With the mine clearance activities carried out in Tunceli, areas that have posed a risk for years are being made safe, while new living spaces are being created for agriculture, animal husbandry, and tourism.
With the "Terror-Free Turkey" process, the strengthening of security and peace in Tunceli is enabling areas that have been mined for years to be reopened for public use. As part of the activities carried out across the province by the teams of the Jandarma Special Mine Search Battalion Command, 3,272 out of 14,395 mines were cleared in the first six months of 2026. The demined regions are being brought back into production and development, particularly for agriculture, animal husbandry, and tourism. Tunceli Governor Şefik Aygöl, who inspected the activities carried out in the responsibility area of the Karşılar Jandarma Gendarmerie Station Command, stated that areas previously mined due to terrorist threats are now being cleared one by one and opened for safe public use, emphasizing that this process marks a historic turning point for Tunceli.
"We are striving to eliminate all remnants of terrorism"
Governor Aygöl stated, "Mine clearance is currently being carried out by the teams of our Gendarmerie organization's Special Mine Search Battalion Command. We observed that 180 mines were laid in this region alone, and all of them have been cleared as of today. So far, 3,272 mines have been cleared in our province. What is important here is that mining was carried out at the time due to significant terrorist pressure and a threat that disturbed our citizens. We are conducting this clearance in all regions of our country, especially in Eastern Anatolia and Southeastern Anatolia, under the leadership of our President, and we are talking about a Terror-Free Turkey. Currently, peace prevails everywhere in our mountains, plains, cities, provinces, and districts. We are determining that this threat has been eliminated. As a result, these mines are being removed one by one in line with the instructions of our Ministry of Interior. As these areas are cleared, our citizens will engage in animal husbandry and agriculture in these regions, and this city, a very important tourism city, will be opened to tourism. These regions will serve our citizens engaged in animal husbandry and agriculture. We are experiencing a historic turning point for our citizens. May God grant us lasting peace. May God grant us lasting unity and solidarity. We are no longer talking about terrorism, but about agriculture, tourism, and peace. We are striving to eliminate all remnants of terrorism."
Governor Aygöl was accompanied during the visit by Provincial Gendarmerie Commander Brigadier General Bülent Baykal and Provincial Police Chief Kazım Günay Demiralay. - TUNCELİ