On December 27, Ertuğrul Günay, the Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism, announced his intension to demand the return of Saint Nicholas’ bones from the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, Southern Italy, to the Church of St. Nicholas in Antalya, Turkey. “Some of our richest historical assets are on display at different museums all around the world,” said Günay. “We want all of them back, because every piece should be displayed where it belongs.” Turkish archaeologist Professor Nevzat Çevik of Akdeniz University has also appealed to his government to demand the Saint's return. He argues that Nicholas was born and lived in Turkey therefore he belongs in Turkey.
I have no problem with returning antiquities to their rightful place; Lord knows Italy has serious problems with stolen artifacts herself. Many of her missing treasures illegally grace museums and private collections around the world and I, more than anyone, would like to see them where they rightfully belong. Obviously, Italy is not alone in this regard, nor is she free of her own transgressions. Admittedly, even Italy, which has no shortage of "historical assets" of its own, has acquired ill-gotten gains and had to return looted items.
Provincia di Bari stemma
For example, in April 2005 Italy returned to Ethiopia the Axum obelisk – a 78-foot-tall, 160-ton stele, taken during the Fascist conquest (1937). The toppled and badly damaged monolith was discovered, restored and displayed in Rome as a trophy. The 1,700-year-old monument was erected by Emperor Ezana to commemorate Ethiopia’s adoption of Christianity and is considered by many Ethiopians to be their national symbol. After years of lobbying, the spoils were returned to Ethiopia, at great cost to Italy ($8 Million), where it rightfully belonged.
However, in Turkey’s case, they are demanding the return of antiquities from a land (Byzantium) and people (Greeks) they conquered and displaced. Quite honestly, much of what Mr. Günay claims to be “historical assets” actually belonged to the pre-Turkish Civilizations of Asia Minor and were taken by force. Technically, Turkey's many "historical assets" are in the right spot but the people who created them aren't. Considering Turkey's bloody past and its poor record with human rights and religious tolerance I take great exception with Mr. Günay who had the gall to say, "These bones should be exposed here and not in a town of pirates."
St. Nicholas was a Christian Greek, born in the Greek colony of Patara in Asia Minor in 270 AD. He served as the Bishop of Myra and many miracles have been attributed to him. (Time traveling to Turkey was not one of them.) He was revered as Nicholas the Wonderworker and modern day Santa Claus is based on the pious and generous deeds of this venerable holy man. In 1087 Nicholas’ relics were taken to Bari by Apulian merchants afraid to let his sacred remains fall into the hands of the conquering Seljuks, who routinely desecrated Christian shrines and icons. It should also be remembered that Bari was still (at least nominally) part of the Byzantine world at the time, alternating between the Empire and the Normans of Southern Italy.
Cevik’s claim that St. Nicholas said, “I was born here, I have lived here, and I will be buried here” before his death is a flimsy argument that holds little weight. I certainly don’t believe the Saint would have wanted his remains to be used as a tourist attraction for pilgrims to put money into Muslim coffers, which, by the way, is the real reason why they want his bones. What's next; will they demand the return of the skull tower of Nîs in Serbia or the remains of the 800 martyrs of Otranto? Also, consider the millions of Europeans enslaved and carted off to Anatolia over the centuries. How many of them got their wish to be buried in their beloved homelands? To be sure Turkey wont be returning what it stole from Europe.
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