Posted on 04/08/2005 3:40:27 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Foreign Ministry proposed putting back the Santa Claus statue to its original place in Demre town of southern Antalya city in respect of maintaining good relations with Russia.
The bronze statue which stood in front of St. Nicholas church in Demre was removed last February by Demre municipality. Gregory Pototsky, the Russian artist who sculpted the statue and a group of Russian intellectuals, had called President Ahmet Necdet Sezer by publishing an open letter in a Russian newspaper to take action on the issue. President Sezer had informed Foreign Ministry about the issue.
Upon this development, Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Ender Arat sent a letter to Antalya Governor's office which was sent to Demre municipality. In the letter, Foreign Ministry suggested Demre municipality that the statue should be put back to its original place in respect of the continuation of good relations between Turkey and Russia.
However Demre acting mayor Osman Oguz still claims that the municipality removed the statue as it was erected without the permission of the municipality.
On the other hand, Santa Claus Foundation Chairman Muammer Karabulut says that the statue, which was a gift, was put in Demre with a ceremony held on Dec 6th, 2000 in which guests from 55 countries attended.
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