Mutual trust conquers taboos
Vassilis Petropoulos, 44, is general manager at Gelal Corap, one of the biggest sock manufacturers in Turkey. Petropoulos came to Istanbul in 2004, attracted by the possibility to «be a key player in the sector in Europe, with a potential for further growth,» he said. This, he explained, was an ideal opportunity for a committed career executive to lead an already healthy and reputable organization to a dominant position in the global marketplace. He has many good Turkish friends and his Turkish is improving by the day. «Turkish has so many common words with the Greek language, which makes it much easier,» he said. He lives with his wife and two sons in Florya and most enjoys living among Istanbul’s historical heritage. He finds the lifestyle almost the same in Turkey and Greece, he said. «In any case, Greeks and Turks have more things in common to bring us together than contradicting things to force us apart,» he said, referring to Greek-Turkish relations. «When it comes to work or business-related issues, the common efforts to reach targeted results and the mutual trust and qualities of interpersonal relations between the cooperating parties dominate any emotions or taboos,» he said.
