Iran-Turkey Borderlands to be demined

More than 80,000 land mines located on the border with Iran in eastern Turkey will be demined as part of a joint project prepared by the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Iran PressAsia: The project to clear antipersonnel mines stretching over an area of 4.2 million square meters of land (1,037 acres) will start Wednesday, Anadolu Agency reported.

The 18.6 million euro ($21.7 million) project, funded by the EU and carried out by the UNDP and the Turkish Mine Action Center (TURMAC - MAFAM), covers the area near the Turkey-Iran border.

In addition to temporary jobs created during the demining process, the project also seeks to boost the local economy by allocating cleared lands to farmers and livestock herders. Additionally, some deminers recruited in Turkey in the initial phases of the project resumed their careers abroad.

The head of the EU delegation to Turkey, Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, accompanied by project manager Ulrich Rainer, visited Iğdır Governor Hüseyin Engin Sarıibrahim as part of the project.

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