Turkish Government to Restore Santa Claus' Relics

Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay said the Turkish gıovernment might launch an official process to demand Italy to bring the relic of St. Nicolas, who is known as Santa Claus.

The Anatolian region, known as the craddle of civilizations, has become the home for hundreds of different cultures and traditions including Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Hititians, Ancient Greek and Assyrians. During the dissolution period of Ottoman Empire in the late 19th century, dozens of ancient remainings were smuggled out of the region by western archeologists. For the past few decades, Turkish government launched a huge international campaing to restore ome of the remainings.

According to information compiled from various news websites, Günay inquired the matter during an administrational visit to Elmali, Antalya province.

"We're vowing to restore all that we can. Turkey is finally claiming to be an archeologically aware country," Günay said after his visit to Saint Nicholas Museum.

Günay said while the ministry has not yet file an official request to Italy to restore the relics of Saint Nicholas, it might demand the relics from Italian government once the renovation of Saint Nicholas Museum in Antalya is complete.

No historical evidence adequentely proves the existence of Santa Claus. Some sources say that Santa Claus lived during 400 AC in ancient Lycia, which is recognized as Demre, Turkey.

In 1087, part of the relic (about half of the bones) were furtively translated to Bari, in southeastern Italy; for this reason, he is also known as Nikolaos of Bari.

Several sources claim that the relics of Saint Nicholas were taken by Italian merchands and burried in Saint Nicholas Basilicum in Bari, Italy. (EKN)

* This article was partially compiled from wikipedia