Greek man sues over being 'Turkish yoghurt model'

A Greek man is suing a dairy in Sweden for 50 million kronor ($6.9m; £4.5m) for using his image on pots of Turkish-style yoghurt. The man only found out his moustachioed face featured on the containers of Turkish Yoghurt made by Lindahls when a friend living in Stockholm told him.

Athanasios Varzanakos said his friend "was annoyed and asked how it was possible" when informed. The dairy said it bought the photograph in good faith from an image library.



Chief executive Anders Lindahl said it had come as a shock when the Greek man lodged a 40-page legal complaint saying that the company had used a misleading image because he had no links with Turkey.

"We bought it from a photo agency so we assumed that everything was in order," Mr Lindahl said. The image remains on the Lindahls website despite the legal action. Relations between Greece and Turkey have long been strained and at times have turned into outright hostility.