The next meeting of the Tajik-Kyrgyz commission for delimitation and demarcation of the mutual border began in the Tajik northern city of Guliston yesterday afternoon.  

The delegations of both countries are led by chiefs of security agencies: the head of the State Committee on National Security of (SCNS) Tajikistan Saimumin Yatimov and the head of the Kyrgyz SCNS Kamchybek Tashiyev.  

Recall, the commission had previously been headed by deputy prime ministers.  

A source within the Tajik government says the meeting is being held behind closed doors.

It is to be noted that many border areas in Central Asia have been disputed since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.  The situation is particularly complicated near the numerous exclaves in the Ferghana Valley, where the borders of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan meet.

The border of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan 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 976 kilometers of border – of which only 504 kilometers has reportedly been properly delineated.

In 2019 alone, there were at least fourteen cases of violence, in which six Tajik nationals and one Kyrgyz citizen were killed and more than 60 other people were injured.

Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan renewed interest in border delimitation suggests that the governments want to dedicate more attention and resources to the communities living in the Ferghana Valley.