BISHKEK. Feb 15 (Interfax) - Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon have said they are capable of settling border disputes without any assistance from a third party, Kyrgyz Prime Minister Akylbek Japarov said.
"Both presidents said they are able to solve the problem without a third party, they can solve the problem of delimitation and demarcation of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border," Japarov said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Intensive negotiations have been held over the past week to delimitate the disputable areas, he said.
"A border is recognized only if both neighbors come to terms. The talks have been suspended by known events, but now they are active again," Japarov said.
Conflicts over disputed sectors of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border are frequent and sometimes turn violent. According to the Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security, Kyrgyzstan shares a 972-kilometer border with Tajikistan, including 519 kilometers of the delimitated border and 375 kilometers that remain to be delimitated.