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2011 Bilateral Reunification Summit

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The 2011 Bilateral Reunification Summit was a round of direct negotiations between the Democratic Party of Irad (DPI) administration of the Irad Special Economic Zone and the Iradi Freedom Society (IAC), held in April and May 2011 at Kara-Oi, the headquarters of the United Nations Mission in Irad (UNMI). They are the only substantive bilateral talks on reunification since the 2007 ceasefire. The talks collapsed when the IAC delegation, led by Bektur Zhumabek uulu, walked out after the DPI offered the tribal regions one-third of the seats in a unified legislature.[1]

Background

The 2008 Unification Referendum Initiative had broken down over the DPI's refusal to give tribal councils a veto over mining concessions. UN officials continued to offer good offices, and the working cooperation of the two sides under the Naryn Water and Power Protocol was cited as a basis for wider talks. Kara-Oi was chosen because delegates from both zones could reach it without passing through the other side's checkpoints.[1]

Negotiations

According to UNMI's report, the agenda covered the composition of a unified legislature, control of land, water and minerals in the mountain catchments, the future of the ISEZ armed forces and the El-Choro Militias, and the status of customary courts. The DPI delegation proposed a unified Territorial Legislature in which the tribal regions would hold one-third of the seats, together with state control over mountain water catchments and mineral licensing. The IAC asked for representation that reflected the tribal regions' two-thirds share of the territory and, by its own estimates, of the population, for a clan veto over land, mining and water projects and for recognition of adat. IAC delegates justified the veto by the Bill of Sale of 2007, arguing that the clans could not again leave their pastures at the disposal of a government in the cities.[1][2] DPI negotiators argued that the offer reflected the ISEZ's larger tax base and urban population. Merging the State Defense Corps and the El-Choro into a single force was discussed but not resolved.

Walkout

The IAC delegation walked out in late May. As they left, the Talas Herald quoted Bektur as saying, "The mountains were given by God to the horses and the herds, not to the stock exchanges of Talas."[3] The DPI said the offer remained on the table, but it has not repeated it in any later negotiation.

Aftermath

No direct talks have been held since. Toktarov was re-elected Governor in November 2011, and the 2013 Constitutional Amendment, which removed term limits, was cited by the IAC as evidence that the DPI did not intend to share power. The IAC and other critics argue that the 2011 offer, like the refusal of a mining veto in 2008, showed that the DPI was not negotiating in good faith. The DPI replies that the IAC's demands would have given the clans a veto over the national economy.[2] Analysts argue that both sides have since come to depend on the status quo, including the shared revenue of the Toktogul complex. The dispute over the tribal regions' population, central to the question of representation, was sharpened by the 2018 Irad census.[4]

References

  1. ^ United Nations Mission in Irad (2012). Report on the 2011 Bilateral Reunification Talks. Kara-Oi.
  2. ^ Eurasian Political Quarterly (2024). 'The Mountain Chieftain: Tribal Federalism under Bektur Zhumabek uulu.' Vol. 31, Iss. 2.
  3. ^ Talas Herald (2011). 'Tribal Delegates Walk Out of Unification Talks.' Talas.
  4. ^ Central Asian Geopolitical Review (2022). 'Suspended Sovereignty: Irad's Frozen Conflict at Fifteen.' Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 201–224.
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