Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have agreed to jointly investigate the border conflict, the Kyrgyz government press office told RIA Novosti.
On Monday, Kyrgyz First Deputy Prime Minister Kubatbek Boronov met with Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov at the Chechme Avtodorozhny checkpoint in Batken Oblast, Kyrgyzstan. During the meeting, the sides discussed the conflict between residents of border villages of the two countries that took place on Sunday.
"During the meeting, the sides agreed to hold joint investigative measures and bring to justice those responsible," a spokesperson of the press service said.
According to him, during the talks, the sides "expressed regret over the incident in the Kyrgyz-Uzbekistani section of the state border and spoke in favour of taking a set of comprehensive joint measures to resolve the situation, prevent its escalation and reduce tension in the border areas.
"It was noted the commitment of the two states to previously reached agreements and a constructive approach in addressing emerging issues," the Cabinet stressed.
On Sunday, May 31, on the border of Kyrgyzstan with the Uzbek enclave of Soh there was a clash of local residents, which involved several hundred people. The two sides threw stones at each other. The conflict occurred over water, with residents not sharing a spring, the Batken Oblast administration press office told RIA Novosti. As a result of the incident, according to the Kyrgyz Health Ministry, 25 people were injured. Two of them are in serious condition.
Relations between Bishkek and Tashkent have not been at their best over the past decade. The reason for the disagreement was territorial disputes over the uncertainty of the state borderline, which remained undecimated after the collapse of the USSR. In 2017, a breakthrough was achieved in Kyrgyz-Uzbek relations - the parties signed an interim agreement on the state border, according to which for the first time in the history of the two countries described about 85 percent of the borderline. In October 2017, the document came into force.
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