Lt. Eric Bouysson
First published in
SFOR Informer#133, February 28, 2002

The Turkish Battle Group (TU BG) supervised the destruction of illegally held weapons in the steel factory of Zenica.
Inhabitants have handed them over to local police units during Harvest operations. Collected and brought to the factory by units of the Armed Forces in BiH (AFBiH), they are crushed into pieces and melted in furnaces. They will not kill anymore. This operation, however, raises some questions.

Zenica - The destruction is a joint operation involving many different people. Inhabitants hand over weapons to police units as they conduct Harvest operations in exchange for anonymity and amnesty. AFBiH units collect, store, and deliver them to the factory. The BH Steel factory is destroying them, while the TU BG is monitoring the process. Berislav Djukic, an engineer at the factory, explained the ongoing process. "Firstly, weapons are crushed into pieces, then the pieces are melted in a steel furnace. The weapons are recycled into brand new raw steel."
Security concern
Turkish Lt. Volkan Karaaslan, monitor team leader, insists that all security measures have been taken:
"An EOD team is nearby, and weapons and magazines have been checked to make sure they do not contain any bullets."
Djukic made the point that some magazines were still attached to the weapons. He does not overlook the symbolic significance of the destruction but adds, "we process 10,000 tonnes of metal every month in order to produce recycled steel, whereas we (only) support the destruction of weapons twice a year on average. This is very little weight for us, but it is a hazardous material."
Harvest of unexpected discarded items
Lt. Tolunay Baser is a member of the Joint Military Commission (JMC) team of the TU BG. With Maj. Sepik Sepher, from the Federation Army, he makes sure that all the collected weapons are destroyed. At the end of the day, they sign a weapons destruction report together. Weapons are of various types, but all are in a bad state. It is dubious whether more than 10% of them could actually be used.
Sepher acknowledged, "Yes, they are in a poor state, but if properly repaired, some could be used again, and others could be disassembled and used as spare parts."
Still there is a persistent feeling that people just discard the rubbish they do not want anymore. This is not uncommon in Harvest operations. More than 400 weapons out of the total of 500 are German-designed G3s made in Argentina. All of them are in the same poor state, just as if they had been kept together in the same damp store when no longer needed.
Blurred message of hope
When asked where they came from, Sepher remains elusive: "They might have been bought from abroad during the war, I am just carrying out my mission." Baser comes to the rescue of his counterpart: "This is part of the harvest process: no questions are asked, this is where (the operation's) success comes from. SFOR's mission is to monitor, and if necessary assist." Melted into raw steel, these illegally held weapons will not kill anymore. Instead they may contribute to the building of new schools, factories or bridges.

Related links: SFOR at Work
Nations of SFOR: Turkey
Project Harvest