BATKEN
REGION – GEOGRAPHY
News:
Explained | Analysing the
Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan conflict
What's
in the news?
●
Kyrgyzstan reported 18 wounded overnight
in its southern Batken province which borders Tajikistan’s northern Sughd
region and features a Tajik exclave, Vorukh, a key hotspot in recent conflicts.
Key
takeaways:
●
The clashes over the poorly demarcated
border between the two former Soviet
republics are frequent, but they usually de-escalate quickly, although they
almost led to an all-out war last year.
●
Both host Russian military bases and have
close ties with Moscow, which urged a cessation of hostilities.
Batken
Region:
●
The Batken region is located in Kyrgyzstan.
●
There has been constant shelling and
violent confrontations by local communities on either side.
Backdrop
of the Conflict:
●
The
two landlocked countries, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, share a 1,000-km long
border, a large part of which is disputed.
●
There have been flare-ups in the past as
well over sharing water and land resources.
●
The issue of the delimitation of the
border is a relic of the Soviet era. While regular talks have tried to resolve
the issue, one of the crucial points of disagreement remains over the map which
should be used for demarcation purposes.