On April 30, 1991, the 2nd Division of the Soviet 4th Army, stationed in Gandzak (Kirovabad), besieged the villages of Getashen and Martunashen in the Khanlar region of the Azerbaijani SSR with the support of tanks, artillery and military aviation. Russian volunteers also took part in the operation. Hours later, the operation was followed by the entry of Azeri “volunteers” of the Special Forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan (OMON) into the mentioned villages. Under the pretext of checking the passport regime, the Azeris forcibly deported the residents of Armenian-populated villages by helicopters to Stepanakert or Kirovabad, and then to Armenia. Tatul Krpeyan, the head of the self-defense of the Getashen subregion, Arthur Karapetyan, Simon Achikgyozyan, who took over the command of the Arabo detachment on April 19, and Hrach Danielyan, the commander of the Hrazdan detachment, were killed in an unequal battle. The actions took a week. More than a dozen civilians were shot and axed (mostly elders). About a hundred OMON men were taken captive to Kirovabad. According to witnesses, from the very first day of the operation, thousands of residents of the surrounding Azerbaijani villages rushed to Getashen and Martunashen, began to plunder the property of Armenians.

Until today, the crimes and the atrocities in Getashen and Martunashen have not been properly assessed.