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Table of Contents
Country Reports
Cyprus, Landmine Monitor Report 2003

Cyprus

Key developments since May 2002: Cyprus ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on 17 January 2003 and became a State Party on 1 July 2003. Cyprus has reported a stockpile of 48,615 antipersonnel mines. Mine clearance operations are ongoing in a number of areas close to the buffer zone and plans for demining inside the zone have been announced.

Mine Ban Policy

The Republic of Cyprus signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997, ratified on 17 January 2003, and became a State Party on 1 July 2003.[1] The government is considering whether the implementation measures required by Article 9 of the treaty, including penal sanctions for violations, are covered by existing criminal law or if new legislation is required.[2]

Cyprus attended the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in September 2002 as an observer, but associated itself with a statement delivered by Denmark on behalf of the European Union urging all non-member States to ratify or accede to the treaty without delay.[3] On 22 November 2002, Cyprus voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74, which calls for universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.

Cyprus participated in the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in February and May 2003, where its representative reported on the ratification process and preparations for implementation of the treaty.

Cyprus is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), and ratified Amended Protocol II on landmines on 22 July 2003. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it prioritized ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty over Protocol II.[4] Cyprus attended the Fourth Annual Conference of States Parties to the Protocol, as an observer, in December 2002.

Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Destruction

Cyprus previously declared that it has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines. During intersessional meetings in May 2003, the Cyprus delegation added that import of antipersonnel mines has also ceased.[5]

At the same meeting, Cyprus revealed that it has a stockpile of 48,615 antipersonnel mines, consisting of types M2A3, M16, VS50, and GLD112.[6] In addition, Cyprus has M2A1, M2A4, M16A1, M16A2, and M16E3 mines in its landmine stockpile.[7]

Cyprus has said that environmental agreements will prevent it from using explosive methods for stockpile destruction, so inquiries are being made to destroy the mines elsewhere.[8]

The government has decided that in accordance with Article 3 of the Mine Ban Treaty, a number of mines will be retained “for training in mine detection, mine clearance and mine destruction techniques.”[9]

Landmine Problem

Minefields in and around the buffer zone dividing the island date from the 1974 occupation of the north by Turkish forces. According to Major Theodoros Efthymiou, the Ministry of Defense’s Special Advisor on Demining, there are eleven minefields laid by the Greek-Cypriot National Guard in the buffer zone, containing a total of 1,024 antipersonnel mines and 1,284 antivehicle mines.[10] There are also 26 minefields laid by Turkish forces. The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) supervises the buffer zone.[11]

In addition, there are 23 minefields containing approximately 5,000 antipersonnel mines in areas controlled by the Republic of Cyprus. Maps and other documentation have been deposited with UNFICYP. All minefields under the control of the National Guard and UNFICYP are reported to be fenced and marked.[12]

Mine Action Planning and Clearance

In 1987, the National Guard established a special engineering unit to survey and “refurbish” minefields, and to carry out rescue operations. This consists of a fifteen-person demining platoon, using metal detectors and working to a clearance depth of 50 centimeters.[13]

In October 2002, Cyprus reported that the National Guard has cleared ten minefields adjacent to the buffer zone and destroyed over 11,000 mines since 1983.[14] In 2002, the National Guard completed clearance of two minefields (totaling 36,000 square meters) in the mixed Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot village of Pyla, removing 182 M2A3 antipersonnel mines and 564 M15 antivehicle mines.[15] UNFICYP confirmed that clearance of two minefields (numbered by UNFICYP as 4621 and 4636) was completed by 27 November 2002.[16]

UNFICYP was informed on 29 November 2002 that National Guard deminers would next clear two minefields south of Lefka (numbered 1845 and 1853), and this clearance was ongoing as of April 2003. UNFICYP also reported that National Guard deminers were clearing another minefield southwest of Lymbia (number 4397).[17]

In early 2002, the Republic proposed that all the minefields be cleared, jointly with the Turkish-Cypriot forces, or unilaterally if necessary.[18] Major Efthymiou stated that clearance could be achieved within the timeframe of the Mine Ban Treaty, but outside assistance would be needed. The Republic confirmed in April 2003 that it was working “in close cooperation” with the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) and the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) on the proposed demining.[19]

On 7 May 2003, a Republic of Cyprus spokesperson announced that clearance of Republic-controlled minefields and National Guard minefields in the buffer zone would go ahead, and “all necessary representations” would be made to the UN.[20] On 10 May, Justice Minister Doros Theodorou announced that demining of the buffer zone around the Ayia Dhometios suburb of Nicosia was going ahead, near a new control point between the north and south.

In July 2003, Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash announced that his administration in the Turkish-occupied north was willing to clear “thousands of land mines,” in order to improve security for Cypriots crossing the buffer zone. Denktash was reported as saying, “We have given notice in a letter sent today to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that Turkish Cypriot military officials are prepared to meet to discuss the clearing of mines in Nicosia and surrounding regions.”[21]

Landmine Casualties

In 2002 and up to the end of April 2003, no military or civilian casualties from mines were reported in the Republic-controlled areas or in the buffer zone.[22] According to a press report, over the past 28 years three UN peacekeepers and several civilians have been killed or injured by landmines in Cyprus. The most recent death of a Greek Cypriot civilian was in 1997.[23]


[1] Law number 37(III)/2002, 20 December 2002. See also, “Cyprus Ratifies Antipersonnel Mine Convention,” Cyprus News Agency, 6 December 2002.
[2] Email from Frances Galatia-Williams, Counselor, Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva, 30 April 2003.
[3] Statement by the Cyprus Delegation, Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 18 September 2002.
[4] Email from Frances Galatia-Williams, Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva, 30 April 2003.
[5] Intervention by Major Theodoros Efthymiou, Special Advisor on Demining, Ministry of Defense, to Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education, and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 14 May 2003.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Email from Frances Galatia-Williams, Permanent Mission to the UN, 30 April 2003.
[8] Intervention by Cyprus, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 3 February 2003. (Landmine Monitor notes)
[9] Email from Frances Galatia-Williams, Permanent Mission to the UN, 30 April 2003.
[10] Intervention by Major Theodoros Efthymiou to Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, 14 May 2003.
[11] See Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 546.
[12] Intervention by Major Theodoros Efthymiou, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, 14 May 2003; intervention by Cyprus, Standing Committee on the General Status, 3 February 2003.
[13] Intervention by Major Theodoros Efthymiou, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, 14 May 2003.
[14] Statement by Yiorgos Christofides, First Committee of the UN General Assembly, New York, 10 October 2002.
[15] Intervention by Major Theodoros Efthymiou, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, 14 May 2003; email from Frances Galatia-Williams, Permanent Mission to the UN, 30 April 2003.
[16] Email from Sergeant Cranley L. Hudson, Force Cartographer, UNFICYP HQ, 4 April 2003.
[17] Ibid.
[18] See Landmine Monitor Report 2002, pp. 545-547.
[19] Email from Frances Galatia-Williams, Permanent Mission to the UN, 30 April 2003; see also, Landmine Monitor Report 2002, pp. 545-547.
[20] “Government to Remove Landmines in Areas Controlled by the Republic of Cyprus,” Cyprus New Agency, 7 May 2003; “De-mining Work to Begin,” Kathimerini (Greek daily newspaper, English-language Internet edition), 8 May 2003.
[21] “Denktash says wants to clear mines littering Cyprus,” Reuters, 24 July 2003.
[22] Email from Frances Galatia-Williams, Permanent Mission to the UN, 30 April 2003.
[23] “Cyprus Submits Landmine-Clearing Plan to UN,” Xinhua News Agency, 23 January 2002.