BISHKEK -- Two days of talks on Kyrgyz-Uzbek border issues have started in the Uzbek capital.



Kyrgyz cabinet press secretary Melis Erjigitov told RFE/RL that Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Shamil Atakhanov and Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov are leading the negotiations that began in Tashkent.



They are focusing on the situation of Uzbekistan's Sokh exclave inside Kyrgyz territory.



Clashes between local Uzbek citizens and Kyrgyz border guards erupted there in January.



It is the highest level meeting to be held on the issue.



The situation in Kyrgyzstan’s Barak exclave inside Uzbek territory and water-distribution issues along the countries' border are being discussed.



About 300 kilometers of the 1,000-kilometer-long Kyrgyz-Uzbek border have remained disputed since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.



Based on reporting by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz and Uzbek services

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