Five Central Asian States Have Put Aside Their Territorial Disputes

Good news! Blessed are the peacemakers!

Now it is time for for more free trade and markets and more prosperity in peace!

"The Ferghana Valley, divided on the political map between Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, has resembled a battlefield ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Hundreds of people have been killed in skirmishes and armed clashes in the region over the past three decades. Agricultural conditions rendered any kind of resolution seemingly impossible: resources are limited in this predominantly agrarian, densely populated, arid region. In addition, officials in all three states used the border conflicts for domestic political purposes.

On March 31, however, the presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan assembled in the Tajik city of Khujand to solemnly declare an end to all of their territorial disputes. Future conflicts cannot be ruled out completely. But for now, Central Asia’s leaders see far greater benefits from cooperation than from aggression. ...

National borders in Central Asia were only demarcated in the 1950s, and the republics remained dissatisfied with the outcome. Regular conflicts occurred between the Central Asian republics even during the Soviet era, when the borders between them were purely administrative. When the Soviet Union fell, each newly independent state began to interpret discrepancies on old Soviet maps in its own favor, which only exacerbated the problem. ..."

Central Asian States Have Put Aside Their Territorial Disputes. Why Now? | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace "Future problems cannot be ruled out, but for the first time since the Soviet collapse, none of the five Central Asian governments have any political grievances against each other."