Turkey wants Santa Claus back

St. Nicholas was born in what is now Demre, about 70 miles southwest of Antalya, served as bishop in the coastal city and was buried there before the remains were taken to the southern Italian town of Bari. “He belongs in Turkey,” Karabulut said. Hundreds of Greek and Russian Orthodox faithful commemorate St. Nicholas’ death every Dec. 6 at a church in Demre built in his honor. But the church in Bari dismissed any Turkish claims to the bones. “They ask for the remains only to keep tourism alive. They don’t venerate St. Nicholas,” said the Rev. Gerardo Cioffari, historian at the St. Nicholas Basilica in Bari.
According to Cioffari, the remains of the saint’s body were brought to Bari in 1087, and have been stored there in the St. Nicholas Basilica, secured in blocks of reinforced concrete. Cioffari said the bones could never be given back.“If the remains were moved there would be a revolution here,” Cioffari said. “Even the Vatican couldn’t do anything about it.”