Initially , the Turkish Minister of State, said that the Turkish government would oppose the film as much as possible. However the Turkish government had given permission for the film to run in Turkey as it was, at the time, trying to increase freedom of expression so Turkey could join the European Union. Belge Film had permission from the Turkish government to release the film in Turkey itself, but opted not to when nationalists pledged to "take action". It ran on the Turkish TV station Kanaltürk four years later.