The outbreak of serious fighting between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan didn't get a lot of international attention. However, it was the fiercest outbreak of fighting between the two Central Asian states in years. It really did serve to show how borders that were created when two territories were in the same state can become serious points of contention when they become independent. Thoughts and comments below.
I am yet to discover another RU-vid channel where political-economic issues are explained both simply and professionally. Tracing the historic roots of every conflict or dispute not only makes sense but it is absolutely mandatory for understanding the current affairs between countries and territories. You have managed to achieve great balance between unbiased personal opinion and taking into consideration all other sides and perspectives. I watch all your videos couple of times and often refer them to my friends or share them on the social media. Keep up the perfect work! Well Done!
Thank you so much Georgi. That is incredibly kind of you to say. And thank you for sharing the videos more widely. I really appreciate it! I find it so interesting to look into the background history of conflicts. But this one was particularly fascinating. It is amazing to think that Alexander the Great made it over to the Ferghana Valley and established a city there!
Central Asian border conflict is relatively unknown. We have seen tensions in the Caucasus region, in South Asia and in Africa. So, thank you for bringing the subject into the light.
Thank you. Yes, it’s a region that really doesn’t get very much attention. And yet it is a fascinating part of the world. It was so interesting that Alexander the Great made it over to the Ferghana Valley.
You do make things so much clearer and easier to understand professor.. I am starting to 'get it' and understand re these areas disputes. Thank you. Let's hope peace prevails.
Thanks James! I know very little about Central Asia. And hadn't even heard of this brief border conflict! And so thanks very much for the great overview. Also it's great to see how you have started to use transitions/maps more making this video even more interesting to watch! I hope you have a good weekend! 🙂 And keep up the good work! It's great to see your channel growing just remember me when you get massive!
Thank so much LE! It really is amazing how little coverage Central Asia gets in the West. I should try to do more on the region. And thanks for the comments on the new elements in the video. I actually experimented with about 5-6 new things in this video, including more (hopefully very subtle) sound effects. Interestingly, the average watch time is already up on the usual amount. It seems to be going down well. But obviously it does make it rather more time consuming to put them together. But thanks so much as ever for the support! 🙏🏻🙂
Thanks so much! :-) I had been meaning to cover Central Asia for quite a while, but in fact I have a couple of viewers to thank for this one! Soon after I posted my Q&A video last week they asked me about the news reports of fighting between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. So all thanks to them!
Excellent video James! I am happy that you included our peacemaking efforts in an article you shown. And as far as I could see, I think all the facts that needed to be in there. Were in there! Well done! Keep up the good work! A video of yours I can actually like.
Thank you so much. I know you might not think so, but I do try to be fair. This was such an interesting situation to look into, for so many reasons. The historical angle coupled with the geographical elements made it fascinating. By the way, what was the reaction in Russia to the conflict? Did it get much coverage? Indeed, do people still follow the developments in Central Asia closely?
@@JamesKerLindsay No I do agree that you are fair. But I just got a little upset in the Ukraine video for you missing out a few key facts and it was kind of childish of me in my response. Again, I did not mean for it to be abusive to you. I really respect you and your work. I just really REALLY wish you would of added just a few more details in your previous video before the Q n A. I try to be fair myself but I have a strong love for Russia and get hurt when I feel it's been attacked. I do recognise that it isn't perfect and that we have done a lot bad but I do honestly believe that we aren't as bad as the west seems to protray us as. Anyway this was a great video and I clicked the like button to represent that. Thanks for your professional response and again I apologize if I offended you with my Q n A comment. That was very silly of me but I assure you it wasn't to offend you. Keep up the good work and if you are to do another video on Russia please PLEASE add as much information as possible without dragging the video from BOTH perspectives you did try to show our perspective but I feel you could of added just a little bit more context with your Ukraine video.
@@JamesKerLindsay Russia's reaction was quick and with intent to stop violence. Conflict was fairly good covered in Russia's media - though actually people in RF usually don't follow the developments in Central Asia very close, news from Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova and even Caucasus region are covered much better (may be only Baltic are covered less and almost entirely from negative point).
Great video. I couldn't find any other video properly explaining the situation as you did. There was very less media coverage on this topic. But I think there is a less chance of full fledged war between the two
Thanks so much. You're absolutely right, it didn't get a lot of coverage. That said, the BBC did actually venture into the region to take a look at the results of the fighting. Here's the link in case you are interested: www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-56963998
Thanks for your video James, interesting as always! Something related to this conflict is the Fergana massacre (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fergana_massacre), suffered mostly by Meskhetian Turks (who lived there since they were deported by Stalin from Meskhetia, Georgia). A cool idea for a video could be speaking about all this groups (Crimean Tatars, Germans...) which were deported in the 1940s
Another fascinating situation and a great video. I'm curious about the relationship between both countries and Uzbekistan and with the Uzbek minorities in the two countries.
Thanks so much Brendan. I was actually thinking about this while making the video. I must look into this aspect on more detail. Of course, as well as the Tajik exclave, there are also two Uzbek ones in Kyrgyzstan. I will try to come back to it at some point. I also didn’t mention the civil war in Tajikistan after the collapse of the USSR. It was pretty brutal and yet went almost totally ignored in the Europe and America. I remember my PhD supervisor telling me at the time how this was a perfect example of how the news media can set the international agenda. What gets covered, gets addressed.
Hi James! I know this is an old video and it has been a long time since I last commented on your videos. Been busy, just graduated and now I got a job but my desire to learn has returned. You might see my comments in some of your other old videos that I haven't gotten to watch. Gonna watch em all hahaha. But thank you so much for this video! I decided to watch this video because I saw on Twitter about how the conflict is rising again and I decided to watch this one for an explanation. I did not know Tajiks are closer related to Persian identity as I assumed all of central Asia are generally of Turkic decent. And also the fact the issue happened because of a security camera and didn't receive a lot of attention is why I came to your channel. My friends and I love your channel! Keep up the amazing work!
Ah yes, most times, if not every time, there are exclave-and-enclave situations, there's bound to be tension. Not to mention how Uzbekistan shares this relationship with Kyrgyzstan which adds another level of complexity to the situation. But as for the conflict itself, this is really worrying! This is the first I've heard of this. About 50k Kyrgyz are displaced by the conflict, and the actions of governments don't seem very good for developing friendly relations, so I can only pray they don't have another burst of conflict. Like other comments state, it's just dictators playing a game around their geopolitical boundaries and civilians at this point. And it's frustrating to see....
Thanks so much Carolyn. I find the whole subject of exclaves fascinating. There are rather more of them around the world than people realise, but this is one of the most tense. And you’re absolutely right about Uzbekistan. I didn’t touch on this, but I really would like to come back to it.
@@JamesKerLindsay Uzbekistan is an interesting country (been there briefly) - and uzbeks are something like hungarians of Central Asia - almost 3 millions of them live in a nearby counties of CA (and hard to say how many in Russia), being biggest national minority in 3 countries and second largest (and the only actually growing) in Kazakhstan. Also their bloody conflict with turks-meskhetins in Fergana valley in 1989 was one of the first major inter-national clash in USSR. It would be interesting to see a video on the topic from You.
Except that Kyrgyzstan doesn’t have dictators. About 3 presidents have been overthrown so far. It’s probably the most democratic country in Central Asia, and to be fair, that did not help at all.
I've been expecting to hear your views about the onslaught. Please can you also talk about the Tigray conflict in Ethiopia. The origins, reconnaissance and the way forward. In addition, can you also take a look at the politics of the NILE and if there's going to be a future war between egypt and Ethiopia
It's cases like this conflict that begs the question. How did the USSR manage to keep all the ethnic and geographical conflicts in check for most of its existence?
Absolutely right! It is also incredible to think of the social engineering that took place through forcible relocations, where Stalin would uproot an entire population and resettle them somewhere else. I should really look into this as well.
Exellent analysis into the history of these two nations. There must be similar stress points with the other nearby Turkic neighbours and If so how have these been dealt with or are they frozen conflicts?
@@JamesKerLindsay Thank you Prof for your reply. That situation is very bad now. Last night two Rohingya refugees died on the Bangladesh border due to shelling from Myanmar side. Bangladesh has been saying they do not want a war but Myanmar Janta Govt seems to want something else. It's been a month since they are firing on the Bangladesh border almost everyday.
I love your videos Thanks sir More support I'm a geographer, general / military historian and international and relations diplomat. More support Thanks again
I don't get why people always have to be in conflict since thear dot. Not always getting on as best buddies.. I can understand but at. Least trying. It's so sad.
Tajikistan attacked the territory of Kyrgyzstan and is still shelling civilians. At the moment, we have more than 55 wounded, 3 died, among them a 15-year-old child. they continue to shell schools, rob houses and shops, while more than 120,000 citizens of Kyrgyzstan have been evacuated.
Maybe you should also write about how you bombed the ambulance in Tajikistan, in which there were injured children and a pregnant woman, also you attacked a Mosque 🤦🤦
interesting! i think central asia is a region that people don't talk about enough, especially the .....interesting politics of turkmenistan for example
Thanks. I completely agree. We hear almost nothing about this region in Europe or America. In fact, I’d say it is probably the least coveted region in the world from mainstream news organisations. It just seems so distant. And yet it sits at the junction between China, India and Russia. Geopolitically, it is hugely important.
I was in Kyrgz Republic back in 2017. I would have loved to travel to other STANS but I had limited time. I have parishoners from a church in Sydney who are working as Missionaries in Central Asia. They don't reveal what country they are working in because of security concerns. But it is a Stan country they are working in.
Hi I like your input/conclusions,very interesting #but what do you know about their economy?who and how much are the corrupt government staff moneylaundering & where?are they involved in crypto currency/BITCOIN? What's the situation with drug/arms/illegal human organ harvesting/trafficking?how well do you access to the Government Intelligence /bankers?
Здравствуйте уважаемые. Я таджик, мы коренных жителей хоросана, киргизи один из кочевых народов. Они получили земли благодаря ссср. Советую вам изучать таджикский "саманидский государства," И "парфианский и согдийский государства " Мы индоевропейских народы. Мы из арийсий народы. Мы перси
Да мы кочевники и именно поэтому это наши земли . Мы жили там и пасли скот потому что наши предки знали что это их земля по отмнченным горам и долинам. Наши предки разгромили твоих предков и отогнали до Бадахшана. Мы кочевники предки гуннов , Аттилы , потомки Модэ и Чингиз хана что победил вас персов . Вы огребете и сейчас от нас так же как ваши братья иранцы от османов турков .
its agression of putin, Putin does not like the new president of Kyrgyzstan, the new president Japarov has arrested Atamabaev (Putin's friend) Putin needs a loyal servant in every post-Soviet country. Kyrgyz did not even attacked them, if there would began war then russian peackeepers would enter to Kyrgyzstan and Tadjikistan, tajik Emomali rahmon is not afraid of kyrgyz only because he relies on putin. it was not even war.
The conflict was a one sided, premeditated military action on behalf of Tajikistan. They used explosives, tanks, and helicopters against the unarmed villages. As a result, more than 30innocent people were killed including children, Kyrgyz houses burned down and completely destroyed. Kyrgyzstan has not used its military during the conflict as the orders have not been given in order to deescalate the situation, and only border military forces that were under attack have fought back.
You are wrong. We know this war better than you because we live here and we watched it by our eyes and Kyrgizstan started the war but Tajikistan finished and won the war
@@АмонТошматов-п5д Слышь, кто начал стрелять? Кто начал нарушать границы и устанавливать видеокамеры? Кто стрелял по мирным жителям? Время придет за все ответите.
This was military aggression from the dictator Rakhmon. Tajik army was well prepared and long planned this to seize control over the water resources, as well as to create an external enemy and increase popularity of the dictator who has been ruling like a king for the last 27 years. Just look at the casualties from both sides, and you will see that overwhelmingly more civilians died on Kyrgyz side, and only a few military personnel from Tajik side. Kyrgyz villages were burnt, and looted, Tajik flags were erected on the ashes of Kyrgyz houses. This act of aggression must be condemned,and dictator Rakhmon must be prosecuted! This evil ruler killed so many not only Kyrgyz, but also Tajik people. Hope someday Central Asian region will get rid of its dictators, and eternal peace will be established between our nations🙏
The conflict began because of the water intake "Golovnaya" which was located and is located on the territory of Kyrgyzstan The Tajik military prepared for the attack, they dug trenches, pulled up military equipment, the military and handed out weapons A skirmish began between residents and they threw stones at each other, but after the conflict escalated when the Tajik military began to shoot, the Kyrgyz military did not give the command to the Kyrgyz military to attack in response, so the war did not start The conflict began at the head, but the Tajik military invaded other residential areas of Kyrgyzstan, burned down houses, schools, looted And most importantly, if you look at the victims and the result, we will see that in Kyrgyzstan more than 90% of the dead are civilians, among them a 5-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl, Tajikistan's losses amounted to 16 people, of which 13 are MILITARY. More than 30 thousand people were evacuated from Kyrgyzstan, more than 100 buildings were burned and destroyed on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, while Tajikistan had hidden data, but even if you look at their data, they have much smaller losses I would also like to say about the fact that after they captured villages on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, they put up Tajik flags, bulldozed houses and dug trenches on the occupied lands, they were ready for war. Russia, as the main power in the region, had to immediately solve the problem, but it did nothing, but simply watched the situation (most likely it was waiting for it to be asked for help), earlier the Russian military was in Tajikistan and provided weapons for the border with Afghanistan (but not the fact that they will use this weapon only to defend borders, and to attack too), and ALL Russian propaganda said that Kyrgyzstan was the first to attack and began aggression, although the Kyrgyz military did not even go beyond their borders, because they could not (because like you you will attack and go beyond the borders, if the enemy army is already on your territory and you are trying to at least not lose what you have) This whole situation could be due to the fact that the leadership of Kyrgyzstan blocked the drug traffic that came from Tajikistan, where a relative of the dictator was engaged in this, they are all involved in this and ordinary military, civilians are nobody for them, it is more important for them to steal money and feel like kings
Thanks so much Nicholas. It was such an interesting conflict to look into. Let's hope they can reach a settlement. These are two poor countries that can ill-afford more conflict. I didn't cover it in this video, but Tajikistan has had a particularly tragic history since independence, with a serious, but little reported, civil war.
Great video. I like the new transitions! (Or at least, I think they are new) Central Asia is a fascinating part if the world, though on that is sadly in the hands of dictators. (Kyrgyzstan being the exception, with it's somewhat functional chaotic democracy) I would love to visit the region one day.
Thank you so much! And I’m so pleased you liked the transitions. I actually tried out a number of new techniques on this video. Some were very subtle, like sound effects, that while ideally not overpowering will hopefully make the videos a little more ‘3D’. I would love to go to Central Asia as well. I’ve heard so much about the region over the years. (My wife used to travel to them regularly for her work.) it really is a fascinating region and yet is probably the least familiar part of the world to most people in the West. (But interestingly is of course the familiar next door region for anyone from China, India and Russia!)
Putin does not like the new president of Kyrgyzstan, the new president Japarov has arrested Atamabaev (Putin's friend) Putin needs a loyal servant in every post-Soviet country.
Hi Brian, yes it did seem to pass pretty much unnoticed. Although I must say that to its credit the BBC did give it some attention and actually went into the region to take a look at the results of the fighting. Here's the link if you are interested: www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-56963998
Thankyou for giving such an elaborate account of the conflict. Your analytical approach to explaining such a complicated conflict is indeed commendable 👍🏼
I think it’s terrible most of the conflict is just civilians going after each other with farming implements. Shows how deep routed the conflict and hatred is and how difficult it must be to solve. Rather than if it was just autocratic governments leading the fight for the usual selfish, shallow reasons such as prestige or to distract their population from internal problems.
These are two nationalities lived together for more then 70 years under the Soviet communism. They have always lived together in a very peaceful and friendly manner. Their Culture, religion, language and custom are the same. There are many inter- marriages as well. Unfortunately these two countries are, as you said being run by crooks who do not care about the ordinary people and their livelihood.
This a very engaging and informative video James! Now, we do see that the conflict is rooted in territorial disputes and resource scarcity. However, would you suggest that the conflict may be explained by ethnic tensions as well? I realise that there is a sort of brotherhood or solidarity among Iranians, Afghans and Tajiks. Kyrgyzstan has a different ethnic makeup. Perhaps it's all about territory and resources but the old suspicious neighbour theme is sadly all too recurring in our time.
Thanks so much for the kind comment about the video and your really good point. As I mentioned, the conflict does seem to be about resources rather than a long simmering hostility between Kyrgyz and Tajiks, but of course the longer it runs the more it is likely that it will develop a ethnic-National dimension. Sadly, it is a familiar story!
Wow. I started watching this in Sept 2022, 1 year after it was made, and the Tajik-Kyrgz conflict has kicked off again while Russia is distracted with its failing invasion of Ukraine.
Thanks Professor for the great talk on the bordeer disputes, their causes adn effects in result of tensions and conflicts between the two neighboring and novice CARs.
You are missing a couple of important points. Kyrgizs were never completely sedentary until 1938. They were made sedentary forcefully by the Soviet government, which forced them to grow crops and require water. You also miss the fact that these "exclaves" were never exclaves to start with. They were made exclaves over a prolonged period of time, by the method of creating facts on the ground.
Thank you for the comments. Both points are very helpful. You will understand that in any video of 15 minutes one has to make decisions on what one can cover. The point about being sedentary is important, but it wouldn’t add any extra information that would help the viewer. The point is that the mainstay of the economy now is agriculture and this requires water and land. I rather tackled the other point when I talked about borders being redrawn in the Soviet era. By implication, this includes the enclaves.
Thank so much. That’s really interesting. I had always wondered how much people in different parts of the USSR knew about the other regions. I think we tend to assume that people know about the different parts of their country, but of course that just isn’t the case. Most people in the UK actually know very little about Northern Ireland.
As always James your analysis of this conflict is brilliant and useful. These two countries lived together as one country for nearly 70 years and they should have sorted this kind of border conflict in a friendly manner, rather then killing each other. The are under conflict is occupied by both nationalities who speak same language, same religion, culture and tied with inter-marriages. It is not good to hear 49 people killed.
Thanks. Yes, like so many other cases I cover it is indeed a tragic situation. What makes it particularly regrettable is that fighting is often started by villagers and then escalates to draw in the armed forces.
Another great video! I’m guessing Russia has no interest in seeing these two go to war. In the 1920s and 30s, Stalin and the Soviets redrew their original borders to break up Central Asia, as they did in Transcaucasia, and supposedly this was why the Fergana Valley was broken up between a multitude of surrounding union republics, so that no single republic would have this prized possession.
im not sure where he got the idea tajikstan was "under chinese control" which is crazy and nonsense.. but he makes quite a few mistakes in such sort of historical and geographical things.. but still hes genuine honest and less opinionated on his topics..
Thanks. Another topic on my rather long list of issues to cover. I probably won’t do it for a whole as I actually have about three or four southern African topics I’d like to cover first. (Sometimes it’s easier to build up a backstory to refer to.) I realise I have actually neglected the region. I’ve done a fair bit on East and West Africa. And North Africa. But nothing on Southern Africa.(On that note, and barring any major news development, keep an eye out for the video next week.)
@@JamesKerLindsay Thank you for your amazing work, James! Indeed, it’s always easier to understand a topic when there’s a backstory to refer to. I’ll always be waiting on new topics you dissect in new videos.
If they (and the other Central Asian ex-USSR states) could find a way to form a copy of the 'Benelux' customs union they could form their own 'Schengen Area' and not worry about borders, customs posts and so on, and improve trade between themselves. As the saying goes, when goods don't cross borders, people do.
Thank you James for covering the news of countries that are unknown to most people from other countries. On September 14th, 2022 Tajikistan attacked Kyrgyzstan yet again. 59 people died on the Kyrgyz side and more than 120 thousand of people displaced from the Batken region in Kyrgyzstan.
