|
Sovetski area, ten thousands apartments
“Sovetski” is located in the central part of Baku, in the Yasamal district. The area is is home mainly to poor inhabitants residing in small houses that often lack basic communal facilities. Although no concrete official numbers of population living in the area are available, officials estimate at least 10.000 inhabitants.
In January 2014, people were informed about an order issued by the Executive Power of Baku City on December 12 2013, intending to build a new park and to further “beautify” the area. This order stated that the “Sovetski” area would be completely demolished and all residents evicted in Baku from March 2014 onwards. All property owners in the area were offered a maximum of 1500 AZN per square meter for their property. The evictions have not yet been carried out, as there has been no official decision by the Cabinet of Ministers on the compulsory purchase of property.
On February 16 2014, following this announcement, local residents protested against the terms of the order, claiming that the compensation for the houses to be demolished is not equal to market value as required by law.10 In the wake of increasing demands by residents and further protests, the government declared that houses would be purchased on a voluntarily basis only. Residents, however, remain seriously concerned that they will be forced to sell their houses, which is what happened in other areas of the city where houses and utility lines were damaged as a result of demolitions of neighbouring houses.
According to the Ministry of Finance, more than 100 homeowners have already sold their houses to the government. The inhabitants who took part in the protests against the initial compensation offer have already faced pressure from the authorities. They have been summoned to the police department, and some have faced administrative detention of up to 30 days.
https://globalvoices.org/2024/07/04/a-year-after-environmental-protests-rocked-azerbaijans-village-of-soyudlu-it-is-business-as-usual/ | 
