Authorities in Yerevan began demolishing an open-air market on Wednesday as part of a planned redevelopment of a surrounding old neighborhood in the city center strongly resisted by local residents and traders.
The market located just a few hundred meters from Yerevan’s central Republic Square has functioned since the early 1990s. Hundreds of people have sold cheap clothing and other consumer goods on the narrow Firdousi Street that cuts through the neighborhood made up of mostly old houses.
In 2007, the Armenian government allowed a private company to tear down the entire area and construct expensive office and apartment buildings there. The ensuing global financial crisis, which hit Armenia’s construction sector particularly hard, put those plans on hold. And the company called Glendale Hills went bankrupt two years ago.
Last year, the Yerevan Mayor’s Office announced that another private developer is now interested in the project and began preparations for the demolitions, sparking street protests from the owners of several dozen local houses. Market traders also joined the protests, saying that the municipality is depriving them of their livelihood.
The municipality offered the traders commercial space in other markets in Yerevan. Most of them rejected that offer, saying that they would have to pay higher rent and earn less revenue.
Municipality officials and workers sent by the still unknown developer met with fierce resistance from the traders on Wednesday morning when they arrived at the Firdousi Street market to start the demolitions. They overcame the resistance only after bringing in heavy machinery.
The traders protested angrily as their market stalls and small warehouses were bulldozed in the following hours. “Thank you for leaving our children’s parents without work,” cried one woman.
The Firdousi Street houses have been spared demolition for the time being. Their owners fear that the authorities are preparing the ground for forcing them to sell their homes at a fraction of their market value.“They are getting to us step by step,” one of them told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).
Some locals also complained that representatives of the construction company have still not visited them to discuss the amount of compensations that could be paid to them. The municipality has not even disclosed the company’s name so far.
Later on Wednesday, Armenia’s human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan, asked the municipality to suspend the demolitions until the traders are relocated to other markets.
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