The Greek Education and Culture Attaché in Istanbul, Stauros Gioltzoglou, in a shot at Germans who want Greeks to work harder – although statistics show they work more than their German counterparts already – said there’s more to life than just work.
“Are we here in this world just to work?” he asked and continued saying “We live for 60-70 years, at most 80 years, let’s say”, to complain about the lack of leisure time in today’s society. According to a press statement from the University, while criticizing Germans he said: “Germans say Greeks are lazy. They work 330 days and come to our country on vacation for 30 days. Will I work for bankers? Where else could I find a pleasure like drinking a coffee with a Turkish friend on the Bosphorus?”
As hurriyetdailynews reports, Mr. Gioltzoglou wasn’t ready to comment regarding that the German Chancellor Angela Merkel has become a “hate figure” in Greece because of the tough austerity measures imposed on Greece in return for promised loans and debt relief.
“Some 120,000 people demonstrated in Greece when Gen. Kenan Evren staged a coup in 1980. Democracy in the grass roots of Greece”, the Greek Attaché said regarding the strikes and the demonstrations organized by the Greek people.
Stauros Gioltzoglou referred to his surname origins, saying that it comes from his grandfather in the northern city of Samsun, who had migrated during a population exchange.