[4] After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the statue and the amusement park facilities were removed[5] and the location was reinstated as a burial site for national heroes.

[6] The first buried at the newly instated memorial were those who had died during the Black January events[7] of 1990 when Soviet forces invaded Baku.

[10] The memorial contains a hexagonal block clad in red granite; each face contains a pure white marble crescent-star, based on those in the Turkish national flag.

The Parliament of Azerbaijan, on the initiative of President Aliyev, subsequently agreed to erect a national monument in memory of Azerbaijani martyrs.

On August 5, 1998, President Aliyev issued an order to erect an Eternal Flame monument in the Alley of Martyrs with funding of 2 billion AZN.

The first tomb in the entrance of Martyrs' Lane belongs to married couple Fariza and Ilham Allahverdiyev, who died during Black January.