Kazakhstan–Kyrgyzstan border

Settled on paper

Unlike the tangled borders of the Fergana Valley, Kazakhstan settled its borders with its Central Asian neighbours early; its delimitation agreement with Kyrgyzstan was signed in December 2001.^[1]

After the uprising of 7 April 2010 in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan closed the border, and Kyrgyz leaders warned of an economic blockade. Kazakhstan reopened it on 20 May 2010, citing the difficult situation in Kyrgyzstan, but kept checks tight, pointing to smuggling of weapons and drugs. The reopening came hours after Kyrgyzstan diverted the Talas river, a source of irrigation water for southern Kazakhstan, and then turned it back on.^[3]

Queues at the checkpoint

In 2017 relations soured after Kyrgyzstan’s outgoing president Almazbek Atambayev accused Kazakhstan of meddling in Kyrgyzstan’s presidential election. Kazakhstan tightened border checks and restricted Kyrgyz dairy imports, and its prime minister accused Kyrgyzstan of being a conduit for Chinese contraband that cost the Eurasian Economic Union billions.^[4]

Queues of trucks have built up repeatedly since then. By early 2020 drivers were waiting days at the Ak-Tilek checkpoint, blaming slow Kazakh customs inspections; Kyrgyzstan appealed to the World Trade Organization and the Eurasian Economic Commission, while Kazakhstan accused Bishkek of turning a blind eye to smuggling from China.^[2]

“I’ve been waiting here for three days without sleep. The moment you go to sleep, somebody passes you.”^[2]