In Armenia, march "Not to be destroyed" held

On June 14, in Yerevan, the union of NGOs "Save Yerevan" organized a rally to protect historical monuments. More than 100 participants of the rally under the slogan reading: "Not to be destroyed" marched along the streets of the Armenian capital of Armenia. The stopped near every historical monument, which had faced and continued to face a threat of destruction, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The activists began their march from the cultural and historical monument of national value the Afrikyan house and finished their march in front of the covered market in Mashtots Avenue. According to the activists, their participation in the march expresses their clear position on the issue of destruction of cultural and historical monuments in Yerevan.

Art historian Ruben Arevshatyan believes that it is difficult to specify the exact number of buildings under threat, since "their number is determined by the intensity of the social and political developments that take place in the republic and by the development of a new class which large appetites."

According to him, a similar phenomenon occurs not only in Armenia.

"This is one of the characteristics of the new liberal society that develops throughout the county," Ruben Arevshatyan has emphasized. He has added that the very social environment and the active civil society give rise to processes, aimed at protecting the urban spaces, to which people got accustomed.

Ruben Arevshatyan gave examples of buildings in the capital, which suffered damage. Among them, there is a sample of the architectural style of local art nouveau (French: art nouveau, it literally means "new art" artistic style in art, which was the most popular in the second half of the 19th the early 20th centuries, note of the "Caucasian Knot") the Afrikyan house, the buildings of the Stalin period, the summer theatre "Moscow" of the architecture of the 60s, the "Sevan" Hotel, and the building of the covered market.

"I've never seen a precedent of authentic restoration of buildings. Some elements of these buildings are used as structural materials to be encrusted in the new buildings. However, the configuration of the building has been changed, then it loses its value," the expert explains.

Grigor Gazaryan, a member of the initiative group "Our City", has emphasized that at present, apart from the Afrikyan house, the buildings of the Armenian community of cultural cooperation with foreign countries (ACCC), the "Ameriabank" and the covered market, active Yerevan residents are also concerned about the fate of the National Gallery.

"Developers go for all for the sake of one square meter. They ignore the history, culture and memory of the nation. They follow the principle: to demolish an old building, to build a new one and to sell it quickly. All that are backed by the commerce," Grigor Gazaryan believes.

Nona Danielyan, a resident of house No. 7 in Mashtots Street believes that Narek Sargsyan, Chief Architect of Yerevan, does not take into account the citizens' opinion.

"I appreciate the position of today's young people, who protect their own city," she has emphasized.

She has also added that shopping facilities in their yard, which were built on the place of the park, represent an example of incorrect planning in Yerevan. "Earlier, we used to breathe clean fresh air; however, at present, there are dust and dirt," Nona Danielyan says.

Setrak Bagdasaryan, Chairman of the Social Organization "Victims of Public Needs", a former resident of the house in Buzand Street, also took part in the march. In 2005, his house was demolished for construction of a high-rise building of the same place.

The man complains about the unlawful demolitions in the city, as a result of which people and the entire architecture of Yerevan suffer.

According to him, the state valued the house at the amount of 22,000 US dollars, and that amount was given in compensation with deduction of 10-percent income tax. He has noted that the money allowed purchasing an apartment only far from the capital, in the villages.

After losing all of the lawsuits in Armenia, Setrak Bagdasaryan appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which in November 2011 ruled that he was to be given an apartment of 116 square meters. However, the local authorities have failed to agree with him, and till present, the man has to rent an apartment.

It should be noted that not all Yerevan residents support the demands of the participants of the action.

In particular, Karine Akopyan, a resident of the house located near the covered market, is convinced that Samvel Alexanyan, the owner of the market, the deputy of the National Assembly of Armenia, will restore the market in its previous form.

According to her, the rumours that the market itself will cease to exist and the spread message about explosion occurred in the market on June 13, are "a provocation."