Ministry's project aims to quell territorial disputes

ANKARA

A project initiated by the Interior Ministry seeks to bring an end to deadly disputes over pastures by clarifying administrative boundaries across Türkiye.

Launched in 2018 and already through its first phase, the project's primary objective is to establish transparent territorial administrative borders while creating a digital database within the ministry. This endeavor will definitively outline which villages have jurisdiction over specific pastures and ponds.

The initiative began its geographical examination in the country's northwestern region and subsequently reviewed records within the governor's offices in Edirne, Kırklareli and Tekirdağ. Archival documents related to administrative borders are currently being meticulously scanned, with field teams verifying these records against real-world conditions to update and transfer precise coordinates into the digital realm.

Officials involved in the project underscore its significance, emphasizing the longstanding discrepancies among various institutions, notably the governor's offices and the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre under the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry. The project will also play a pivotal role in determining the responsibilities of local officials, including village headmen and municipalities, in disputed regions, they argue.

The dire consequences of these conflicts became apparent in the northern province of Ordu's Kabadüz district on Aug. 7, when a 45-year-old man lost his life and another sustained injuries during a territorial dispute.

Similarly, in January 2022, a violent altercation between two feuding families in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, stemming from a pasture dispute, left 25 individuals injured.

In August 2021, two individuals perished in a fight between families in the nearby province of Diyarbakır's Dicle district over pasture territory. Tragically, in April 2020, four lives were lost, and another was injured in a dispute in the western province of Manisa's Salihli district.

The scale of these conflicts is further underscored by two separate incidents in the eastern province of Muş in 2013 and 2017, where a total of 11 lives were lost, and 17 people were injured in confrontations between feuding families.