Cyprus-Forum.com

[MrH]

Don’t worry Glafcos, you’re not alone

By Loucas Charalambous Published on May 9, 2010

IN 1964, Glafcos Clerides was widely quoted as having uttered a phrase that was regularly brought up and used against him in the ensuing 10 years.

The phrase was: “I am ashamed to be Greek.”
What was peculiar is that none of his outraged critics (one of whom was Nicos Sampson and his paper Machi) was able to produce any information as to where and when this unacceptable sentiment was expressed. Nevertheless, whoever want to have a dig at Clerides back in those days would start by referring to him as “the man who is ashamed to be Greek”.
Another peculiar thing about this story is that, at the time, Clerides did not deem it necessary to explain in what context and why he had expressed the offending phrase. Many years later, it became known that he expressed this to a close circle of people in August 1964, in relation to the bombing of Tylliria by the Turkish air force. In effect, he was expressing his bitterness over the fact that Greece had let down Cyprus by not sending its own air force to stop the Turks.

Why do I mention this story? Because I started feeling ashamed of being Greek a few weeks ago when I saw a graphic in Simerini illustrating how much money Greece would be loaned by its partners in the eurozone. This showed a map of Europe, with 12 arrows, each starting from the capital of a eurozone country and all pointing to Athens. At the base of each arrow was a small circle inside which was written the amount of money that the country had undertaken to give Greece as part of the rescue package. Germany would give €8.4 billion, France €6.3bn, Italy €5.5bn, etc.

It was a shocking depiction of the country’s predicament. Greece was a pauper state, circulating its begging bowl, asking for money so it could pay off its huge debts.

I just cannot bear to watch the international humiliation of the country on television every night. Greece is the lead story on almost every global news station you tune into. The country’s shame is big news worldwide.
And the humiliating news keeps on flowing. Standard and Poor’s relegated Greek bonds to the junk category. CMA Data Vision announced that Greece is the country with the biggest probability of going bankrupt (46.07 per cent). Even Chavez’s Venezuela has a lower probability of going bankrupt (43.65 per cent). The president of the IMF declared that “Greece is a patient that has to take some bitter medicine and it is not correct for the patient to expect to overcome illness by shooting at the doctor.”

Focus magazine provided the gist of the problem when it wrote: “The Greek always felt they were the fathers of civilisation and had no hesitation about living well with the money of their children. Today their country is entering an old people’s home and has accepted a guardian to look after it.”

Should I also mention the depressing admission by Greek finance minister George Papaconstantinou that IMF observers will be installed at their ministries?

Greece, the country of Pericles, Plato, Socrates and Aristotle has become the world’s laughing stock. The painter Yiannis Tsarouchis had a point when he said, “Greece is a wonderful country that has the bad fortune of being inhabited by Greeks.”

Comedian Harry Klyn once said, “Greece is the only African country with white inhabitants.” He got it slightly wrong, because no African country is currently in danger of becoming bankrupt.
Forty-six years after Clerides said he was ashamed to be Greek, it pains me to admit that I share his sentiment but for a very different reason.

P.S. This comment was written before the disgraceful rioting in the centre of Athens by a violent mob which caused the death of three innocent people. This simply made me feel even more ashamed

WE TURKISH CYPRIOTS HAVE BEEN ISOLATED SINCE 1963, BUT DO NOT THROW STONES AT OUR GOVERNMENT OF THE TRNC NOR HATE OUR COUNTRY BECAUSE OF THIS ECONOMIC POSITION. AS A PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN LAUGHED AT BY OUR SO CALLED GREEK CYPRIOT COMPATRIOTS, I WOULD SAY THAT WE ARE FAR MORE DIPLOMATIC THAN THOSE SUFFERING IN GREECE AT THE MOMENT.

ECONOMIC SUFFERING IS OBVIOUSLY NOT A JOKE - AND I BET THE PEOPLE OF GREECE NOW UNDERSTAND HOW WE HAVE FELT SINCE 1963?

[Gasman]

I await the responses telling you that there is no problem with Greece, they are no worse, nor worse off, than any other EU country and that all you read and hear on the World News is just propoganda.

[Piratis]

Loucas Charalambous is not Greek.

[YFred]

Loucas Charalambous is not Greek.

What is he then?

[kurupetos]

Loucas Charalambous is not Greek.

What is he then?

A traitor like Bananiot.

[YFred]

Loucas Charalambous is not Greek.

What is he then?

A traitor like Bananiot.

Na blinnis i ghlossasu medo dettol je bleech, reh betragulli.

[Pyrpolizer]

Don't Forget, Portugal, Spain, and even Italy are not far away from Greece's position.

The problem is not simply because of Greece's bad finances. It is linked with the EURO, you have to remember that.

There is a huge problem in Europe with the EURO, because each country is left alone, without any flexibility to adjust it's own currency to advance on exports and make their products more competitive. If you have common currency you must have a mechanism of automatically divert investments in regions that fall behind economically for one reason or another.
In fact this is what they were talking behind closed doors a couple of days ago in the EU.

Anyway it is true Greece is going to borrow about 20b Euro. How many anual budgets do you think that is? ONLY 1 YEAR!!

PS. The pseudo state gets 1billion per year from Turkey.

[CBBB]

Loucas Charalambous is not Greek.

What is he then?

A traitor like Bananiot.

Na blinnis i ghlossasu medo dettol je bleech, reh betragulli.

Translation please? Your Greek/Cypriot is even worse than mine old chap, what?

[YFred]

Loucas Charalambous is not Greek.

What is he then?

A traitor like Bananiot.

Na blinnis i ghlossasu medo dettol je bleech, reh betragulli.

Translation please? Your Greek/Cypriot is even worse than mine old chap, what?

Considering I have not spoken it since 1972 and then picked it up again since I joined this forum, I beg to differ old chap, what?
Translation: wash your tounge with dettol and bleech, yo stonepuppy.

[B25]

Don't Forget, Portugal, Spain, and even Italy are not far away from Greece's position.

The problem is not simply because of Greece's bad finances. It is linked with the EURO, you have to remember that.

There is a huge problem in Europe with the EURO, because each country is left alone, without any flexibility to adjust it's own currency to advance on exports and make their products more competitive. If you have common currency you must have a mechanism of automatically divert investments in regions that fall behind economically for one reason or another.
In fact this is what they were talking behind closed doors a couple of days ago in the EU.

Anyway it is true Greece is going to borrow about 20b Euro. How many anual budgets do you think that is? ONLY 1 YEAR!!

PS. The pseudo state gets 1billion per year from Turkey.

And how many banks dud the UK government have to buy out in the last couple of years???? probably the cost was more than wheat Greece needs to borrow.

people deliberately forget these things to suit them.

It is wasn't for the troubles in Athens, no one would have been any the wiser.

1 billion / year x 36 years is OK is it???

Plonkers