On the occasion of the visit of H.E. Süleyman Demirel, President of the Republic of Turkey to Bulgaria, at the invitation of H.E. Petar Stoyanov, President of the Republic of Bulgaria, and agreement between the Republic of Turkey and the Republic of Bulgaria on non-use of anti-personnel mines and their removal from or destruction in the areas adjacent to their common border is signed in Sofia, on 22 March 1999, by H.E. İsmail Cem, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Turkey and H.E. Nadezhda Mihailova, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria.

According to the Agreement, the two countries undertake not to use under any circumstances anti-personnel mines and to destroy or remove all stocked or emplaced anti-personel mines from the area of application as defined in the Agreement. The Agreement also envisages a verification regime.

Aware of the human sufferings and casualties caused by the irresponsible and indiscriminate use of the anti-personnel mines, by signing this Agreement the two countries have proved their determination to contribute to the ongoing efforts of the international community aimed at the total elimination of this inhuman weapon.

This Agreement is an expression of the achieved quality of the relations between the two countries and underlines the common will to further strengthen the existing friendly relations between them and to contribute to stability, security and transparency in the region.