Turkey has 810,000 landmines that need to be destroyed… Details
Data from the “Turkey Mine-Free” initiative revealed that there are more than (810,000) landmines in Turkey around border areas and military installations that need to be destroyed. Muhterem Oyertan, the director of the initiative, disclosed that 193,000 out of a total of (1,003,943) landmines in Turkey have been destroyed, leaving 810,943 landmines still underground.
Landmines are planted in the ground, especially in the interior regions of Turkey, as well as on the borders with Azerbaijan, Armenia, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. They cause deaths and injuries almost every year, according to the Turkish newspaper Zaman.
Turkey became a party to the Ottawa Treaty in 2004, aiming to prohibit the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel mines and their destruction. Although Turkey promised to clear landmines by 2014, it was unable to fulfill this commitment. In 2013, Turkey requested an additional deadline extension of 8 years and has not complied with its commitment in 2022, requesting an additional extension period of 3 years.
During an event at the Bar Association in Diyarbakir, the coordinator of the Turkey Mine-Free initiative (Muhterem Oyertan) presented an overview of the landmine ban campaign and the dimensions of the anti-personnel landmine problem in Turkey.
According to the newspaper, Oyertan shared information about the number of anti-personnel landmines found throughout the country in Turkey’s request to the United Nations in 2013 for an extension of the deadline. According to the information provided in Turkey’s request to the UN in 2013, there are a total of 1,003,943 anti-personnel landmines, 97,446 around military facilities, and 906,497 in border areas. There are landmines in a total area of 214,732,307 square meters, 2,615,648 around military facilities, and 212,116,689 in border areas.
According to the information provided by Turkey to the UN regarding “Clearance of Anti-Personnel Landmines,” 193,000 landmines were destroyed between 2015 and 2022. In the period between 2015 and 2022, an area of 39,000 square meters was cleared, and there is no information about the location where Turkey conducted this study.
According to extension requests for the years 2013, 2020, and 2022, a total of 1,575 landmines exploded, resulting in casualties among soldiers and civilians.
Oyertan pointed out that the problem of anti-personnel landmines continues in Turkey, confirming that a database on landmines has not yet been established, and the reports sent by Turkey to the United Nations are inconsistent.
