SOCAR advises tenants of houses demolished in Sulu-Tepe to sue local authorities

As stated by Eldar Orudjev, the head of the legal department of the Azerbaijani state-owned oil company SOCAR, residents of the dwelling area Sulu-Tepe of the township Khodjasan, Binagadi District of Baku, whose house are demolishing by the company, should go to court and seek compensations for their housing from local authorities and municipalities, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Mr Orudjev said that the SOCAR does not encroach on residents' ownership rights, but takes steps to ensure oil and gas operations in its territory; therefore, the tenants of the demolished houses should seek their compensations from the authorities, which had issued permits for construction in the territories belonging to the oil company.

Since late 1980s Sulu-Tepe was spontaneously built up by migrants from rural areas of Azerbaijan, and then - by forced resettlers from the Karabakh conflict zone; and turned into a township. The status of the territory remained undefined. On one part, it is referred to local authorities, on the other - the local oil fields were fixed on the balance sheet of the oil and gas extraction department (known as NGDU) "Binagadineft".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in late March this year, in Sulu-Tepe, over 20 houses were demolished, which eventually resulted in a clash of local residents with the employees of the state oil company. On April 6, the SOCAR's security service again used construction machinery to demolish houses in Sulu-Tepe, located, according to the company, in its territory and preventing the oil extraction. Local residents tried to defend their houses, which resulted in a scuffle.

Making his comments to reporters on the events on April 6, Eldar Orudjev has admitted that during the demolition the security staff of the SOCAR had used force.

"Those who have unnecessarily used force will be punished," promised the spokesman of the oil company.

Mr Orudjev has also refuted local residents' allegations that SOCAR people had allegedly extorted money from them in exchange for preservation of their houses, and threatened to sue those who "slander the oil company."

"We demolish only the houses that have just begun to be built; but we don't touch the long inhabited ones. There are people who are also trying to deceive us and start new constructions at night. But I want to state that we have photos from space satellites, and we know exactly the time, when every house was built," he said.

However, the SOCAR refused to demonstrate these aerospace photos to journalists, citing no need of public dissemination of these photos.

Over the past two weeks, about 25 houses were demolished in Sulu-Tepe, said Idrak Abbasov, an employee of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) and an eyewitness of the events. According to his story, they formally do not touch old houses, and demolish only the ones in construction.

"But the point is that, as a rule, people move in while the construction is in progress. For example, as soon as a room, a small kitchen and a bathroom are ready, people move in and then finish the house step by step. Therefore, people were just thrown out of some of the houses; and they have to live with their relatives," said Abbasov.

"There're no cases, when people build their houses without permits; they all have some documents - from the district executive power, a local municipality and so on. And they got these documents for some unofficial payments," he said.

At the same time, local authorities keep asserting that the district administration had issued no building permits at all; therefore, it is unlikely that people will be able to sue the municipality, as the SOCAR advises.

"Let those who have documents of ownership of their houses present them; and their houses won't be demolished," said Isa Adygezalov, a representative of the executive power of the Binagadi District, addressing reporters at the meeting.