Note: CHA = confirmed hazardous area; SHA = suspected hazardous area.

Contamination

The Republic of Cyprus is contaminated by antipersonnel and antivehicle mines. The island has been divided geographically and politically by what was once a heavily mined, 180km-long buffer zone since 1974, following Turkish forces’ operations in the north of the island. Minefields were laid by both the Greek Cypriot National Guard and the TurkishArmed Forces. The exact extent of the remaining mine contamination across the island is not known, and permission for UNFICYP to access areas outside the buffer zone remains limited.[1]

UNFICYP data indicates that at the end of 2017, 29 SHAs and 18 CHAs remained across Cyprus covering just over 1.7km². Contamination in these areas is either mixed (antipersonnel and antivehicle mines), of unknown nature, or from antivehicle mines only (see table below).[2]

In 2017, UNFICYP undertook a complete review of all demining documentation and records, which resulted in a reduction in the number of recorded SHAs, from 67 to 47, and in the estimated contaminated area nationwide, from just over 3.1km² to just over 1.7km².[3]

Contamination (as ofend of 2017)[4]

Note: N/A = not applicable.
*Cyprus considers that only one minefield lies in the buffer zone, and that the remaining three are in areas under its control.[5]

Territory controlled by the Republic of Cyprus

Cyprus has reported that no antipersonnel mines remain in the minefields laid by the National Guard that are on territory under its effective control.[6]

Buffer zone

UNMAS records four mined areas remaining in the buffer zone.[7] In July 2018, a report of the UN Secretary-General on the UN operation in Cyprus noted that “the two sides have not begun clearance of the four known remaining minefields in the buffer zone, of which three belong to the National Guard and one to the Turkish forces. While the Turkish Cypriot side has indicated that it would accept the clearance of all four areas as a package, the Greek Cypriot side maintains the position that its three minefields are required to counter a perceived threat.”[8] This restates the situation described in previous reports since 2015.[9] UNFICYP reported that as of December 2017 three of the mined areas in the buffer zone are contaminated with antivehicle mines and that contamination in the fourth mined area is unknown.[10]

However, according to the Cyprus’ Article 7 transparency reports, the sole remaining minefield in the buffer zone is located in Turkish forces-controlled area, close to the village of Deryneia[11] (also spelt Derynia or Dherynia). In May 2016, in response to a request for clarification, a government diplomat in Geneva stated that the government of Cyprus considers the other three minefields to be under its control and not within the buffer zone. In addition, the official stated that the three minefields in question do not contain antipersonnel mines.[12]

In 2018, the UN Security Council called on “both sides to continue to engage, as a matter of urgency and while respecting UNFICYP’s mandate, in consultations with UNFICYP on the demarcation of the buffer zone, and on the United Nations 1989 aide-memoire, with a view to reaching early agreement on outstanding issues.”[13] This reiterates the statement made in previous resolutions.[14] According to UNFICYP, such demarcation would, in particular, help to resolve any ambiguity or lack of agreement between the sides and the UN about the precise location of the buffer zone.[15]

Turkish Cypriot-controlled territory in northern Cyprus

The extent of mine contamination in areas controlled by Turkish forces is not known. However, Cyprus claimed in its latest Article 7 transparency report (for 2017) that at least 20 minefields laid and maintained in the occupied areas by Turkish forces are yet to be cleared of antipersonnel mines, of which one is situated within the buffer zone.[16] According to the UN, some military mine clearance appears to have been conducted over most locations that are still recorded as minefields.[17]

During a meeting on 15 May 2015, the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, provided the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, Mustafa Akinci, with coordinates of the 28 known minefields laid by the National Guard prior to Turkey’s military action in 1974.[18] These minefields, located north of Nicosia towards the Pentadaktylos mountain range, in what is today Turkish-occupied area, contained 1,006 antipersonnel mines.[19]

On 4 June 2015, leader of the Turkish Cypriot community asked
for assistance to address the 28 minefields on Turkish-controlled territory in the north. In response, and with a view to facilitating future demining, UNFICYP and UNMAS worked to refine the data and map the minefields, which were suspected to contain both antivehicle and antipersonnel mines.[20]

Survey of the minefields was conducted and completed in the summer of 2015 by UNMAS, supported by Turkish Engineering Forces, in conjunction with UNFICYP.[21] The survey resulted in three of the 28 areas being found to have a higher risk of mine contamination and to require technical survey, as well as an additional two suspected locations identified by the local community.[22] In July 2017, a report of the UN Secretary-General stated that “UNFICYP had completed demining operations on the last 2 of the 28 legacy minefields, the locations of which were provided to the Turkish Cypriot leader by the Greek Cypriot leader as part of a package of confidence-building measures announced in May 2015,”[23]

In addition, there is a minefield just north of the buffer zone in Mammari, where heavy rains led to mines being washed into the buffer zone in 2014 and 2015. UNFICYP has raised the issue of clearance of this minefield with Turkish forces and has offered assistance in this regard.[24] In 2017, a small area of the Mammari minefield was cleared by a Croatian commercial operator contracted by the Turkish Armed Forces.[25]

Program Management

UN-supported mine action operations in Cyprus are coordinated by UNMAS on behalf of UNFICYP.[26] In July 2016, UNMAS became an integral component of UNFICYP, providing its expertise in mine action planning and coordination, quality assurance oversight, and management of mine action information.[27]

UN-facilitated settlement talks between the two sides in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, in July 2017, came to an abrupt halt after 10 days. Since the breakdown of these talks, no further access has been granted to the SHAs in the UN’s Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database.[28] The lack of access resulted in the demobilization of the UN demining capacity on 20 November 2017. UNFICYP retains a technical capacity and non-technical survey contingency to conduct new activities when access is permitted.[29]

UNMAS also provides assistance to the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) to ensure safe access to areas where it conducts activities and to UNFICYP for explosive ordnance disposal call-out tasks.[30]

Legislation and standards

All UN-supported mine action operations in Cyprus are said to be conducted in accordance with International Mine Action Standards (IMAS).[31]

In 2016, to guide UN operations, UNMAS updated the national technical standards and guidelines that are used in UNFICYP to reflect current best practice and to ensure the highest standards are applied for UNFICYP clearance operations.[32]

Quality management

UNMAS is responsible for conducting quality management of all UN-supported mine action operations in Cyprus. In addition, all task documentation was quality-controlled by UNMAS before acceptance by UNFICYP and the relevant authorities.[33]

Information management

UNFICYP uses the IMSMA database. In 2017, a review and reconciliation of all electronic and hardcopy minefield database documentation revealed that a number of SHAs had already been cleared and/or cancelled. However, due to capacity limitations between 2011 and 2016, the information had not been removed from the database. The review resulted in the removal of seven SHAs (totaling over 950,000m²) from the database.[34]

Operators

In 2017, MAG conducted survey and clearance on behalf of UNMAS and UNFICYP using a 17-strong team that included seven deminers. In July 2017, the team was reduced to five deminers, a medic, and a driver. The entire team was then demobilized in November 2017 due to a budget reduction by UNFICYP following the failure of talks at the Conference on Cyprus in July 2017.[35]

Clearance of the Mammari minefield was conducted by DOKING, a Croatian commercial operator, and quality assurance was conducted by MAG. Both companies were directly contracted by the Turkish Armed Forces.[36]

Land Release

In Turkish Cypriot-controlled territory in northern Cyprus, 22,000m² was released through clearance in 2017, 306,237m² was cancelled by non-technical survey, and 15,853m² reduced through technical survey.[37] As noted above, database clean-up also removed almost 1km² from IMSMA.

Survey in 2017

In 2017 in northern Cyprus, MAG, the implementing partner of UNMAS in the region, undertook non-technical survey of six minefields and non-technical and technical survey of one minefield, cancelling 306,237m² by non-technical survey and reducing 15,853m² by technical survey (see table below).[38]

Survey of mined area in 2017[39]

Clearance in 2017

DOKING cleared a small area of Alakoy, in Mammari in northern Cyprus, adjacent to an area where flooding had previously washed mines into the buffer zone. A total of 22,000m² was cleared with the destruction of 88 antipersonnel mines and 87 antivehicle mines.[40]

Progress in 2018

In 2018, UNMAS and UNFICYP were planning to support activities in accordance with the priorities and requests for assistance from the two sides. Through its advocacy and engagement in 2018, the UN was encouraging the two sides to:

• Establish a Mine Action Dialogue Mechanism to identify SHAs and/or CHAs for reciprocal survey and removal;
• Conduct a review of SHA data with UNFICYP to initiate the removal of legacy information from IMSMA for areas that no longer pose a threat;
• Restart the process of non-technical and technical survey to properly identify the scope and content of SHAs and CHAs; and
• Advocate/assist/conduct clearance to continue progress towards a mine-free Cyprus.

Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with a second three-year extension granted by States Parties
in December 2015), Cyprus is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 July 2019. It will not meet this deadline and in 2018 it submitted a request for a further extension of three years until 1 July 2022. The request consisted of a single page, referring back to the 2015 request.

Cyprus has reported clearing all antipersonnel mines in mined areas that it accepted were under its control within 10 years of becoming a State Party, namely by 1 July 2013. A three-year extension to its Article 5 deadline until 1 July 2016 was requested and approved in 2012, due to antipersonnel mines remaining in territory occupied by the Turkish forces, which it was unable to clear.[41]

On 27 March 2015, Cyprus submitted a second Article5 deadline extension request, seeking a further three-year extension, until 1 July 2019. The reason cited for the second extension request was the same as the first, namely that Cyprus does not have effective control over remaining contaminated areas.[42] According to the website of the Permanent Mission of Cyprus in Geneva, “Once Turkey ceases the military occupation of Cyprus and returns control of the occupied areas under proper conditions to the authorities of the Republic, they [the Republic of Cyprus] will be able to assume full responsibility and compliance with the provisions of Article 5 for the entire sovereign territory of the Republic of Cyprus.”[43] On 2 February 2018, Cyprus submitted a third Article 5 deadline request, seeking a further three-year extension until 1 July 2022. The reason cited for the third extension request was the same as the second and the first, namely that certain parts of Cyprus are occupied by the Turkish Armed Forces and therefore outside of the control of the government.[44]

Turkey’s original Article 5 clearance deadline was 1 March 2014. In 2013, States Parties granted Turkey an eight-year extension until 1 March 2022, for clearance of mines in Turkey, but Turkey did not request additional time for clearance of the areas it controls in northern Cyprus.[45]

At the intersessional meetings in June 2015, Cyprus stated that “negotiations for a settlement of the Cyprus question have recently resumed and there are good reasons for being hopeful that this will in fact be the last extension request that Cyprus needs to submit.”[46]

The July 2016 report by the Secretary-General also noted that both the Greek Cypriot leader and the Turkish Cypriot leader have “continued to engage in settlement talks with dedication and perseverance,” and “underlined their commitment to intensify their efforts in the coming months with the aim of reaching a comprehensive settlement agreement within 2016.”[47] Settlement talks between the two sides were held in July 2017 in Switzerland but broke down after 10 days.[48]

The UN Security Council, most recently in July 2018, has called on both sides to facilitate clearance of all remaining mined areas on the island.[49] The council noted with regret “that the sides are withholding access to the remaining minefields in the buffer zone, and that demining in Cyprus must continue.” It also noted “the continued danger posed by mines in Cyprus,” referring to “proposals and discussions aswell as positive initiatives on demining,” and urging “rapid agreement on facilitating the recommencement of demining operations and clearance of the remaining minefields.”[50] The council called on “both sides to allow access to deminers and to facilitate the removal of the remaining mines in Cyprus within the buffer zone,” and urged “both sides to extend demining operations outside the buffer zone.”[51]

A January 2018 report of the UN Secretary General, noted the completion of the outstanding non-technical surveys from the list of 28 legacy minefields and also the comprehensive review of the UNFICYP mine action database. However, it was also observed that the “two sides have not begun clearance of the four known remaining minefields in the buffer zone” and that “no additional areas have been released for survey or clearance.”[52] There are currently no demining operations forecasted for UNMAS-UNFICYP in 2018.[53]

In 2017, Turkish forces rejected the request made by UNFICYP to clear a small portion of land around one of its permanently manned positions in the buffer zone adjacent to the Deryneia/Derinya minefield for “safety reasons.”[54]

The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the primary mine action research in 2018 and shared all its country-level landmine reports (from“Clearing the Mines 2018”) and country-level cluster munition reports (from “Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2018”) with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.