"'Midnight Express' man returns to Turkey to mend fences
Monday, June 18, 2007
Billy Hayes, the American whose ordeal in a Turkish jail provided the basis for the 1978 classic "Midnight Express," has returned to Turkey in a bid to mend fences over the damage the movie caused to the country's image abroad. In 1970, Hayes, then aged 23, was caught at an Istanbul airport trying to smuggle hashish and sentenced to 30 years. He managed to escape from jail and the book he wrote about his ordeal was adapted into a screenplay by Oliver Stone and the movie, directed by Alan Parker, won two Oscars.Back in Istanbul after three decades to attend an international security conference in Ceylan Hotel, Hayes admitted that the image the movie created of Turkey and the Turkish people "was not fair to them or true to my experience.""
More:'Midnight Express' man returns to Turkey to mend fences - Turkish Daily News Jun 18, 2007
