Kyrgyz-Uzbek Border
At the state border of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, 1400 square kilometers of area are subject to delimitation and demarcation. Of this area, 994 km² have been jointly surveyed and clarified, and 290 km² have been agreed upon. According to the information from the government commission of the Kyrgyz Republic on the delimitation and demarcation of the state border with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, the agreed section passes through the territories of the Jalal-Abad and Talas regions of Kyrgyzstan. There remain 406 square kilometers of unexamined areas—adjacent sections in the Batken and Osh regions of Kyrgyzstan and the Andijan and Fergana regions of Uzbekistan.
The disputed areas continue to be the territories in the regions of the enclaves of Barak and Sokh on the border of Kyrgyzstan with Uzbekistan, in the Gava and Gavasai ravines. Such data were presented by the government commission at a meeting of the committee on national security of the Legislative Assembly of the parliament of Kyrgyzstan.
Border negotiations between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan began in February 2000 (21 meetings have been held). The Kyrgyz side proposed to establish the state border based on the results of the work of the Parity Commission of the Governments of the Kyrgyz SSR and the Uzbek SSR in 1955 and the description of the state border, which was approved by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Kyrgyz SSR on March 30, 1961. The Uzbek side, on the other hand, proposed to conduct delimitation based on the documents of national-territorial demarcation from 1924-1927. Failing to reach a consensus, the parties only exchanged signed topographic maps with their versions of the state border line, based on which negotiations are still ongoing.
In the sphere of land-territorial and mutual economic relations with Uzbekistan, over 70 plots in the Kadamjai, Batken, Karasuu, and Aravan districts of the Osh region of Kyrgyzstan have been identified as disputed.
In the Kadamjai district, 654.5 hectares have been illegally developed by farms from the Fergana, Rishtan, and Alty-Aryk districts of the Fergana region of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which (in addition to 10 recreational zones of Uzbekistan organizations) has two major industrial facilities of regional significance in the district: the Fergana oil refining base—53.8 hectares; the North-Sokh reservoir—317.5 hectares.
Additionally, in March 1994, on the border with the Kadamjai district (in the locality of Javagy, Fergana district), without coordination with Kyrgyzstan, the Uzbek side began construction of an environmentally harmful carbide production plant (production capacity—200,000 tons of carbide per year) and intends to illegally develop carbide raw material reserves located in the Kadamjai district (foothills of Arpalik). The unresolved land disputes allow Uzbekistan to extract oil and gas from the subsoil of this area. Of the 175 existing oil and 14 gas wells, as of today, 60 and 11 wells are operational, respectively, supplying approximately 80 tons of oil and 20,000 m³ of gas daily.
A part of the territory of the Karasuu district, measuring 110 hectares, was transferred to the Kurghantepa district of the Andijan region as a result of straightening the riverbed of the border river Shar-khan-Sai.
Disputes arise regarding Uzbekistan's long-term lease of 6885 hectares of rain-fed pastures in the Aravan district, transferred to the farms of the Marhamat district of Uzbekistan in 1995, with no rental payment having been made. It has also been established that, according to the land inventory of 1991, the Marhamat district of Uzbekistan has 159 hectares of arable land, 134 hectares of irrigation networks, and 41 hectares of perennial crops belonging to the Aravan district.
Disputed territories between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan
In the Jalal-Abad region, the disputed areas with Uzbekistan total 264.569 hectares. The state acts adopted by the parity commission in 1995 do not satisfy either party.
As follows from the provided information regarding the delimitation of the state border between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, the disputed border issues are of a very complex nature and their resolution is a long-term task.
Moreover, certain disputed territories of Kyrgyzstan with Uzbekistan have been converted into military state farms. In particular, a military state farm has been established on the border between the city of Kyzyl-Kiya of Kyrgyzstan and the city of Kuvasay of Uzbekistan for the purpose of using an orchard, part of which is located on the territory of Kyrgyzstan.
Today, from official statements by government officials, it is known that out of 1225 km that make up the length of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border, about 1000 km have already been delimited, i.e., the main part.
Sokh enclave. According to the description of the state border approved by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Kyrgyz SSR on March 30, 1961, the borders of the Chonqar and Sokh sections of the Republic of Uzbekistan appear as two enclaves—separate sections located within the Batken region of the Kyrgyz Republic. However, on the exchanged signed topographic maps of the Uzbek side, the Uzbek-Kyrgyz state border is drawn connecting these two enclaves with the main territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan and eliminating the interspersing, i.e., practically indicating the liquidation of the enclaves.
As a result, it turns out that Uzbekistan intends to include approximately 10.3 hectares of land from the Batken and Kadamjai districts of the Batken region, effectively dividing the Batken region into two interspersed enclave sections.
The Uzbek enclave appeared in Kyrgyzstan in 1955. Since gaining independence in 1991, Uzbekistan has sought free access to the enclave via Kyrgyz roads.
The area of the enclave is 325 km², with a population of 52,000 people living in 19 villages, with 99% of the population being ethnic Tajiks and 0.72% being Kyrgyz. The strategic significance of the enclave is the control over transport routes in the western part of Kyrgyzstan.
