-ICKYSTAN - Border villages declare new sovereignty

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http://www.boston.com/dailynews/005/world/Kazak_villagers_on_unmarked_bo:.shtml

Kazak villagers on unmarked border declare their villages sovereign nation

By Associated Press, 1/5/2002 02:20

ALMATY, Kazakstan (AP) Tired of uncertainty about their citizenship, ethnic Kazak villagers living along the unmarked border between Kazakstan and Uzbekistan have declared their settlements an independent nation.

Uzbek authorities arrested one person as 500 people from the villages of Bagys and Turkestan rallied last week and voted to create their own country, said Seisenbai Akhmet, who took part in the rally.

Group leader Oral Saulebai was arrested by Uzbek police and handed over to Kazak authorities on Friday, Akhmet said. It was not immediately clear whether he would be charged with a crime.

The villagers' frustrations arose after the former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan and Kazakstan signed an agreement in November, marking out 96 percent of their border. Only three sections including the two villages and the Arnasai region remained undelineated. Officials said they planned to complete border demarcation before July.

The villagers are primarily ethnic Kazaks and feared border negotiations might put them in Uzbekistan. They declared independence as a protest, Akhmet said.

''The ceremony was even recorded on video,'' he said, adding that villagers don't really want to become independent but hoped to draw attention to their plight.

-- Anonymous, January 05, 2002


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