Homes Demolished in Ashgabat

Turkmen people have large families, so some apartments may have six or eight people registered as living in them. When the resident of one such apartment received a visit from the hakimlik [city administration] and was informed that he and his family were to be evicted, he asked where they were to live now. The hakimlik representatives replied that for the moment, they would have to live with relatives or friends, but that in in time everyone would be provided with an apartment. When they asked how long they would have to wait, the hakimlik people gave an evasive answer, saying no one really knew.



Far from all residents are capable of finding temporary accommodation in such a short time. Many got angry and asked for a deferment of at least a month. But the security service officers who were present during these visits asked residents not to make a fuss but to behave calmly and discreetly. They also urged residents not to talk to anyone else about the terms of the eviction.



The next day, soldiers were brought in and began demolishing the roof of the apartment building, taking down fences from the front gardens and removing the cornices. On day three, the soldiers went round those apartments whose inhabitants had not yet moved out and began forcibly taking furniture and other items of property into the street.



An employee of the district administration promised residents on oath that they would definitely be provided with housing. In fact, they will at best be given a plot of land to build on - outside the city.



A month later, there is still no sign of the promised apartments, and there is no one to complain to, since the loss of housing has already theoretically been compensated for.



If residents refuse a plot of land offered to them - even if it is unsuitable for living on - a document will be drawn up stating that they have voluntarily renounced it.



Soviet-era residential areas in Ashgabat are being demolished overnight, and in their place Turkish firms are building luxury multi-storey blocks in white marble.



One Ashgabat resident whose house was demolished says he and his family have been living with his parents for two years now. At the city housing department, he regularly receives a chance to buy an apartment in one of these marble buildings at a ten per cent discount. But even with this discount, the cost of such an apartment is way beyond the means of the average Ashgabat resident.



Almost three-quarters of apartments in these buildings lie empty because of their unjustifiably high price. As a result, in the place of a residential area where several thousand people once lived, there are now three towering multi-storey blocks full of empty apartments.