Turkey Clearing 80,000 Mines from Its Border with Iran

The United Nations Development Programme announced the start of clearing 80,000 mines from Turkey’s border with Iran. The clearance of these mines is being carried out according to a two-year UN plan, with funding provided by the European Union.

The United Nations announced on Wednesday, September 29, the world’s largest mine clearance operation on Turkey’s border with Iran.

Between 1953 and 1996, Turkey had laid these mines on its eastern borders to prevent illegal border crossings and to counter the entry of members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The Turkish military extensively used anti-personnel mines in the 1990s in its border region with Iran to combat the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

However, the country joined the international Ottawa Convention in 2004. The Ottawa Treaty prohibits anti-personnel mines. After joining this treaty, Turkey agreed to clear mines from its eastern borders with Iran.

Lucia Vinton, permanent representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Turkey, announced in a statement that over the past decade, the use of anti-personnel mines as an inhumane method for border control has been condemned.

According to the United Nations, 175 mine clearance personnel along with 16 mine detection dogs are engaged in carrying out the mine clearance operation on Turkey’s borders.

It is stated that the cleared lands will be made available to residents of border areas for agriculture and livestock raising.