Şafak Bekçileri

Watchmen of the Dawn is about the lives of pilots in the Turkish air force based in the mid-Anatolian town Eskisehir. The lives of these pilots are full of danger. Göksel (literally means the ethereal) is a young pilot with Faruk as his best friend and Aydan, a female lieutenant in the air base, as his platonic love interest. After his plane crashes, Göksel takes a 15-day leave of absence and visits his parents in Istanbul. There he meets a young girl named Zeynep. After a short romance, Göksel goes back to the air base in Eskisehir. The air base also acts as a school for the poor soldiers serving their compulsory military conscription. The presence of the officers disturb local politicians and especially Kadir Aga, the owner of most of the farming land and the people who live on it. The hatred is mutual. The officers hate Kadir Aga as well and fly over his farm to disturb him frequently. One day during a routine flight, Göksel parachutes and falls on a tree on Kadir Aga’s land. Aga’s daughter, Zeynep, who turns out to be Goksel’s love interest in Istanbul saves Göksel. The couple secretly meets fearing rumor and Kadir Aga’s intervention. Yet Zeynep is engaged to the son of a local conservative right-wing politician. After a fight Göksel beats Zeynep’s fiance, Kerim, and Aga accepts their relationship. Zeynep wants to get married and she asks Goksel to quit the air force. Reluctantly Goksel agrees to the misery of Aydan and bitter criticism of his colleagues. As Göksel is about to get married, he is called to duty for a dangerous spy mission across the border.