In early 1988, Kirovabad or known by Armenians as Gandzak (present-day Ganja), was the second largest town in Azerbaijan. Here lived about 45,000 Armenians out of its population of about 270,000. Atrocities against the Armenians of Kirovabad started on November 21, 1988 and continued in the days following. Armenians defended and protected themselves against the violence, until Soviet troops entered the town. Rather than stopping the violence, Soviet troops escorted deportations of Armenians from the city. By November 1989, there were no Armenians left in Kirovabad.
A second khachkar is dedicated to the memory of the Armenians victims killed in the Kirovabad violence.