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Child injured in Ganja missile attack fulfills dream of meeting Azerbaijan’s President

Bakhtiyar Heydarli, a young survivor of the 2020 Ganja missile attack

29 September 2025 12:53 (UTC +04:00)

“I was very scared when a missile hit our home.”

This was said to APA by 10-year-old Bakhtiyar Heydarli, a resident of Ganja who was injured during the city’s bombing by Armenian armed forces in October 2020.

Bakhtiyar shared that his greatest wish had been to meet President Ilham Aliyev, a dream that came true yesterday at the opening of the 3rd CIS Games at the Ganja city stadium: “My biggest wish was to meet the President face-to-face. This wish came true yesterday. Mr. President really loves children, and I also liked him very much.”

He also spoke about the photo taken of him after the attack: “I saw the camera filming, so I started smiling. My uncle said maybe something happened to you, that’s why you’re smiling. They asked for my parents’ names and the number of people in my house. I answered everything correctly and said nothing happened to me.”

Fuad Nazimoglu

Azerbaijan Ganja missile attack 2020 child survivor Bakhtiyar Heydarli President Ilham Aliyev CIS Games children terrorism war victims human interest international news resilience recovery