Joint Statement made by Greece and Turkey

(Tuesday 06 May 2003 Kas, Turkey) Joint Statement made by Greece and Turkey after a meeting of their Prime Ministers in Turkey's coastal town of Kas on 3 May 2003.

Fully conscious of the risks to human life and the suffering caused by antipersonnel land mines, both Greece and Turkey welcomed the entry into force of the Ottawa Convention which prohibits their use and production and stipulates their destruction.

With a joint statement on April 6, 2001, Greece and Turkey announced their decision to concurrently conclude the procedures, which will make both sides parties to the Ottawa Convention. It was also agreed that the instruments of ratification by Greece and accession by Turkey would be simultaneously deposited with the Secretary General of the United Nations in due course.

In line with this agreement, the appropriate procedures were completed in Turkey as well as in Greece. The two countries will now proceed to submit simultaneously their respective instruments to the UN Secretary General.