Six students of the Hellenic Air Force Academy (three Greeks and three Cypriots) were arrested outside the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople last Saturday for holding Greek flags.

The students had been granted holiday leave for the Christmas holidays, but had not informed their service that they would be traveling abroad (especially to Turkey) and thus had not received the necessary approval.

When they arrived outside the temple and opened the flag, they were spotted by MIT officers and arrested for violating Turkish law on foreign symbols.

With diplomatic intervention, the students were released and returned to Greece, where they are awaiting disciplinary sanctions.