Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan begin negotiations over border dispute
The Heads of the Customs Services of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan met to hold negotiations on the current situation at the borders between the two countries. According to the press service of the domestic border agency, the meeting was held on the initiative of Uzbek party at a checkpoint on Kyzyl-Kiya highway in the Batken region, Radio Azattyk reported.
The Head of the Kyrgyzstan’s State Border Service, Raimberdi Duyshenbiev, is participating in negotiations on the part of Kyrgyzstan and the Commander of Border Troops, under the National Security Service of Uzbekistan, on the part of Uzbekistan.
On March 18, more than 50 Uzbek border guard officers set up roadblocks using two armored personnel carriers on the motorway between Kerben and Ala-Buka at the non-agreed border area in Chala-Chart (Aksyisk region). After these events, they began to detain Kyrgyz cars and check the documents of all Kyrgyz citizens.
The State Border Service deployed its armored personnel carriers and heavy border guard units to the scene of the events. At this moment, the situation at the border is stable. Eight border guard officers from each party are on duty at the checkpoints on the non-agreed border area in Chala-Chart (Aksyisk region) without taking into account armored vehicles and support units.
The Kyrgyz Border Service calls the above-mentioned area undocumented, while the local residents consider these lands to belong to the ancestral Kyrgyz. Bishkek contacted the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in order to draw attention of the members of the union to the actions in Tashkent.