The problem of determining borders between Central Asian countries is very complex and difficult. During the Soviet period, all these borders were marked conditionally and historical, ethnical and economic factors were not always considered. Last week, Radio Liberty reported that Kirghyzstan and Uzbekistan had agreed to exchange territories. The heads of the Kirghyz and Uzbek governments, Kurmanbek Bakiyev and Utkir Sultanov, signed the exchange agreement. Uzbekistan is to gain a corridor along the Soh River to its enclave located inside Kirghyz territory. In exchange, Kirghyzstan would receive some unspecified Uzbek districts.

However, different data from reliable sources state that the sides are still negotiating about the delimitation of the border. For the time being no solution has been found. Today, the two republics' governments have only agreed on a memorandum about the disputed territories. Barlyk Shaikenov, a high official of the Kirghyz embassy to Kazakhstan says that no agreement has been signed. He confirmed that Uzbekistan could receive a corridor to its enclave along the Soh River, but on a strict condition - in exchange, it must cede to Kirghyzstan some disputed districts along the border. According to reliable sources, the Uzbek delegation recently returned from Bishkek, where the working groups negotiated about the delimitation of border. The talks were difficult, as they concerned not only the lands in dispute but also water rights.

The exchange of the territories, including the corridor to the Uzbek enclave, may not take place for a long time. In any exchange, one side will gain more than the other. It is impossible to evaluate the gained territory only on the basis of square kilometers or the number of inhabitants. Soil may be fertile or saline, have water sources or none. There are many nuances.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have have provided an unhappy precedent for the "enclave-path" problem by Armenia's seizure of the path to Nagorny Karabakh, an Armenian enclave. In Yugoslavia, Muslim and Serb enclaves caused the civil war. That is why variants of settling the problem by peaceful means in Central Asia, about which negative prognoses of "Balkanization" are being made, should be welcomed.

The issue of Uzbek enclaves in Kirghyz territory is a part of the big problem of the Fergana Valley. Geographically, the Valley is a single whole surrounded by mountain ranges. Yet administratively, it is divided between Tajikistan, Kirghyzstan and Uzbekistan. Most of its population are extremely Islamized Uzbeks and militants from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan are attempting to force their way in. Possibly, Uzbekistan has started to "collect lands" in order to synchronize future operations to repulse Islamic aggression.