Greece is committed to gradually removing all anti-personnel land mines from its border with Turkey, according to a military source quoted in a report yesterday.

The confirmation, in yesterday’s Eleftherotypia daily, followed an announcement, during a conference on land mines held in the Thracian border town of Alexandroupolis on Saturday, by a military official that the army’s operational study for mine clearance was ready.

Greece maintains extensive minefields along the Turkish border in the Evros region. Despite fences and clear signposting, 62 people have been killed in Evros minefields since 1997, when the Ottawa Convention banning mines was signed. Scores more have been injured. Nearly all were illegal immigrants, entering the country from Turkey.

Last September, Greece and Turkey signed an agreement to clear minefields as soon as possible.