Midnight Express 2026: EU indifferent to European tourists in Turkish prison

The shadow of Alan Parker’s Midnight Express has returned to Istanbul. For the last three weeks, two Greeks, a woman and a man, are being held captive in a Turkish prison, victims of a legal system and a state that can transform symbolic blunders into unforgivable crimes. The track record of how arbitrary Turkish justice is in practice echoes loudly as the days pass without a resolution, while both Athens and Brussels are shockingly silent and absent.

So what did those people do? Well, the offence of the two cousins was unfolding and briefly holding a Greek flag featuring an Eastern Roman two-headed eagle in the Hagia Sophia on April 9. Their act was undoubtedly a clumsy and unnecessary provocation in a sensitive religious space, but the Turkish response has moved far beyond the realm of justice into the dark theatre of hostage diplomacy. What should have been a minor police matter, has gone out of hand.

Let us be clear: The couple was not justified in what they did. You do not enter a mosque – regardless of its Byzantine identity – to perform a political stunt. It was a failure of judgment, an amateurish move that lacked both respect and common sense. They should have known better. One does not defend heritage by engaging in silly provocations. Especially in Turkey.

Still, a sane neighbour, or a state interested in actual justice, would have simply deported them. They would have been escorted to the border and sent home with a lesson uncomfortably learned. Instead, Ankara has chosen to hold them on charges of “inciting public hatred”, a vague, generic legal provision used to punish perceived enemies of the state. This deliberate overreaction is much more of a political move than law enforcement.

The most disturbing element of this saga, however, is not the Turkish bullying, but the embarrassing paralysis of Greece and the EU, from where the captive couple comes.

The Greek government’s response has so far been pathetic. While the families plead for help, Athens delivers practical lessons in spineless diplomacy. We are told that “consular assistance” is being provided – the diplomatic equivalent of a friendly pat on the back. Instead of a robust defence of Greek nationals abroad, we get bureaucratic underplay – possibly to appease the Sultan into not condemning the couple now awaiting trial, but still quite disappointing indeed.

At the same time, where is the “European Solidarity” we hear so much about in speeches at our leaders’ summits? Shouldn’t have someone in Brussels taken notice and acted? We are told that we belong to a powerful union of strong nations ready to respond to any offender and stand up to historical challenges. Yet that very union seems indifferent to protecting its own people in lesser circumstances, such as in this judicial kidnapping.

Ironically, just days ago, Emmanuel Macron was in Athens, pledging that France would stand by Greece in the face of any threat. He spoke of a Europe that protects its own. He painted a picture of a Mediterranean guarded by European collective ideals and French military might. But if the European Union cannot protect two ordinary citizens, what hope is there for its collective security? Real power is measured by the ability to stand by the individual, not just by signing grand, multi-billion dollar defence contracts.

Of course, this is by no means France’s fault. First and foremost, it is a disgrace for Athens. And then it is Brussels that is silent, apparently unwilling to risk a diplomatic rift with Ankara over the minor matter of two Greeks in an Istanbul cell. This is all a shameful display of weakness. A state, or a union of states, that does not fight for its people and just sits there watching them disappear into the shadows, eventually loses the moral right to lead them.

If Athens cannot find the spine to protest, then Brussels must. A union that claims to be a global power but cannot secure the deportation of two tourists caught holding a flag in a mosque, is much less credible than it wants to appear. We must demand them back, even through hard leverage. No action now for Konstantina’s and Michalis’s Midnight Express will signal to all EU citizens that the words “European Union” on their passports are in fact rather hollow.