It will be tiring for me, but it is worth it.The film, which received a record amount of support from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, was shot over two years in harsh conditions on location in Safranbolu, Van and Istanbul, Turkey.

[4] During the Battle of Sarikamish, the Ottoman army runs out of ammunition and appeals for help to the people of Van, who happen to have supplies.

The film went on general release, with what Emrah Güler described as, an aggressive (and unnecessarily nationalistic) marketing campaign, in 179 screens across Turkey on February 15, 2008 (2008-02-15) at number one in the Turkish box office with an opening weekend gross of US$376,812.

[5] Despite the tone of the press release and the trailer... [it is] attracting impressive crowds thanks to rising nationalism, fueled by, among many things, the debates around the Armenian issue, [the film] is very careful not to become another tool for mindless propaganda in the recent nationalist discourses.

It reminds us that the milestones forming the Turkish Republic were achieved with great personal and social sacrifice under the harshest of conditions, where disease and poverty had already overcome Anatolia.

Throughout our childhood and youth, we are always taught how painstakingly difficult and laborious it was to declare independence to create modern Turkey, and yes, sometimes we hear it to too many times for own good.