the challenges facing landlocked developing countries: a case study ...

have taken place amongst the post Soviet Republics. It also resulted in the closure of some of
Tajikistan’s borders as neighboring countries attempted to prevent the spread of war and
inflow of refugees. While a peace agreement was signed in 1997, sporadic violence persists.
In addition to such ethnic tensions, Tajikistan has been adversely affected by the weak
delineation of borders in Soviet times. These have led to a high degree of tension with
Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Much of this tension has centred on the Ferghana Valley, where
all three countries dispute state boundaries (IRIN 2002, UNFVDP 2002). There have been a
number of riots in the area, largely on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border (EurasiaNet 2003). While
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have reached agreement on 86% of their common boundary,
further demarcation has been highly problematic (ICG 2002).
Such heightened tension with Uzbekistan has been of particular concern for Tajikistan, which
depends heavily on Uzbekistan for transport. Moreover, concerns of Islamic guerilla groups
operating from Tajikistan into Uzbekistan has led the Uzbek government to place landmines
on the border (Turaev 2002). In fact, the border between the two countries is regularly closed
by the Uzbek government (Travel Tajikistan 2002).
Relations with Russia, a vital trading partner, have generally been close but have become
more complicated due to Tajikistan’s allowance of overfly rights for US aircraft involved in
Afghanistan and the large number of illegal Tajik migrants in Russia. The latter have led to a
large number of Tajik citizens being deported from Russia (EurasiaNet 2003).
Tajikistan’s relations with its other neighbors have been fair and improving. Since 1992,
Tajikistan has maintained friendly and strengthening relations with Iran, one of the first
countries to open diplomatic relations with Tajikistan and helped mediate the 1997 domestic
peace agreement. Sino-Tajik relations have also witnessed recent improvements with the
2002 settlement of a border dispute. The Chinese corridor could potentially become
Tajikistan’s most important transit trade route (Najibullah 1997). Finally, the stability of
Afghanistan will likely lead to stronger bilateral relations and a more reliable transit corridor.
Despite these bilateral successes, regional security and trade agreements have had little
success in fostering the promotion of intra-regional cooperation and remain largely
ineffective.
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