Residents of Baku old town receive eviction orders amidst plans for new construction

The Baku municipal government has announced that according to a new general plan for the city, apartments considered too old and dilapidated are now subject to demolition. The government has offered to buy residential and commercial properties expected to be torn down.

Eviction notices have since been widely circulated on social media, with one post saying residents would be forced to leave their private properties.

Farida Ziyadova, a resident of Baku, wrote on social media that residents of Bayirshahar, located in the old city, were being pressured by the municipal government to leave their homes.

The pro-government media outlet Oxu.az reported that ‘water and sewage lines in an emergency condition will be demolished’ in parts of the old city, but added that ‘the calculation and payment of appropriate compensation will be ensured to the residents who will be relocated’.

The announcement, which was presented at a municipal meeting, said that in the historic centre of Baku, a special commission had been created as part of plans for new construction, which would buy residential and non-residential properties from their owners. The authorities have urged all residents to apply for compensation.

‘If they do not sell their flat or agree to the proposed price, utility services (electricity, gas, water) will be cut off, and their homes will be demolished when they are not at home’, Ziyadova claimed.

Such incidents have happened before in Baku.

In February, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered the Azerbaijani government to pay around €1.7 million ($1.8 million) in compensation for illegally demolishing a number of properties in central Baku in 2010 in order to create a new park.

In March, the construction company Melissa Group demolished a house in Baku’s Yasamal district while a resident was still inside. After the footage of the incident spread on social media, the foreman and driver of the excavator carrying out the demolition work were detained, as well as the head of the construction company.

In the footage shared online, a person is seen shouting and trying to stop the excavator from inside the house. After the excavator damaged the balcony on two sides of the house, the demolition was stopped. After this incident the owner told local media that his electricity, gas, and water were cut by the authorities in a bid to force him to leave his home.

A number of residents who have refused to leave their homes as part of the latest wave of evictions have said they were unsatisfied with the government’s appraisal of their property.

Aykhan Zayedzadeh, a researcher from Baku, said that addresses noted in the announcement were close to his own home.

‘It’s in the Taza Pir Mosque area, a little further from us. They offered the residents a very small amount of money. With the money they offered, they can buy a one-room house in the village of Sarai [outside of Baku], far away in Hokmali [far from the city centre]. These people have spent their entire lives here. It is their natural right not to want to move’, he said.

‘They will gradually come over to our side, and then terrible times will begin for me’, Zayedzadeh said.

Three detained after Baku house demolished with resident still inside

Yesterday, footage circulated on social media showing the demolition of a house while its residents were still physically inside.

OC MediaAytan Farhadova