Subject: Re: Query: Is there a change in the atmosphere of cooperation?
From: Nick Megoran (nickmegoran@infotel.kg)
Date: Mon Jul 03 2000 - 02:04:32 EDT
JS> Dear Ferghana-Valley List Members:
JS> I would be grateful to hear from anyone with current information
JS> from "on-the-ground" who might respond to the following query: Are
JS> there changes that can be felt on the ground resulting from the
JS> more cooperative attitudes expressed in recent meetings of
JS> regional leaders?
Dear John,
One positive development this year has been the work of a joint border
commission formed by the governments of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Last fall Uzbekistan began a unilateral construction of a 2m high barbed
wire fence around many sections of its territory of the Ferghana Valley (for
example Aravon, Soh, Kora-Suv). This was justified on two grounds:
protecting Uzbekistan against armed attackers, and defending its economic
interests, although I have not been able to find an official statement on
this from Uzbekistan.
The move created a storm of protest in the Kyrgyzstan press, although the
government itself was rather quiet on the issue. It was a very alarming move
from the perspective of border communities, many of whom had fences
positioned through their back gardens, or found their villages cut in half.
These fears for the future were exacerbated by rumours of an impending visa
regime, and by the periodic and partial closure of the borders for vehicle
transport.
The joint commission on delimitation and demarcation had its first meeting
in February, and visited the border area in March. Following this move,
Uzbekistan stopped its construction of the boundary fence, and (as far as I
am informed) has not resumed it. The second meeting of the commission has
already taken place, and a third is scheduled for later in the summer. At
the moment its members are sifting through vast archive materials, trying to
agree on a delimitation.
This process is very difficult- a partial delimitation and demarcation was
attempted 1924-27, and again in 1955, but these were never completed. As a
result different maps show the border in different places. Following the
Second World War, lots of land was exchanged or rented from one state to the
other, and this too has left a complicated mosaic of land use. It is common
in border demarcations (the process of placing a border on the ground based
on the one agreed on the map) to pay attention to actual land use patterns
and adjust the border accordingly. For example, there is a Kyrgyzstani
village called Moynaq about 10km from Osh, where four of its houses have
actually been built in what is Uzbekistani territory. They have been
separated by the border fence, although a space has been left to allow
vehicles to drive through. It would be sensible to demarcate the border so
as to include these homes within Kyrgyzstan, possibly for the exchange of
territory in other places. It is too early to say at this time what attitude
the commission will take to this question.
An interesting aside here is that many people I have spoken to attribute
Uzbekistan's halting of its fence construction to the visit of Russian
president Putin to Uzbekistan, and believe that he told Uzbekistan to stop
creating this separation between the two states. Can anyone comment on this
rumour?
The increased co-operation between the two states might be a blessing to the
border communities, but if it signals a move to create a full international
border with a neutral zone cleared of dwellings, it would create massive
disruption. A contrast is given by the northern border of Kyrgyzstan's
Batken region with Tadjikistan. The area is barely controlled, there are no
fences, no co-operation on demarcation,- but this means that people are free
to come and go and continue the trading which many depend on for livelihoods.
In conclusion, there is more concrete co-operation between Uzbekistan and
Kyrgyzstan on this important issue, but it remains to be seen whether that
will lead to positive results for the people of the Valley.
Regards,
Nick Megoran, Osh State University.
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