Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ASHGABAT387
2006-04-17 04:52:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:
BLOW YOUR HOUSE DOWN: CONTINUED DESTRUCTION OF
how-toVZCZCXRO4569 RR RUEHDBU DE RUEHAH #0387/01 1070452 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 170452Z APR 06 FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7196 INFO RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY ALMATY 5386 RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK 2850 RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 0017 RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT 4945 RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1622
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000387
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM TX
SUBJECT: BLOW YOUR HOUSE DOWN: CONTINUED DESTRUCTION OF
ASHGABAT'S NEIGHBORHOODS
REF: ASHGABAT 260
Sensitive but Unclassified - Please Handle Accordingly.
--------
Summary
--------
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000387
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM TX
SUBJECT: BLOW YOUR HOUSE DOWN: CONTINUED DESTRUCTION OF
ASHGABAT'S NEIGHBORHOODS
REF: ASHGABAT 260
Sensitive but Unclassified - Please Handle Accordingly.
--------------
Summary
--------------
1. (SBU) While Ashgabat's main streets continue to resemble a
large construction site in pursuit of President Niyazov's
campaign to "transform" the city, several of Ashgabat's
neighborhoods tell a different story. There, residents
continue to receive little notice before being forced out of
their homes to make way for the latest planned construction
project. The GOTX claims to have a master plan for
construction activities; however, anecdotal accounts suggest
that Niyazov's decisions to destroy certain neighborhoods are
largely arbitrary. End Summary.
--------------
Only God and Turkmenbashy Know
--------------
2. (SBU) On April 11, Poloff and Pol-Econ Assistant visited a
neighborhood near the DCM's residence, where many of the
homes are in the process of being destroyed. Post
understands that Niyazov may have decided to raze the
neighborhood as he drove past it one day on the way to open a
new power plant (reftel). Among the remains of several other
houses, emboffs observed eight men with sledgehammers
destroying the roof of one house, while nearby a large
tractor was tearing down the wall surrounding a second
residence. The homeowners, including one who was visibly
pregnant, said that they had been given about one month's
notice before they had to start destroying the homes. Both
women said that the families were paying to destroy their own
homes and remove the debris so that they could salvage the
construction materials, and that they would have nowhere to
go once demolition was complete.
3. (SBU) Shortly after emboffs' arrival at the demolition
site, a local government official appeared on the scene and
ordered the homeowners to stop talking and get back to work.
Pol-Econ Assistant overheard the official tell one of the
women that he would call the police if demolition of her
house did not proceed faster. The local official told
emboffs that a new "Ruhnama University" and medical institute
would be built on the site, and that displaced residents
would be compensated with land near the Tolkuchka Bazaar. He
responded to emboffs' question about future removal of other
homes in the area by saying that "only God and the President
know" if they will be destroyed.
4. (SBU) One of DCM's neighbors told her on April 15 that
though all residents of the neighborhood had received
eviction notices on the president's birthday in February,
when residents went to local authorities for clarification
they were told demolition was postponed "indefinitely."
"Maybe by months, maybe by years," an official reportedly
told them. According to DCM's neighbor, the president
apparently changed his mind to tear down the whole
neighborhood and proceeded with ordering just the most
visible houses standing on a small bluff be torn down. "He
goes little by little," the neighbor said, "he'll tear down
ten houses to see if there is any reaction, but won't risk
tearing down hundreds at a time." The neighbor was speaking
specifically of DCM's neighborhood were the once influential
residents received their plots directly from the president.
Other neighborhoods without these connections have been torn
down in their entirety.
--------------
Comment
--------------
5. (SBU) A few residents admitted to emboffs that they had
originally received land in the area to build dachas and grow
crops. However, they claimed that the GOTX had informally
told them they could build homes in the area and that they
would receive documentation of this decision in the future.
Instead, many have gotten nothing more than an eviction
notice and vague promises of land elsewhere in the city.
Meanwhile, nearby construction continues on a large home
nearby reportedly belonging to the head of the Ministry of
National Security. As much as anything else, this
ASHGABAT 00000387 002 OF 002
demonstrates the arbitrary nature of GOTX construction
policy. In many respects, Ashgabat is turning into a
visually striking and impressive city. However, we should
not lose sight of the fact that the gleaming white marble
buildings are constructed on top of ground taken from
ordinary citizens who benefit little, if at all, from the
GOTX's drive to "transform" Ashgabat into a "modern" city.
End Comment.
JACOBSON
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM TX
SUBJECT: BLOW YOUR HOUSE DOWN: CONTINUED DESTRUCTION OF
ASHGABAT'S NEIGHBORHOODS
REF: ASHGABAT 260
Sensitive but Unclassified - Please Handle Accordingly.
--------------
Summary
--------------
1. (SBU) While Ashgabat's main streets continue to resemble a
large construction site in pursuit of President Niyazov's
campaign to "transform" the city, several of Ashgabat's
neighborhoods tell a different story. There, residents
continue to receive little notice before being forced out of
their homes to make way for the latest planned construction
project. The GOTX claims to have a master plan for
construction activities; however, anecdotal accounts suggest
that Niyazov's decisions to destroy certain neighborhoods are
largely arbitrary. End Summary.
--------------
Only God and Turkmenbashy Know
--------------
2. (SBU) On April 11, Poloff and Pol-Econ Assistant visited a
neighborhood near the DCM's residence, where many of the
homes are in the process of being destroyed. Post
understands that Niyazov may have decided to raze the
neighborhood as he drove past it one day on the way to open a
new power plant (reftel). Among the remains of several other
houses, emboffs observed eight men with sledgehammers
destroying the roof of one house, while nearby a large
tractor was tearing down the wall surrounding a second
residence. The homeowners, including one who was visibly
pregnant, said that they had been given about one month's
notice before they had to start destroying the homes. Both
women said that the families were paying to destroy their own
homes and remove the debris so that they could salvage the
construction materials, and that they would have nowhere to
go once demolition was complete.
3. (SBU) Shortly after emboffs' arrival at the demolition
site, a local government official appeared on the scene and
ordered the homeowners to stop talking and get back to work.
Pol-Econ Assistant overheard the official tell one of the
women that he would call the police if demolition of her
house did not proceed faster. The local official told
emboffs that a new "Ruhnama University" and medical institute
would be built on the site, and that displaced residents
would be compensated with land near the Tolkuchka Bazaar. He
responded to emboffs' question about future removal of other
homes in the area by saying that "only God and the President
know" if they will be destroyed.
4. (SBU) One of DCM's neighbors told her on April 15 that
though all residents of the neighborhood had received
eviction notices on the president's birthday in February,
when residents went to local authorities for clarification
they were told demolition was postponed "indefinitely."
"Maybe by months, maybe by years," an official reportedly
told them. According to DCM's neighbor, the president
apparently changed his mind to tear down the whole
neighborhood and proceeded with ordering just the most
visible houses standing on a small bluff be torn down. "He
goes little by little," the neighbor said, "he'll tear down
ten houses to see if there is any reaction, but won't risk
tearing down hundreds at a time." The neighbor was speaking
specifically of DCM's neighborhood were the once influential
residents received their plots directly from the president.
Other neighborhoods without these connections have been torn
down in their entirety.
--------------
Comment
--------------
5. (SBU) A few residents admitted to emboffs that they had
originally received land in the area to build dachas and grow
crops. However, they claimed that the GOTX had informally
told them they could build homes in the area and that they
would receive documentation of this decision in the future.
Instead, many have gotten nothing more than an eviction
notice and vague promises of land elsewhere in the city.
Meanwhile, nearby construction continues on a large home
nearby reportedly belonging to the head of the Ministry of
National Security. As much as anything else, this
ASHGABAT 00000387 002 OF 002
demonstrates the arbitrary nature of GOTX construction
policy. In many respects, Ashgabat is turning into a
visually striking and impressive city. However, we should
not lose sight of the fact that the gleaming white marble
buildings are constructed on top of ground taken from
ordinary citizens who benefit little, if at all, from the
GOTX's drive to "transform" Ashgabat into a "modern" city.
End Comment.
JACOBSON