Armenia: Homeowners Protest Demolition Plan

Photos by Haik Bianjian. View photo essay

In the centre of the Armenian capital Yerevan they are manning the barricades.

Huge piles of stones, wooden beams and pieces of metal block off both ends of Pavstos Byuzand Street, 100 metres from the city’s main Republic Square.

They were built one month ago by 14 families, 60-70 people in all, trying to thwart government plans to raze their homes in order to build a new, fashionable boulevard in downtown Yerevan - part of an urban renewal scheme for the capital.

Police quickly moved in and cleared the first barricades, but they soon went up again, and since then there has been a stand-off. The protesters keep watch 24 hours a day – looking out for the tractors and dumper trucks which they fear may come any time now to demolish their homes.

Of the roughly 100 one-story houses that make up the street, 80 have already been destroyed. Their owners received compensation and moved to other sections of the city.

Those who refuse to vacate face serious consequences. They’ve already had the compensation amount offered reduced by one third. Meanwhile, the Yerevan mayor’s office, which is spearheading the urban renewal campaign, has taken the case to the district court in the hope of forcibly evicting those who refuse to depart peacefully.

But for the families of Pavstos Byuzand Street, the sum being offered is far from adequate.

“Apartments in the centre of Yerevan are going for 1,100-1,300 US dollars per square metre,” said Byuzand resident Zorik Vardanian. “They are offering me 48,000 dollars for my 80 square metre apartment, so my place is worth 600 dollars per square metre to them.”

“But it’s not about the money,” added Vardanian. “In general I don’t believe that our eviction is legal.”

Anzheta Muradian agrees and says that the amount proposed is not enough to move her 12 family members to the outskirts of Yerevan.

"They think of us as rats,” said Muradian who wants to receive the market value for her home. “They don’t want to give us apartments in the buildings that are being built. We won’t leave until we receive compensation, even if they destroy our homes.”

In order to make it uninhabitable, Muradian has already seen half of her house destroyed, according to a court order. “I was in the first floor and did not want to leave the house. Then court officials came and dragged me out of the house, beating me in order to continue their black deed," she said, displaying the bruises on her arms and legs.

The protesters and their supporters say the case is just another example of how the government and judicial system run roughshod over their rights.

For government officials, however, the residents of Pavstos Byuzand Street are merely holding up a long-planned project that will benefit all of Yerevan in order to line their own pockets.

“They register a huge number of relatives in their miserable little apartments,” said Karen Davtian, who runs Yerevan’s office of construction investments, the main body dealing with the project. Each registered person in a property receives compensation.

“They knew already a few years back that their houses would be torn down, so they did everything to receive more compensation and to get new apartments,” Davtian told IWPR. “We can’t pay them what they want.”

The urban renewal project - directed by the state, but funded by private companies - began in 2001 with the construction of another major thoroughfare, Northern Avenue. Wreckers destroyed some 400 houses covering 70,000 square metres.

Some residents at the time were not satisfied with the compensation they received. But they did not erect barricades. Instead they created a public defence organisation, Victims of the Needs of the State, which is now assisting the Pavstos Byuzand Street protesters.

Zhora Khachatryan, chief legal adviser to Armenia’s human rights ombudsman, said the urban renewal programme should have been designed so it did not infringe people’s rights.

The ombudsman’s office, which has received more than 200 complaints from residents, has responded to the protests by issuing a special report on property rights, agreeing that some homeowners who have been moved did not receive sufficient compensation.

It also believes the government’s actions are in violation of the constitution and claims that the courts are not protecting the population, since all judicial decisions have come down on the side of the government.

Not surprisingly, government officials disagree, saying that the project is essential and should therefore be given high priority.

"The refurbishment of the centre of Yerevan is a pressing task and, if the government does not have sufficient resources, it should be resolved with the help of private investors," Yerevan Mayor Yervand Zakharyan told a news conference.

Others, however, say that rebuilding downtown Yerevan does not constitute a special case.

"A case is exceptional if, God save us, a war starts or a terrorist attack is carried out,” said Vahe Grigoryan, a lawyer for one of the protesters. “Why are they rebuilding the centre of Yerevan where land is most expensive?”

“Let them think about improving remote villages. This is no exception. This is being done only to satisfy the government's financial needs."

The protesters, however, have lost all legal challenges to their eviction, with the courts agreeing with the government and citing “state need” for their properties as a legitimate reason to evict them. Their last hope is the Yerevan Court of Appeal, which is also scheduled to hear their challenge.

Despite the setbacks, the residents’ faith in the system has not disappeared completely. On the walls of many of the houses on Byazand Street hang photos of Armenian President Robert Kocharian and copies of Article 28 of the Armenian constitution, which describes citizens’ property rights.

Yerevan’s mayor has ordered a final round of consultations with the residents before the next stage of demolition on Byuzand Street begins. Neither side places much confidence in resolving the issue, however.

"We can offer them 10 per cent more, but not 70-80 per cent, as they are demanding," said Karen Davtyan of the construction committee.

Vahe Grigorian believes that the government is making a grave mistake by alienating the residents of Pavstos Byuzand Street. “You should understand that a beautiful building can be constructed in two years but, when people's trust in the rule of law is lost, many more years will be necessary to restore it,” he said.

Gegham Vardanian works for the Yerevan office of Internews.