Northern Avenue under construction
One of the best immediate benefits to Armenia joining a number of European bodies after independence was their agreement to join the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). This article in the Armenian Weekly is about the residents who used to live in the very heart of central Yerevan. Their homes were taken with eminent domain in order to build the Northern Avenue – a pedestrian bulevard connecting the Opera to Republic Square.
Most of the homes were very dilapidated, due to the fact that for about 75 years they had been slated for demolition in order to build this street. It took a while, but the residents knew the day would come. The problem was not so much in the taking of the property, but rather the problem was that the compensation for their land was for most residents unconscionably low. Instead of their home and land in the center of the city, they couldn’t even buy an apartment in the center with the money they received, they had to move far from their neighbors, shops, friends, etc. The buyers of the land were developers who were building luxury shops and apartments, selling at prices never before seen in Armenia. If they had given the previous owners of the land fair market value, or had given them equivalent apartments in the new buildings, I don’t think anyone would have complained.
Well most didn’t get anywhere near market value and some of them took their case to court. The Armenian court of course ruled against them, but they took it further to the European Court. The ruling is in, and the government must give additional compensation to the owners of the land that was eminent domained.
I remember reading how a Greek Cypriot woman sued Turkey in the ECHR for the loss of her land in Northern Cyprus. She won, and it was a great day for justice. The ECHR is now also helping Armenians get justice in their own country. It’s a shame they need to resort to this, but thank goodness this outlet exists. It will continue to provide justice to those in Armenia who cannot get it in their own courts – and hopefully over time shame the Armenian government and courts into providing justice themselves, rather than lose their cases in Europe.
I understand they got between 5000 and 40,000 Euros while they were claiming over 200,000 Euros(am I correct). It wasn’t clear in the report I read whether that included their costs for taking this action or if there was an additional payment to cover these costs.
In either case, with the amounts they have now received, they would not get anywhere near the cost of an appartment in any of those buildings. Correct?
It’s not in the least bit clear to me what the numbers were that were being asked, that were given originally, or what total amount is now received. I just know the ECHR gave them more than before.