Kyrgyz, Tajik authorities agree to exchange land in effort to resolve border tensions

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have reached an agreement to exchange plots of land in their border villages, resolving long-standing issues of border demarcation.

The announcement was made by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov, who explained that border villages between the two countries had been arranged in a "chessboard" pattern, with houses often overlapping the border and causing significant inconvenience, Caliber.Az reports citing Kyrgyz media.

“We have settled this issue. If houses belonging to Tajik citizens ended up on our side, the Tajik side would relocate them. If our houses are on their side, we will relocate our citizens,” Zhaparov stated. “We will build them houses elsewhere, taking into account the size of the land plots. Thus, the issues were resolved with every meter of land taken into account.”

He added that the border issue is practically resolved, with only some bilateral paperwork left to complete.

The border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan spans approximately 972 kilometres, and conflicts have frequently erupted between local residents and border guards due to undelimited areas. 

These areas made it difficult to determine the precise boundary between the two states. In early December of last year, representatives from both countries confirmed that they had reached an agreement on the disputed sections of the border.

By Tamilla Hasanova