The Greek army, which began to retreat in the final stages of the War of Independence, announced that a meeting would be held at the Arıkbaşı Village train station on September 4, 1922, and that everyone was invited. At the behest of local Greeks, the Arıkbaşı residents did not attend. On September 4, the Greeks held a dinner meeting, arrested 15 young men there, and martyred them by burning them alive in a livestock barn across from the train station. (A monument was erected in memory of these martyrs at the scene, and a commemoration ceremony is held every year on September 4th.) Arıkbaşı residents like Gang İlyas and Gang Arif intervened, albeit belatedly, and Arıkbaşı was liberated from enemy occupation.

According to another account, on the day the Greek army evacuated Bayındır, they gave the Village Headman Hüseyin Cansız a list of those who needed to be located and began rounding up the wanted individuals one by one. At night on September 4th, the troops preparing to leave Bayındır: They gathered villagers from Çırpıköy and Arıkbaşı and herded them into an old warehouse in front of the Çırpıköy Police Station. They shot two of the four people who tried to escape, but the other two managed to escape. The Greeks then set fire to this old warehouse, and, unfortunately, 18 people, except for two who survived with minor injuries, were burned to death.