Crossword Genius

EU dismissed by unsuitable, old capital (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

istanbul

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'unsuitable old capital' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both locations as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?

'eu dismissed' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'dismissed' could be 'st' and 'st' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'by' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for istanbul that I've seen before include "Take the Latin bus out to Turkey" , "Former capital of Turkey, once Constantinople" , "European city" , "Turkey's largest city" , "Catch the Latin bus out to Turkey" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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