Greeks and Turks united by the crisis

Photo: Australian Library. Greek migrants

Lucas Farioli / Istanbul

Long time after the traumatic exchange of population between Turkey and Greece, just few decades ago, Greek workers moved to Germany and the UK when Greek economic situation couldn’t make their country to meet their essential standard of living. Turkey at that time was an unthinkable option.
But new wave of recession that is striking the country and its disastrous consequences has diverted the search beyond the confines of Western Europe and now also includes old enemy's Turkey.
According surces from Turkish Daily Hürriyet tons of requests from unemployed Greek citizens are being sent to the Greek consulate in Istanbul and Greek-Turkish Chamber of Northern Greece at Thessalonica. The tendency is increasing dramatically over the past few months.
Yiannis Karkanis, a diplomat of the Greek consulate spoke to the Sunday's Greek daily Kathimerini:
"At this time last year, we didn’t receive a single request for work. They started coming at the beginning of this year and have increased gradually".
"Most of the Greeks who approach to us are married couples and heads of families. The vast majority of them has not special skills, nor do they have any knowledge of Turkish language, but still they look for a job as a laborer in Turkey starting with salaries as low as 300€ a month. They totally desperate and willing to go to a country they are totally unfamiliar to".
In Greek-Turkish Chamber in Thessalonica the situation is totally different. The people who apply for working in Turkey there are highly educated, have university degrees and post-graduate degrees and their knowledge of the Turkish language is good. “It is shocking that so many Greeks speak Turkish as the Turkish departments of language schools are blooming” an unidentified source from the Greek diplomacy told to Turkish Daily Hürriyet.
Greek unemployed Medea Tsartsidou, 29, has been trying to find a job in Greece for the last six years. As she graduated from Balkan Studies and has worked sporadically as a translator for businesses working in Turkey, she considers the possibility of moving to Istanbul.
"The potential for finding a stable job in Greece is losing ground. But now with the crisis, all hope is simply gone,” Tsartsidou said.
Citizens of Archrivals Turkey and Greece are to bury down their differences as blooming Turkish economy is in need of qualified and cheap Greek labor. The return to beloved Constantinople is an ideal excuse to leave behind old and meaningless quarrels.