Nurlan Abdullaev, Ph.D. in Economy
The number of transborder conflicts related to violation of southern Kyrgyzstan’s borders by Tajik citizens has increased last time in Batken Province. Only during the first week of March there were dozens of transborder regime violations committed by Tajik citizens in Batken Province who intend to illegally seize lands to construct building and to utilize firewood in Kok-Tash.
The border guards of Tajikistan are backward there citizens. According to Batken Province Administration, only in 2006 there were more than 500 violations stated on the Kyrgyz-Tajik borders, mainly committed by Tajik border guards. Many cases of ungrounded extortions by Tajikistan borders officers were established. This has brought to repeated increase of the Kyrgyz citizens’ complaints due to the Tajik border guards’ inappropriate actions. The facts of physical abuse of Kyrgyzstanis were also established.
Of course, Tajik citizens’ systematic violations of the Kyrgyz border are a “logical continuation” of a planned activity to settle down on the Kyrgyz territories inconspicuously - by small groups. However, even if border violation by both Tajik citizens and border guard became a norm, the settlement on the Kyrgyz territory is a matter of territorial integrity and security of Kyrgyzstan. Today there are more than 70 disputed lots on the Kyrgyz-Tajik borders. The most problematic area is Batken Province where Vorukh enclave is situated, the part of Tajikistan. Even remaining helicopters of the Tajik Air Forces have started to flight over the territory of Batken Province without any permissions from our air authorities. And this is just two months after the first trainings of the Kyrgyz Air Defense Forces were enthusiastically reported. I believe it would be better to target radars in order to prevent another flights.
When considering the situation with Tajik citizens' settlement on the Kyrgyz territories, which have limited water and land recourses, the following sharp issues appears: water and territorial disputes, illegal use of grasslands and scaled felling of archa forests by Tajik settlements and so on.
The Tajikistan's expansion has become the issue for the Jogorku Kenesh's (Kyrgyz parliament) members. In early September Parliamentarian Murat Juraev reported that in Batken Province 600 hectares of territories were taken by Tajikistan. Moreover, Dushanbe has started to “develop” deputed 2 thousand hectares of the territories, particularly, to construct schools. It was indicated that some villages of Batken Province situated on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border had faced the threat to be illegally settled by the Tajik citizens. Think for yourselves, if these 2,6 thousand hectares of the lands would had been divided in 10 hundred parts among our landless citizens, 26.000 families would had received their shares.
Our authorities are well aware about transborder problems with Tajikistan. However for some reasons they do not undertake any actions to protect the territorial integrity of Kyrgyzstan. By our inaction we create the problem of separatism for no reason.
In some time the problem of Tajik settlers will even worsen because Tajikistan population’s settlement will get irreversible character. And in some years the increased population of Tajik citizens will claim to unite with Tajik mainland. Then the whole area in the west of Vorukh - thousands of square kilometres of the Kyrgyz territories - will go to the neighbour. The territories, many times stained with blood of our ancestry.
Because of our leaders the sorrowful situation appears when the territories of Kyrgyzstan are eaten away by "termites-neighbours" from Tajikistan, like a tree.
Here is a question - why each year there are more and more cases of border violations by the Tajik citizens and their illegal settlement on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, particularly on this part of the area, still continues?
On 7 August at the meeting of Kyrgyz-Tajik Intergovernmental Commission in Bishkek the decision was taken to speed up with signing of bilateral agreements on joint use of water-energy recourses, on regulation of settlement and protection of settlers' rights, etc. The issue of intensification of bilateral activities to reconstruct international transportation corridors was also considered. Is it just a coincidence or there is a logical juncture that with construction of new «Heroin Bridge» from Afghanistan to Tajikistan the Intergovernmental Commission raised the question about "reconstruction of international transportation corridors to markets of Afghanistan and China?"
Here is a question again: what kind of «markets» of Afghanistan is mentioned? Most likely, drugs market. According to the Annual Report of the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime, in 2007 cultivation of opium poppies in Afghanistan will reach a record level - 8,200 tons. This will provide 93% of world’s opium supplies.
In this context the situation is favorable for Tajikistan. It is generally known that today the major areas of heroin production are Tajikistan’s Khatlon Province and Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region. From here opium and heroin are carried over the international roads “Khujand-Osh”, “Khorog-Osh” and “Jirgital-Osh”.
Today the growing number of Tajik settlers on the Kyrgyz territories is already becoming a "fifth column", the trans-shipment point within the system of international transit and drug production.
Is the government of Kyrgyzstan really going to become another narcotransit "Tajikistan", which, together with Kyrgyzstan, are in the group of world's poorest states? If Tajikistan solves its "financial problems" with narcotransit, will Kyrgyzstan suffer from the same fate? Unstable political situation in the country is favorable for narco-barons. When the public votes whether in favor of a new prime minister or a new version of Constitution and another reforms in order to get power, nobody seriously pays attention to the territorial or national security.
What concerns Tajikistan, it is quite impossible that without permission commanders of frontier posts commit extortion and favor illegal border-crossings and settlements of the Tajik citizens on neighboring Kyrgyz territories. Most likely there is secret direction from Dushanbe aimed at consolidation of these territories, further territorial and political expansion towards southern-western areas of Kyrgyzstan. Moreover, taking into account the limited land and water resources in this region, and also poorest sections of population living here, both of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, in the struggle for living areas international conflicts can flare up bringing to human casualties. It is time for "Ak orda", parliamentarians, and province and ayk ookmot to take most effective actions to prevent the seizing of our native land.
Bishkek-Osh-Batken-Lyalelek-Chekdobo
