‘If they want to seize an area, they’ll put the public interest underneath, go in and take it.’ Firduz resident

Residents of the Firduz neighborhood staged another protest in front of the government today, June 8. One of the residents told reporters that a court session regarding their issue was held yesterday, which was difficult to call a court session; it rather resembled a conversation on the street.

“Judge Murad Hovakimyan listened intently to the claimant, while ignoring the respondent. The judge, with a brazen demeanor, said, ‘I will do it anyway.’ How can you do it? Are we living in a bastion of democracy, or in a dictatorial country? We will not back down; we will fight to the end. You have put the public interest into play, but this is done for the benefit of one person, they even close the metro for this. What is the public interest here? We are told that we are doing well and we will act. Well, we say, you will see what each of us will do.

If the government turns a blind eye to all this, it will lead to irreparable incidents, as if we see that they are unpunished, we will go into self-defense. Then don’t say this or that is illegal. You are not adhering to any law. We will protect our property in our own way—with clubs and stones. We want Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to hear us and respond to us. We are told that the interests of 1-2 people cannot be more important than the interests of the community, but you are lying, you are rendering the community homeless while serving the interests of one person. You are seizing property from the owners. All those involved in these illegalities must be held accountable,” he said.

The resident noted that the so-called public interest was invented to seize desired areas from property owners. “If they want to seize an area, they’ll put the public interest underneath, go in and take it. They have created the public interest so that they free themselves from the market price and the owner’s wish, calculate their desired price and take it.”

It is noteworthy that the Firduz neighborhood in central Yerevan was first declared a public interest in 2008, and the same decision was reaffirmed on March 22, 2018, just a month before the “velvet revolution.” The development of the neighborhood is planned to be completed in 2023-2024. According to the construction project, the new Firduz neighborhood will have both residential buildings as well as hotels and business centers. It should be noted that back in 2015, the government received compensation based on public interest, but some residents consider the compensation level disproportionate and refuse to leave their homes.