Turkey set to clear over 80,000 mines on Iran border

ANKARA: Turkey has started the removal of 83,000 landmines along its eastern border with Iran as part of a two-year EU-funded project, a spokesperson for the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Turkey told AFP on Wednesday.

The 18.6 million euro project, carried out in partnership with the Turkish Mine Action Centre, will make 4.2 million square meters of land safe for local civilians and border management personnel.

Turkey, a party since 2004 to the Ottawa Treaty which bans the use of anti-personnel landmines, agreed to phase out anti-personnel landmines and establish a humanitarian border surveillance system.