Yusuf Miroğlu and Zeynep travel to Diyarbakır in southeast Turkey to attend his best friend Cemal's wedding. While performing the traditional halay dance at the wedding, Cemal is killed by an assassin. Cemal's widowed wife Leyla pleads Yusuf to find the people behind the murder and bring them to justice. Yusuf finds himself caught in a struggle against the PKK and other terrorist groups in the area.

Garip Bülbül is about the life story of the great bard Neşet Ertaş. Neşet Ertaş, who signed 400 records and many cassettes throughout his life, wrote many poems under the pen name "Garip". The film tells the unknowns about both the private and career life of Neşet Ertaş, who passed away in 2012.