BBC reports in May Azerbaijan will host the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time. But for hundreds of people who are being forced out of their homes to make way for a new concert hall being built in the capital Baku for the event, Eurovision is more about pain than pop. Read the whole story here.
Pensioner Natalya Alibekov tells: Last week a group of people turned up at her door. They did not show any identification or official documents, but told her she had to be out by New Year's Eve. Otherwise, they said, she will be physically thrown out of her home.
"They said you can't stand up against the government, you have no rights and no house," she said.
"It's horrible. We are all sick with worry and none of us can sleep. The building work means the house is shaking. It's like an earthquake. And the cranes and trucks are operating right through the night so it's impossible to sleep at all." Despite freezing winter temperatures, the authorities have now cut off the electricity, gas and water.
Well, what does it matter when Azerbaijan has to show Europe and the world a new great concert hall come May? They wanted Eurovision, they got it and now they will make most of it....
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