Tough walk through minefields
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 23, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - The deadlock over the clearance of landmines on the Syrian border continues with Parliament failing to agree on a bill, while the military said Friday that NATO could undertake the mission. Turkey is obliged to clear the mines by 2014 in accordance with an international treaty.
At his ruling Justice and Development Party’s, or AKP, meeting, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told deputies that the government was working in coordination with the General Staff and said a bidding process would begin only after the relevant law was passed by Parliament.
The area of landmines begins in Hatay in the south and extends through Kilis, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa and Mardin before ending at Şırnak in southeastern Anatolia. The 178.5 square-kilometer area is estimated to house around 600,000 landmines and stretches for 510 kilometers in length.
Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Metin Gürak said an area of that size could not be cleared with the Turkish Armed Forces, or TSK’s, existing equipment alone, adding that there was a need for modern mine clearance equipment as well as specially trained personnel. Speaking to reporters at the weekly press conference, the spokesman warned the supply of necessary equipment could take a long time and possible increase in cost could lead to economic losses.
He highlighted that the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency, or NAMSA, could be considered for mine clearance and added that the military had conveyed its opinion in this matter to relevant authorities at the time.
NAMSA is NATO’s principal logistics support management agency and its main tasks are to assist NATO nations by organizing common procurement and supply of spare parts and arranging maintenance and repair services necessary for the support of various weapons and other systems. In a written statement, the military said Friday NAMSA had carried out a purchase of service activities in many countries through companies with NATO accreditation. Such mine clearance services offer a 100 percent guarantee and insurance is provided for the cleared zone. In return, no commission is paid to NAMSA and only administrative expenses are met, noted the military.
Despite the military’s proposal of NAMSA as a competent agency, it is a matter of question why it was not accepted by the government, which has appeared to go ahead with the tender process following the adoption of the relevant law.
In Parliament, the bill, which would assign the land to the foreign company that cleared the mines for 44 years, has become something of a nightmare for the government. Turkey is obligated to have all landmines cleared by 2014, according to the international pact signed in Ottawa, Canada, in 1993. After the approval of the four articles of the six-article bill on Thursday, the parliamentary session was postponed until next week.
Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül tried to soften the crisis by playing the slush fund card. Gönül answered the opposition’s persistent questions as to why the area was not being cleared by the military. "All right, I will speak openly. Since there is no money in the budget, it was paid for from the slush fund. When the Armed Forces realized they could not handle the job, they returned it as it is." Government officials say that through landslides and floods, the old maps for the mine’s locations are no longer viable and that is the reason the Armed Forces cannot do the job. The mine-clearance is expected through the build-operate-transfer model.
The area of landmines begins in Hatay in the south and extends through Kilis, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa and Mardin before ending at Şırnak in southeastern Anatolia. The 178.5 square-kilometer area is estimated to house around 600,000 landmines and stretches for 510 kilometers in length.
Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Metin Gürak said an area of that size could not be cleared with the Turkish Armed Forces, or TSK’s, existing equipment alone, adding that there was a need for modern mine clearance equipment as well as specially trained personnel. Speaking to reporters at the weekly press conference, the spokesman warned the supply of necessary equipment could take a long time and possible increase in cost could lead to economic losses.
He highlighted that the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency, or NAMSA, could be considered for mine clearance and added that the military had conveyed its opinion in this matter to relevant authorities at the time.
NAMSA is NATO’s principal logistics support management agency and its main tasks are to assist NATO nations by organizing common procurement and supply of spare parts and arranging maintenance and repair services necessary for the support of various weapons and other systems. In a written statement, the military said Friday NAMSA had carried out a purchase of service activities in many countries through companies with NATO accreditation. Such mine clearance services offer a 100 percent guarantee and insurance is provided for the cleared zone. In return, no commission is paid to NAMSA and only administrative expenses are met, noted the military.
Despite the military’s proposal of NAMSA as a competent agency, it is a matter of question why it was not accepted by the government, which has appeared to go ahead with the tender process following the adoption of the relevant law.
In Parliament, the bill, which would assign the land to the foreign company that cleared the mines for 44 years, has become something of a nightmare for the government. Turkey is obligated to have all landmines cleared by 2014, according to the international pact signed in Ottawa, Canada, in 1993. After the approval of the four articles of the six-article bill on Thursday, the parliamentary session was postponed until next week.
Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül tried to soften the crisis by playing the slush fund card. Gönül answered the opposition’s persistent questions as to why the area was not being cleared by the military. "All right, I will speak openly. Since there is no money in the budget, it was paid for from the slush fund. When the Armed Forces realized they could not handle the job, they returned it as it is." Government officials say that through landslides and floods, the old maps for the mine’s locations are no longer viable and that is the reason the Armed Forces cannot do the job. The mine-clearance is expected through the build-operate-transfer model.