Turks enjoy themselves like Greeks
Antonis Mouzas, 43, is deputy general manager of Millennium Bank Turkey. Mouzas’s move to Turkey was a natural step for someone who works for a multinational bank, he said. Millennium Bank operates in many countries in Europe and in the United States. The bank has 18 branches in Turkey. He moved to Istanbul in November 2006 after the bank, which he worked for in Athens, proposed the move. He considers Turkey a growing country with great potential. After a year in Turkey, Mouzas is happy about his decision. «I like Istanbul very much: the Turkish food, there are a lot of beautiful places here and people go out very often and enjoy themselves like in Greece,» he said. «Turks’ behavior resembles that of Greeks sometimes,» he said. «I think the feelings between Turkish and Greek people in general are very positive,» said Mouzas. «I frequently speak with people like taxi drivers, people I meet accidentally, and most of them feel like ‘komsu,’ neighbors, since they used to live together and they want to find a way of better communication, to increase business and relationships in general,» he explained. «Many people in Greece feel the same, especially people who have visited Turkey.» His Turkish, for now, allows him to get by and he can «communicate to cover basic issues and needs, like in restaurants, finding an apartment, shopping and basic discussions,» he says. Most of the Turks he meets ask him for advice on what places they should visit in Greece. They also ask him to compare Greece and Turkey.
