BISHKEK. Oct 25 (Interfax) - Over 200,000 hectares of land remain disputed on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov said at a press conference on Saturday.
"A total of 210,000 hectares of land remain disputed in the Batken region of Kyrgyzstan on the border with Tajikistan," Japarov said.
The talks on delimitation and demarcation of the state border with Uzbekistan have ended, and the talks with Tajikistan are ongoing, he said.
"I am ready to resolve the border issue today, but it does not depend on us. It is not a game; the issue has been pending for 30 years. There are three disputed areas on the border with Tajikistan. We're right from the legal point of view, but the Tajik side disagrees. We're still negotiating about it," the Kyrgyz leader said.
The intergovernmental commission will soon travel to Dushanbe, Japarov said.
"We cannot give away even five meters of the land. It is not a private land, it is the land of the state. Hopefully, we will resolve this issue peacefully and it will meet the interests of the parties. The problem was created due to neglect of our politicians. I believe there will be time and we will resolve this issue," Japarov said.
According to the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan, the common border with Tajikistan is 972 kilometers, including 519 kilometers of delimited border and 375 kilometers that have yet to be delimited.