Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have launched organizational and logistical operations to formally transfer the villages of Chongara and Tash-Dobo, previously under the jurisdiction of Uzbekistan's Fergana province. The move was confirmed by the Kyrgyz presidential representation in the Batken province, the Kyrgyz news agency 24.kg reported.
The border adjustments are being carried out in accordance with bilateral agreements on the demarcation of the Uzbek-Kyrgyz state border and a reciprocal land swap deal.
On August 3, a joint task force began registering local residents. The Uzbek delegation is led by Bekhzod Saifullaev, Deputy Head of the Migration and Personalization Department at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, while the Kyrgyz side is headed by Baktybek Toksonbaev, First Deputy Governor of the Batken province.
Preliminary estimates indicate that the two villages, inhabited predominantly by ethnic Kyrgyzs, have a combined population of approximately 2,500 people. Once the registration process is finalized, authorities will initiate the procedure to grant Kyrgyz citizenship to the residents.
The land exchange between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan was enacted in late June. Under the border demarcation framework, the villages of Chongara and Tash-Dobo were transferred to Kyrgyzstan. In return, Kyrgyzstan ceded border land tracts of equal area to Uzbekistan.
The transition follows statements made in late July by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov during a state visit by the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
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