Қырғызстанның Баткен облысы: діни қысым мен туризмнің дамуы

Region of Kyrgyzstan

The area has been a target for the suppression of Islam. In October of 2023, 37 mosques and schools were closed by the government. This happened soon after 60 mosques and religious schools were closed by raids in the Osh Region.

The population of Batken Region, according to the Population and Housing Census of 2009 amounted to 380.3 thousand (enumerated de facto population) or 428.6 thousand (de jure population). Chon Qora and Qalacha (not to be confused with Qal'acha), immediately north of Soʻx, are two Uzbek villages within a very small enclave that lies on the river Sokh. It measures 2 kilometres long by 1 kilometre wide with an area of approximately 3 km2. It is part of Soʻx District of Fergana Region. The villages of Chon Qora (or, in Kyrgyz, Chongara) at and Qalacha are at either end. The Kyrgyz village of Chong Kara (or, in Uzbek, Chon Kara) at lies 2 kilometres northwest. [Note: The Kyrgyz Cyrillic alphabet contains three characters not present in the Uzbek alphabet. One of these characters is romanized from Kyrgyz as the digraph "ng," which is not present in romanized Uzbek words.] Jani Ayil (also Dzhangail, Jangy ayyl or Khalmion) is a small exclave of Uzbekistan, about 60 kilometres east of Batken and within 1 km of the Uzbek main border. It measures only 2 to 3 kilometres across. Tourism is still relatively undeveloped in the Batken region compared to the rest of Kyrgyzstan. In recent years, the government has shown interest in developing the region and many foreigners have managed to visit with the help of local authorities. The nearby Turkestan Range is often referred to as the "Asian Patagonia" by local trekking operators, in reference to the granite towers and the untouched wilderness that define the area.