More than 50,000 land mines located on the border with Iran in eastern Türkiye have been cleared as part of a joint project prepared by the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The $23.8 million (TL 692.4 million) project rooted out 50,000 land mines from 94 minefields over the course of three years, UNDP Türkiye announced Tuesday in a statement.
Funded by the EU and carried out by the UNDP and the Turkish Mine Action Center (MAFAM), the project covered an area of 4.2 million square meters along the border with Iran and Armenia, rendering the region safe for civilians and border management personnel, the UNDP said.
The project also included mapping all other active land mines across Türkiye.
The EU supplied $21.3 million, while Türkiye allocated $2.5 million for the project.
"With two previous phases carried out since 2016, the project helped clear in total an area of 8.9 million square meters from a total of 95,000 land mines with $47.5 million funding," the UNDP noted.
"Mine clearance is often misinterpreted, but the truth is land mines make borders less safe, not safer, especially for personnel tasked with protecting them," UNDP Türkiye’s Resident Representative Louisa Vinton said.
"By clearing land mines, we support Türkiye’s humanitarian approach in border management, as well as help shepherds and other civilians live safely and border patrols perform their duties safely."
The head of the EU delegation to Türkiye, Nikolas Meyer-Landrut, pointed out that the bloc’s support in demining helps Türkiye fulfill its obligations under the Ottowa Convention, which bans the use of antipersonnel mines.
"Looking at the achievements of the past eight years, we believe in Türkiye’s capacity to expedite its progress in fully implementing its commitments under the convention," Meyer-Landrut said.
In addition to demining, contractor companies with the UNDP collaborated with MAFAM for three years to detect 3,451 active minefields along the eastern and southeastern borders, according to the UNDP Türkiye statement.
"This project is vital for any kind of planning regarding demining efforts in the future," it noted.
As part of the project, MAFAM personnel were trained in technical exploration activities, including working with mine detection dogs, data management and analysis, as well as supporting gender equality. As such, Türkiye’s first two female mine detection dog trainers were raised and employed.
The project created over 300 jobs in the region, such as roles like de-miners, health care workers and drivers.
In becoming a party to the Ottawa Convention in 2004, Türkiye agreed to phase out antipersonnel land mines and establish a humanitarian border surveillance system. The UNDP’s efforts help mark measurable progress toward compliance with the Ottawa Convention while achieving the goals set by the EU for integrated border management.
Türkiye is one of 30 countries where the UNDP works to support demining and national mine action authorities.
Türkiye abolished the use of antipersonnel land mines by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in 2011. A mine clearance agency that is tasked with removing land mines planted in the country’s border regions was established in 2015.
The country became a party to the Ottawa Convention, a worldwide convention for clearing and banning antipersonnel mines, in 2004. It was granted an extension to the time frame required to destroy all land mines in its territories in 2013 as Türkiye failed to meet the first deadline in March 2014.
Türkiye’s efforts to clear the land mines were hindered when unrest erupted in Syria in 2011, with which it shares a border of 915 kilometers (570 miles), heavily covered with mines.
The conflict between the Syrian regime and the opposition over the border in Syria further complicated efforts for planned tenders on land mine clearance work.