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Turkey has for 15 years been seriously working on removal and destruction of anti-personnel mines on its borders under the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction which Turkey signed in 2003 and put into force from 1 March 2004.
Participating in the closing event of the project, Mr. Claudio Tomasi, UNDP Resident Representative in Turkey, expressed that deminers successfully completed the clearance activities “under technically challenging, difficult and risky circumstances” and emphasised the importance of the success and continuity of the project as well as solidarity and support by partners.
Having cleared a total of 1,302,470 m2 of land of mine risks and released to the government; removed and destroyed 19,949 anti-personnel mines, and employed over 400 people to date, the Project represents one of the biggest endeavours of its kind in the world. Constituting also the first humanitarian demining action for Turkey, the project “Socioeconomic Development through Demining and Increasing the Border Surveillance Capacity at the Eastern Borders of Turkey” aims to assist Turkey in complying with the requirements of 21st century in terms of border security.
To see the project documentary “Danger Mines”, click here: