Theodoros Pangalos ( el, Θεόδωρος Πάγκαλος, born 17 August 1938) is a Greek politician and leading member of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). He served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Greece, responsible for the coordination of the

Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense The National Security Governmental Council ( el, Κυβερνητικό Συμβούλιο Εθνικής Ασφαλείας) (ex. Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defence), usually known by its acronym KYSEA (ΚΥΣΕΑ), is the supreme d ...

(KYSEA) and the new Economic & Social Policy Committee from 2009 to 2012

Early life

Pangalos was born in

Eleusis Elefsina ( el, Ελευσίνα ''Elefsina''), or Eleusis (; Ancient Greek: ''Eleusis'') is a suburban city and municipality in the West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is situated about northwest from the centre of Athens and is part of i ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

. He is the grandson of General and 1926 dictator

Theodoros Pangalos Lieutenant General Theodoros Pangalos (; 11 January 1878 – 26 February 1952) was a Greek general, politician and dictator. A distinguished staff officer and an ardent Venizelist and anti-royalist, Pangalos played a leading role in the Septemb ...

. Some of his ancestors were

Arvanites Arvanites (; Arvanitika: , or , ; Greek: , ) are a bilingual population group in Greece of Albanian origin. They traditionally speak Arvanitika, an Albanian language variety, along with Greek. Their ancestors were first recorded as settl ...

. Pangalos was member of the

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

Lambrakis Youth and, in 1964, a candidate for the

Hellenic Parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule of the Hellenes, label=none), also known as the Parliament of the He ...

with the

United Democratic Left The United Democratic Left (, ''Eniéa Dimokratikí Aristerá'' (EDA)) was a left-wing political party in Greece, active mostly before the Greek military junta of 1967–74. Foundation The party was founded in July 1951 by prominent center-left ...

(EDA). Pangalos opposed the 1967 military dictatorship, and was deprived by the junta of his Greek citizenship in 1968.

Political career

He became a member of the

Communist Party of Greece The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curre ...

(KKE), rising to its Central Committee, before eventually joining the PASOK socialist party during the ''

Metapolitefsi The Metapolitefsi ( el, Μεταπολίτευση, , " regime change") was a period in modern Greek history The history of Greece encompasses the history of the territory of the modern nation-state of Greece as well as that of the Greek peop ...

''. He was elected for the first time as an MP in the 1981 general election with PASOK and has been continuously re-elected since until 2012. MCAST Mosta

In 1996 he was appointed

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

and held the post until his resignation in 1999, in the aftermath of the scandal involving the leader of

PKK The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of sout ...

, recognized as a terrorist organization by EU, Abdullah Öcalan: helped by individual members of the Greek intelligence agencies Öcalan entered Greece illegally and was then deported to

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

, where he was captured by Turkish agents after leaving the Greek embassy at

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

. Pangalos came under fire when he said in 2018 on a radio show “The only good Turk is a dead Turk. I believe this because I have not come across a good Turk. They lack basic appreciation.” He was briefly made

Minister for Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizat ...

in 2000, an appointment which was widely criticized, in view of his previous statement that artists who had protested his handling of the Öcalan affair were ''kuradomanges (Greek: κουραδόμαγκες)'' (turd tough guys).

Quotes

*"Mazi ta fagame" ''(Greek: μαζί τα φάγαμε)'' ( "we ate them together", meaning "we are all responsible for the debt").

In popular culture

A Greek experimental pop band named

Plastic Flowers George Samaras, better known as Plastic Flowers, is a Greek songwriter and academic at King's College London, who has released three full-length studio albums: ''Evergreen'' in 2014, ''Heavenly'' in 2016 and ''Absent Forever'' in 2017. Career ...

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...

his famous speech "mazi ta fagame" in their song "Sinking ship-vanished crew".

References

External links

Official website of Theodoros Pangalos
* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pangalos, Theodoros 1938 births Arvanites Deputy Prime Ministers of Greece Foreign ministers of Greece 20th-century Greek lawyers Greek MPs 1981–1985 Greek MPs 1985–1989 Greek MPs 1989 (June–November) Greek MPs 1989–1990 Greek MPs 1990–1993 Greek MPs 1993–1996 Greek MPs 1996–2000 Greek MPs 2000–2004 Greek MPs 2004–2007 Greek MPs 2007–2009 Greek MPs 2009–2012 Living people Members of the Lambrakis Democratic Youth PASOK politicians People from Elefsina Culture ministers of Greece Ministers of Transport and Communications of Greece