Kuwait Times

Published Date: 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,  newspapers reported Saturday.

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, Hayes admitted that the image the movie created  of Turkey and the Turkish people "was not fair to them or true to my experience."

"I did not write the screenplay or direct the film, but I should  accept my share of responsibility for the damage it has done," he  was quoted as telling reporters Friday.  "I always wanted to come back to Istanbul to correct the wrongs that 'Midnight Express' did," he said.

Hayes had been barred from returning to Turkey but police said the ban had been lifted temporarily because he was "sincere in his remorse".

The movie, which depicts a dreadful life in a Turkish prison with horrific scenes of torture and rape, has been denounced in Turkey as a racist portrayal of the country, in which every local character, without exception, is depicted as a villain.

Even though torture was widespread in Turkish jails at the time, Stone has been criticized for having taken some questionable liberties in the screenplay with regard to Hayes' book.  Stone also visited Istanbul in 2004 and said he "never intended to be against Turkey" and that "perhaps some of the zealousness... came from being young and trying to make the point too much."

"Midnight Express" was banned in Turkey for many years after its release and was shown on Turkish television only in the 1990s.- AFP