Historically, tumultuous times offer some of the best opportunities to buy stocks, and the market's recent mess surely qualifies. And though National Bank of Greece (NYSE: NBG) is at the epicenter of the European debt crisis, many investors still favor the bank.

In our Motley Fool CAPS community, about 94% of the 1,155 investors rating the company are bullish, so it's easy to pluck out reasons why some think National Bank of Greece will thrive, three of which I've highlighted below.

But here at the Motley Fool, we're all for looking at both the good and bad sides of an investment. Once you're done with this article, you can read the case against the stock, weigh in with your own comments below or rate National Bank of Greece yourself in CAPS.

1. Nearly $1 trillion of confidence
The latest EU rescue package is doing a better job of defusing concerns compared to bailouts of banks like Lloyds Banking (NYSE: LYG) and Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS), which surrendered big ownership stakes to their government in return. While it's not a complete fix, it has given investors in National Bank of Greece and Spain's Banco Santander (NYSE: STD) more confidence that their respective countries won't default on their debt, limiting some downside risk and leaving upside potential.                            

2. Expanding presence
National Bank of Greece sees its international operations as a big cushion to its domestic ills and plans to branch out, just like Bank of Ireland's (NYSE: IRE) move to strengthen its U.K. presence. It plans to expand in fast-growing Turkey where Garanti Bank has been reporting huge growth. The strength in Turkey has even tempted General Electric (NYSE: GE) -- which owns 21% of Garanti -- to cash in its stake. Some CAPS members see the diversification as a big plus.

3. Contrarian play
Some CAPS members think National Bank of Greece's shares are too cheap to pass up and believe it's in a far better position than a bank like Citigroup (NYSE: C) was at the worst of the financial crisis. Citigroup has rebounded with big earnings improvements and many analysts see similar potential for Greek banking stocks to thrive over the next several years.

To see details of what CAPS members are saying now about National Bank of Greece, just click on over to Motley Fool CAPS -- or add your own thoughts in the comments box below.