Ministry kicks off de-mining talks

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

The announcement came after a heated political debate over who would do the job under a government-sponsored legislation that was approved last month.

The minefields will be cleared through the service-procurement method, which consists of preparation, tender, implementation, and approval and certification stages, and will also involve the construction of a physical border-security system, according to a written statement issued by the Defense Ministry.

The controversial law stipulates that, initially, the Defense Ministry will invite tenders for clearing the minefields, and that, if that does not work, the Finance Ministry will have the minefields cleared through the service-procurement method.

According to the law, if this second method also fails, the government will invite companies to bid to remove the landmines in exchange for the right to cultivate the cleared lands that are suitable for agriculture.

Opposition parties had strongly opposed the legislation because it allows private foreign companies to clear the mines in return for the right to farm the fertile land for up to 44 years. After President Abdullah Gül approved the bill, the Republican People's Party, or CHP, filed a lawsuit at the Constitutional Court for an annulment and stay of execution on certain articles of the law on the grounds that occupation of the Syrian border for agriculture by foreign companies could create risks for Turkey’s national security.

The area houses military security zones.Turkey planted more than half a million mines along the 500-kilometer Syrian border in the 1950s to secure the frontier.