The chairman of Kyrgyz organization of International Association of antidrug combating
On the background of the recent bloody events, that happened in the South of Kyrgyzstan, one date has remained unnoticed: the decade of first, so called at that time by the official press, "Batken events".
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Historical parallels
From the first sight the parallel "1989-1999" at least is not correct, but it is so only on the first, amateur glance. One year before the fratricide in Osh (June 1990) and the riots in the Capital, here, in the deeps of Batken, for the first time on the Kyrgyzstan lands "gained experience" domestic special forces, previously used only outside the Republic - in Baku, Sumgaite, Karabah. The steel lines of helms and shields at that time were stopping the conflict from rising during two month, not letting the people die.
The reason for that were 200 hectares of Virgin Kyrgyzstan land, which the neighboring Tadjikistan farmers have began to pretend on. And not with peace but with the war! And as the answer to the repulse ispharians have dammed the "Machoy" channel - the only one that brings so valuable water to this lands. The final is very unpleasant - one man is killed, a lot of injured from both sides. The tension was not revealed neither by the long-lasted farce of people's diplomacy, nor by the "show-fraternization" of near-border authorities. And only the negotiations on the high level in the last years has slightly added some pink tones to the regional skies.
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Criminal enclaves
At the end of Batken events in the end of 80's many anti-crisis programs were born. Most of them were populist but some useful could be found. At the same time with the creation of one-day life units "Sakchy" and "Kyrk -Choro", basing on the example of Soviet times voluntary people's patrols, also the modern villages on the virgin lands were built. In the middle of 90's when the civil war in Tadjikistan has already been going for a long time it was decided to review what is going on on the border. The "team" from the different departments was formed and Bishkek has thrown it to Batken. It was found out that the tension was not revealed, even more - it aggravated. The events when the overcrowded buses entered the mono-national villages and some local criminal authorities (kurbash) came out and forced Kyrgyz or Tadjik (according to the geographical location) to sweep out of the salon or to pay extra money have become more and more expanded. Often entering the chaihana and having very heavy dinner, bandits, as the answer to the owners request to pay, could give a scare by the gun. The total tolerance and almost no control at all, due to the remoteness of those lands from the local authorities, have led to the misappropriation of not only the land but of the cottages, built for the Kyrgyz settlers, by our neighbors. ... Complete unemployment and misery have been the queens from the both sides of the border. The population was pressed by the mass of the daily burden problems: lack of fuel, water and electricity. Very unpleasant legacy was left here by the Soviet regime.
In the left as the legacy from the developed socialism near-border enclaves Voruh and Soh, (it came to the absurdity - on the left side of the road the Uzbekistan lands, on the right side - Tadjikistan ones, and the bitumen is the territory of the sovereign Kyrgyzstan) the number of the officials: customs, tax police, traffic police and ecology police have increased. They have made 2-3 posts on the enter-exits. Locals have soon found their feet in the new situation and all the poor have began smuggling and selling free of charge gasoline, diesel and vodka. The cattle-stealing and the brigandage on the roads have aggravated too.
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The crossing of narcotraffic
Batken due to some geo-social reasons has suddenly become the cross-roads of narcotraffic. Exactly at that time, in the middle of 90's, with the beginning of the heroin expansion from Afghanistan, "white death" has come from the pamirian ridges, situated high in the mountains, to the transparent Batken borders. South Kyrgyz capital, due to the almost five years old narco-smuggling, have gained at that time the name - "narco-Mekka". Here the international criminal and local corruption links were made, the big amount of the fake dollars were in use, used to pay for drugs, it was not a problem to find weapon. And the customers knew all the ways and were coming most of the times here to buy the goods. But according to one version, due to the high, in comparison with opium, price, it became more and more dangerous to deliver heroin by the good known way Horog-Osh - it was already good controlled by the police forces at that time. Of course it was possible to by-pass Kyrgyzstan and transit throughout Tadjikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakstan convey the drugs straight to Russia, that is still the largest contributor of the drugs that passed the Central-Asian corridor. In the few recent days by the brilliant cooperative operation of the regional and Russian police forces in Samara, more than 100 kilo of heroin was captured. But to make a detour through Chon-Alay, Liailiak and Batken and to come back to Kyrgyzstan, delivering the potion to Osh, is many times easier than to develop new routs and to start from the very beginning. This situation remained unchanged for more than three years, till the end of year 1998.
4. The narko-business. Batken view
Not making any dreams about having dialog with bandits, settled in Taviliard, Dushanbe has made the new road to Horog. It is so tough, that on the turns the Kamazes are being towed by the caterpillars. But assimilating the road earlier than the others, Mafia now delivers drugs through it and now it such big amounts that it has almost filled the Fergan Valley. The prices in the Tadjikistan capital are very low, more than two times lower than in Osh or in other centers. And the amount of destroyed by the Russian border troops "narco-torpedos" can be counted by tens, and the amount of confiscated potion - by the hundred kilos. But the areas of the red poppy plantations have been rising - it is estimated that in the 1999 it was produced 9000 tons of drugs.
This scale could not by-pass Batken. Changing the slogans and writing "Drugs - as the way to exist" part of the population went to narco-business. The Batken narco-traffik can give adds to the route Horog-Osh. Narcomoloh in change for the potion is milling the stolen cars and the supply exceeds the demand greatly. Good armed bandit brigades low the prices to the damping.
Is it needed to speak about how much is justified the opinion that the recent Batken events, that cost the republic big amount of blood and money, are based and very deeply on the great narco-money?! That the visitors were fighting for the control over narco-routes, having an idea to prevent their narco-caravans the "green street"?!
5. Professionals opinion
to the proud of MIA the situation was forecasted and the preparations were made on the level it was possible to do it. From 1996 the regular monitoring was practicing, some operations of contraction. The practical worker with the highly-valuable Afghan experience, for several years being the chief of Batken regional police, is being appointed the chief of the antidrug department of Osh region. What else can be done in the terms of chronicle budget deficit and opened, so called by the Americans "green" border?
The rising of efforts has become most visible in 1998, when the specialists from International UN Antidrug Project "Osh Knot" has proved that the Batken direction is becoming the most benefit for the narco-trafficants. And the experienced international experts have agreed with this point of view disregarding the fact that originally the borders of the project lied in the direction Horog-Osh. And the work of creation of the unique communication system, that if it has been built could cover the whole region from the "top of the world" - Pamir to Andijan, including Osh, Chon-Alai, Batken and Liailiak. 2 million dollars, without any doubts, has been given by the donor countries. 2/3 of this sum would stay in Kyrgyzstan. Is it needed to say how it would be useful for border troops, customs officials and police officers those supermotorollas, that keep the connection despite the relief, weather and geomagnetics? And what the donation to the defense it could be?!
But the Osh office has been closed. Will Kyrgyzstan loose something because of this? The question is far from being idle...