standing border dispute between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan is set to be signed in March this year.  The announcement followed discussions between Fidan and Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe on January 10.  The Turkish top diplomat’s visit to Kyrgyzstan the day prior reportedly also featured discussions on the impending agreement. 

The border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan has been the scene of unrest repeatedly since the collapse of the former Soviet Union.   Border talks between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan began in 2002.  The countries share 972 kilometers of border and unresolved border issues have led to tensions for the past 30 years.