Background
Landmines were laid alongside Turkey’s borders with Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Armenia, since the 1950s, and according to Mine Action Review, 140.6 km2 of contaminated land remains. In signing the Ottawa Convention – the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention – in 2004, Türkiye agreed to phase out all anti-personnel landmines and establish a humanitarian border surveillance system.
Partnership with TDI
Project end
APOPO’s project was completed in October 2023 and the team was mobilized to Azerbaijan. APOPO maintains its readiness to return to Türkiye for the second part of the project along the borders with Syria and Iraq.
In December 2023, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the European Union (EU) and the Turkish Mine Action Center (TURMAC) marked the conclusion of a three-year project that cleared 94 minefields from Türkiye’s eastern frontier with various contractors including APOPO. The project has made 4.2 million square meters of land along the border with Armenia and Iran safe for local civilians and border management personnel, and also completed the mapping of all remaining active minefields in the country.
