Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border

Authoritarian consolidation might have accelerated border deal-making on the paper, but it may also impede deal-making on the ground.

The presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are expected to meet for their first-ever trilateral summit on March 31.

With final documents ready for ratification and then presidential signatures, contemporary Central Asia’s bloodiest conflict nears a conclusion. 

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are closing in on the conclusion of their long-running border dispute. What does the prospect mean to locals?

The meeting heralded the significant progress made in the last year on the three countries’ once-tense borders. 

Unexploded ordnance left over from the 2022 conflict pose risks to populations in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, even as the two governments finalize a border deal.

The two sides say they’ve reached an agreement and fully completed the description of their mutual border. The next steps will be even more difficult.

Officials on both sides say they’ve agreed to 94 percent of the border and hope for an agreement soon. 

Kyrgyz and Tajik officials say they're close to agreement on the entirety of their long-disputed border.

After a December 1 meeting in Tajikistan, security officials on both sides are proclaiming success and promising progress.

On a hot summer day, the women of Kök-Tash took a break to play football. It was a rare joy amid a difficult life on the border.

The details of “Protocol No. 44” are unknown, but both sides clearly want to portray some kind of progress in their drawn-out border negotiations.