In the harsh times of the small time crime in Istanbul, a conscientious police officer Cumali is recognized by the police chief Ziver Bey who sees Cumali as a threat and matches him with Sekerpare, a famous harlot.
An urban Turkish teacher is transferred for political reasons to a backward Kurdish village in the mountains near the Iranian border. He is welcomed with distrust, but during that harsh year the mutual cultural misunderstandings fade away.