Broken dreams in Armenia
Jul. 30, 2005. 01:00 AM
By Michael Mainville - Special to the Toronto Star
(Michael Mainville is a Canadian journalist based in Moscow.)
YEREVAN, Armenia—Naira Yeremyan knows her home doesn't look like much, but it's all she has.
A ramshackle collection of wooden boards, concrete slabs and mismatched bricks, it sits amid the winding streets of Kond, a desperately poor neighbourhood perched on a hilltop overlooking the Armenian capital, Yerevan.
[...]
The view has property developers salivating over the prospect of erecting luxury apartments in Kond. And that's the bane of Yeremyan's existence.
[...]
Three months ago, local authorities told the 14,000 residents of Kond they would have to vacate their homes by the end of the year to make way for modern housing. In exchange, they will be given payments of between $2,400 and $6,000.
"You cannot buy a house anywhere in Yerevan for that much. We are going to be homeless. They are throwing us out on the streets," says Yeremyan, who shares both the house and a monthly pension of about $30 with her 63-year-old mother.
[...]
Yeremyan has organized sit-ins, petitions and court challenges, but her protests have fallen on deaf ears. Those behind the project are among the wealthy businessmen who control much of Armenia's economy. Government connections let them operate as they please.
[...]
Kond is hardly unique. Armenians across the country face similar obstacles — crippling poverty, endemic corruption and powerlessness in the face of what critics say is an increasingly authoritarian government.
It wasn't supposed to be this way. When independence came after the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia seemed a dream come true for a people with a tragic history. [...] the world's 4 million-member Armenian diaspora finally had a national homeland. But instead of thriving, Armenia languished. [...]. The economy, though improving, is in shambles. Almost half the population lives on less than $2 a day.
The result has been a mass exodus — the reverse of early hopes for Armenia. Instead of hundreds of thousands of dispersed Armenians flocking to the country, more than 1 million have left for Russia and the West. According to some estimates, the country has lost more than 30 per cent of its working-age population.
[...]
"There is a huge gap between those in power and the majority of Armenian society," says Stepan Demirchian, the leader of the opposition Justice coalition [...].
In April 2004, inspired by the peaceful Rose Revolution in Georgia, tens of thousands of Armenians took to the streets to denounce Kocharian and voting fraud in 2003 elections. Kocharian called in police to break up the protest with stun grenades and water cannon.
[...]
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan says [...] he knows Armenia's democracy is not perfect, but believes it is improving.
"The government is stable and the country is on the path to becoming fully democratic," he says. "A lot has been done, but a lot remains to be done."
Under pressure from the West, Armenia will hold a national referendum this year on a package of constitutional amendments designed to limit the power of the presidency and protect judicial independence. Oskanyan says the reforms will be key to ensuring democratic growth.
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
By Michael Mainville - Special to the Toronto Star
(Michael Mainville is a Canadian journalist based in Moscow.)
YEREVAN, Armenia—Naira Yeremyan knows her home doesn't look like much, but it's all she has.
A ramshackle collection of wooden boards, concrete slabs and mismatched bricks, it sits amid the winding streets of Kond, a desperately poor neighbourhood perched on a hilltop overlooking the Armenian capital, Yerevan.
[...]
The view has property developers salivating over the prospect of erecting luxury apartments in Kond. And that's the bane of Yeremyan's existence.
[...]
Three months ago, local authorities told the 14,000 residents of Kond they would have to vacate their homes by the end of the year to make way for modern housing. In exchange, they will be given payments of between $2,400 and $6,000.
"You cannot buy a house anywhere in Yerevan for that much. We are going to be homeless. They are throwing us out on the streets," says Yeremyan, who shares both the house and a monthly pension of about $30 with her 63-year-old mother.
[...]
Yeremyan has organized sit-ins, petitions and court challenges, but her protests have fallen on deaf ears. Those behind the project are among the wealthy businessmen who control much of Armenia's economy. Government connections let them operate as they please.
[...]
Kond is hardly unique. Armenians across the country face similar obstacles — crippling poverty, endemic corruption and powerlessness in the face of what critics say is an increasingly authoritarian government.
It wasn't supposed to be this way. When independence came after the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia seemed a dream come true for a people with a tragic history. [...] the world's 4 million-member Armenian diaspora finally had a national homeland. But instead of thriving, Armenia languished. [...]. The economy, though improving, is in shambles. Almost half the population lives on less than $2 a day.
The result has been a mass exodus — the reverse of early hopes for Armenia. Instead of hundreds of thousands of dispersed Armenians flocking to the country, more than 1 million have left for Russia and the West. According to some estimates, the country has lost more than 30 per cent of its working-age population.
[...]
"There is a huge gap between those in power and the majority of Armenian society," says Stepan Demirchian, the leader of the opposition Justice coalition [...].
In April 2004, inspired by the peaceful Rose Revolution in Georgia, tens of thousands of Armenians took to the streets to denounce Kocharian and voting fraud in 2003 elections. Kocharian called in police to break up the protest with stun grenades and water cannon.
[...]
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan says [...] he knows Armenia's democracy is not perfect, but believes it is improving.
"The government is stable and the country is on the path to becoming fully democratic," he says. "A lot has been done, but a lot remains to be done."
Under pressure from the West, Armenia will hold a national referendum this year on a package of constitutional amendments designed to limit the power of the presidency and protect judicial independence. Oskanyan says the reforms will be key to ensuring democratic growth.
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 7:58 AM
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