Russia invades Ukraine, Azerbaijan attacks Armenia and there are also fights between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan that have killed dozens. In the latter conflict, Kremlin boss Putin is trying to find a settlement. But agreements on both sides are broken again and again.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has officially intervened in the recent violent clashes between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. According to the presidential administration in Moscow, Putin had telephoned the presidents of both countries and called on them to reach a peaceful settlement. The conflict should be resolved “exclusively by peaceful, political and diplomatic means”. Putin has also confirmed that Russia is ready to contribute to stability in the border region of the two former Soviet republics.
According to the two opponents, a total of 71 people died in the fighting last week. On Friday, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon agreed on a ceasefire, which both sides have said has been broken repeatedly. According to both countries, the situation on the contested border was still extremely tense.
In a preliminary weekly balance, Kyrgyzstan spoke of a total of 36 deaths and 137,000 people who had been brought to safety from the border region. In several places, collections of relief supplies were made to get the humanitarian situation under control. The government in Bishkek declared this Monday a day of national mourning. Tajikistan said 35 people were killed on its side.
One focus of the fighting was around the Kyrgyz border town of Batken. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union more than 30 years ago, the two countries have been at odds at numerous points over the course of the approximately 1,000-kilometer border. Battles flare up again and again. The high mountain countries on the border with China blamed each other for the renewed escalation. Ceasefires were agreed again and again, which were broken a little later. Heavy artillery, attack helicopters and drones are said to be deployed in the region. Uniformed and civilians died.
A reporter from the German Press Agency in the Tajik capital Dushanbe reported that this time quiet border regions were also fought over for a long time. After talks with UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubayev said that Bishkek was merely defending itself. There is serious damage to infrastructure, including schools. Guterres also wants to exchange views on the situation with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Schaparov on Tuesday in New York on the fringes of the UN General Assembly – and with the Tajik side, it said.
Conflicts that have been smoldering for years have also recently escalated in other regions of the post-Soviet space. A few days ago, for example, Azerbaijan attacked its neighbor Armenia in the South Caucasus. Observers fear that such tensions will increase because Russia, which actually has a strong military presence in the entire region, is currently waging a war of aggression against Ukraine.
