Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 16
By Viktoriya Zhavoronkova - Trend:
The situation around the incident at the border of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which took place on Jan. 11, has been artificially escalated, the Russian expert on Central Asian countries, Alexander Knyazev believes.
An armed incident took place on Jan. 11 at the border between the two countries. Several soldiers were wounded on both sides as a result of the incident. Afterwards a message came, saying that Kyrgyzstan withdrew its ambassador in Tajikistan for political consultation and made a number of requirements before Dushanbe. The parties announced a settlement of the situation around the incident, but in reality, tensions remain.
"The situation is artificially escalated for political purposes," Knyazev told Trend. He said, Kyrgyzstan is more actively participating in this, whereas Tajikistan stands a more moderate ground.
The expert believes that this conflict may be resolved in the near future, but the issue's settlement will come after quite a long time.
"I do not expect any friendly relations between the two countries in the near future," he said.
"As for the reasons for this situation, there are a plenty of them," he said.
Knyazev emphasized the economic situation, the ethno-demographic aspect, as well as the failure of the leaders of the two countries to fully consider these issues after the USSR collapse.
"This region is very criminalized," he said. "There are smuggling routes in both directions. Perhaps, the reason for this particular case is to re-direct criminal influence in the region."
"Another possible cause of the incident is to distract the population from domestic problems," Knyazev said.
"The attempts to arouse the population's patriotism by creating an external enemy are one of the oldest ways to divert people from the difficulties within the country," the expert added.
Translated by E.A. and N.H.
Edited by C.N.