Photo exhibition dedicated to Azerbaijan’s mine victims opens in central Munich square
Baku, September 27, AZERTAC
On September 26, an open-air photo exhibition dedicated to Azerbaijani citizens, who have become victims of mine explosions, was arranged in Karlsplatz square in the heart of Munich, Germany.
The photo exhibition, launched within the framework of the “Culmination Point of Danger” project, was implemented by the “Gilavar” Photo Club Public Union with a donation from the Agency for State Support to NGOs of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The NGO’s German partner for the project was the Munich Azerbaijanis Cultural Center.
The exhibition showcased over 20 photos, including human stories and statistics on mine victims, with each image depicting a humanitarian tragedy of the whole nation, not just an individual incident. For additional details on the mine victims, Munich residents could use a QR code attached to the photos.
The experiences of mine victims were conveyed to participants through several moving personal messages, including: “I lost my leg, but not my hope!”, “I was a doctor, I was saving people who fell into mines. I fell into mines myself,” and “The mine I played with as a toy at the age of 11 took away my childhood.” Messages like “I stepped on an anti-tank mine... I understand the feelings of a young man who lost both legs” underscored the profound sacrifice. Visitors, in turn, wrote their sincere feelings to the victims on an appropriate board.
Rashad Mehdiyev, Chairman of the “Gilavar” Photo Club Public Union, shared his personal experience, saying that in 2021, while moving toward the village of Susuzlug in the Kalbajar district, he and his comrades fell into an anti-tank mine planted by Armenia, and he survived only by chance. He added that the tragic incident claimed the lives of three people performing their official duties with him—Siraj Abishov (TV cameraman), Maharram Ibrahimov (journalist), and Arif Aliyev (local executive authority employee)—while four others received injuries of varying degrees.
The exhibition provided information on the consequences of Armenia's mine war, reporting that the number of mine victims in Azerbaijan has reached over 3400, of whom 409 were injured by mines and unexploded ordnance between 2020 and 2025, with mine incidents tragically claiming 71 lives during this same five-year period. Despite political pressure leading Armenia to hand over certain mine maps, only 25% were accurate. For this reason, the Gilavar Photo Club urgently called on Armenia to hand over accurate mine maps to Azerbaijan.
The event stressed that the mine problem is global in scope. Azerbaijan has already designated humanitarian demining as the 18th National Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), and it's currently striving for this issue to be adopted as the 18th UN Sustainable Development Goal.
The Munich photo exhibition is a significant step, calling for global mobilization to combat the landmine problem and its resulting disasters.
It is the first time an Azerbaijani NGO has organized such an exhibition in Germany. The Gilavar Photo Club Public Union intends to launch this exhibition in other European cities as well.
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