Turkey Ready To Assist Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan In Settling Border Conflict - Source

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has separately called his Tajik and Kyrgyz counterparts, Sirojiddin Muhriddin and Ruslan Kazakbaev, to express Ankara's readiness to provide support in settling the border conflict between the two former Soviet republics, a source in the Turkish ministry told Sputnik on Saturday

ANKARA/DUSHANBE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st May, 2021) Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has separately called his Tajik and Kyrgyz counterparts, Sirojiddin Muhriddin and Ruslan Kazakbaev, to express Ankara's readiness to provide support in settling the border conflict between the two former Soviet republics, a source in the Turkish ministry told Sputnik on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, armed clashes resumed but the two countries soon agreed to a complete ceasefire on the border. After that, Moscow said it was ready to contribute to the settlement process in line with its principles of strategic partnership and cooperation with both countries.

"Our minister held separate talks with foreign ministers of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. He said that our biggest wish was to settle the issues between the two fraternal countries by peaceful means, he noted that Turkey was ready to provide the necessary support in this matter, and expressed satisfaction with the armistice agreement," the source said.

The Tajik foreign ministry, in turn, told Sputnik that Muhriddin briefed Cavusoglu on the recent developments on the border with Kyrgyzstan and agreements the two countries reached, including on ceasefire and political settlement.

The armed conflict over border demarcation between the Batken region of Kyrgyzstan and the Sughd region of Tajikistan erupted on Thursday. The shelling left dozens of people dead and injured on both sides before a truce was declared later that day. The sides agreed to pull troops and military equipment from the border and back to the places of their permanent deployment.