Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop on Monday called on Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to resolve recent border tensions through dialogue.
According to a statement made by the Office of the Parliament Speaker, Şentop spoke separately on the phone with the Speaker of the Kyrgyzstan Parliament Talant Turdumamatovic Mamitov and the Speaker of the Tajikistan House of Representatives Mahmadtoir Zokirzoda.
"I believe that consultations between us as brothers are important in these days when we are faced with conflicts, tensions and different challenges related to the economy, and we need calm and common sense to solve our problems. We hope this tension between the two friendly, brotherly and neighborly countries ends through dialogue."
The Central Asian republics of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan signed a cease-fire agreement on Monday following six days of fierce fighting that have left dozens dead on both sides, Russian agencies reported.
Under the terms of the deal signed by the Kyrgyz and Tajik intelligence chiefs at the Guliston-Avtodorozhny border crossing, troops and heavy weaponry are to be withdrawn from the border area between the two countries.
The head of Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security, Kamchybek Tashiev, said the situation in the Kyrgyz border region of Batken was gradually stabilizing after the violence of the past week.
His Tajik counterpart, Saymumin Yatimov, said, "We are convinced that real peace is now coming to our borders."
At least 59 people have been killed and 164 injured on the Kyrgyz side since fighting broke out on Sept. 14, according to official figures, while 136,000 people from the country's Batken province were evacuated. Tajikistan has put its death toll at 41.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union more than 30 years ago, the two mountainous neighbors have been disputing their 1,000-kilometer (621.37-mile) border.
