SANTA CLAUS FOUNDATION
Isiklar Cad. 24/22 ANTALYA
Phone:+90-242- 243 44 50 - 51
Fax:+90-242- 243 44 52

Purpose and Activities of the Foundation:

Historians working particularly on this issue accept that Saint Nicholas was born in Patara in the 4th
century and died on Friday, 6 December in AD 345 or 351 in Demre where he was educated on
achbishoprie.

That he was a beneficent person, with a great love of children and that he rescued sailors are told among the
main aspects of Santa Claus alongside with his views against the east-west dilemma.

Also, another event that added to his reputation was when he joined the Iznik Council of Saint Nicholas as the
Archbishop of MYRA (325), he argued with supporters of Arias and took stance against them.

We know that the first of the debates concerning Father-Son-Holy Spirit trilogy which has been a major topic
for centuries in the world of Christianity was grappled in the Iznik Council. According to Beatillo, in this first
council Saint Nicholas, as opposed to supporters of Arias, claims that all three can exist together. And he
shows a brick as an example. "Just like fire, earth and water can come together in one brick, the God can be
one and bear the three in one." The debate concerning Father, Son and Holy Spirit continued in the following
centuries. But all these resulted in an increase in the interest in the Saint. This continued after he died.

he frequency of pilgrimages to the grave of Saint Nicholas in Demre from 5th century AD to 9th
century AD captured the attention of merchants from Bari and on May 9, 1087 Italian pirates looted
his grave and then moved it to Bari. After this point in time, Europe had a closer acquaintance with
Saint Nicholas. The reputation of Santa Claus who became a legend, spread out especially in Netherlands and
stretched beyond the limits of the Nordic countries to trans-oceanic areas with the influence of the stories
related with children. Meanwhile the gown he wore as an archbishop turned into a coat mad his hat turned into
hood. The white horse children rode to get to their home transformed into a sledge pulled by reindeers. All
countries loved the Saint and tried to integrate him into their mores and traditions. The name of the Saint
changes from one country to the other. It is "Noel Baba" in Turkey, "Santa Claus" in USA, "HI. Nicholas" in
Germany, "Pere Noel" in France, "Sinter Klaas" in Netherlands, "Saint Andrew" in Russia, "Nicholas" in
Italy and "Papa Noel" in Spain.

The enormity of this recognition affection captured the attention of advertisers later on. And in 1930 the Santa
Claus image was used in a soft drink advertisement with his familiar appearance in the world today. Until the
16th century, there were 60 churches with the name "Nicholas" in Europe, but now in the 20th century the
number approximates 2000.

The life story of Saint Nicholas started in Demre, continued with the abduction of his bones to Bari and was
known to the world with the influence of the advertisements. But the most important thing which mode Santa
Claus universal was his love of children since love of children is always associated with innocence.

anta Claus who had a great reputation both in Turkey and around the world, was born in Anatolia. He
had a place in all systems of belief and was a beloved figure for children. Since he was an Anatolian, as
Turkey, we had to take care of his universal identity. As a result, the activities to introduce the
Anatolian origin of Santa Claus to the world started and went through the following stages.

Santa Claus came to the agenda of Turkey first in 1981 when the Ministry of Culture and Tourism organized a
commemoration ceremony with the contribution of the private sector and of Vatican. In the following ten
years, several rituals and symposiums were organized. In 1991, the Governorship of Antalya, AKTOB
(Mediterranean Touristic Hotels Association) and GRÜN MAGAZINE decided upon a number of activities to
promote the issue and to assign a universal identity to the cultural dimension of the event. This is known as
the first regional attempt on the issue of Santa Claus.

All these efforts exerted in the year 1991 captured the attention of Adnan GENÇ, the Mayor of Demre. And
in 1993, a number of activities were organized under the name "Santa Claus and Call For World Peace".
Thus, for the first time after 1981, with the contributions of local administrations too, Santa Claus was
perceived and recognized both at the national and the international levels.

Compared with the previous years, the 1993 "Santa Claus and Call For World Peace Activities" had much
stronger resignations due to the participation of representatives of the three celestial religions for the first
time. In 1993, all churches of the Christian religion participated in the activities.

In 1994, due to the hesitations of the newly elected mayor of Demre, the activities resumed under the auspices
of AKTOB and GRUN MAGAZINE under the name "Santa Claus and Call For World Peace Activities".

s a consequence of all these developments, it was decided that the best thing would be the
institutionalization of Santa Claus activities and with the attempts of Muammer KARABULUT the
"Association of Santa Claus and Call For World Peace" was founded in Antalya. Santa Claus
Foundation established in 1996.

The main objective of the association was to be the first address "to promote the Turkish culture which is a
blend of peace, brotherhood and tolerance, both at the national and international levels", because for
centuries Anatolia was the cradle and home of several beliefs. As a result of this, in all the religious wars of
world's history, Anatolia had always been a unifying agent. And for this reason, it is still remembered and
commemorated as an example. In today's Turkey, the freedom of belief and worship is taken under the
guarantee of Turkish Constitution by the Laisizm. Our effort to unify people and dialogue for world peace,
stems from our belief in the democracy, modern law and secularism understanding of the Turkish
administration. The activities which started in Antalya-Demre in 1993 are named "Santa Claus and Call For
World Peace Activities "which reminds us of the environmental problems also in the sense that "people who
can not make peace with the nature can not make peace with each other". Unfortunately, the severity of the
problem is accepted by everyone today. With association we founded, in 1995, we made the first practical call
for respect in the environment by using the color green in the costume of Santa Claus. This campaign will
continue in 1996 also. In the 13th anniversary of the activities which took place between 3-6 December 1995
where members of all beliefs had again participated, the Minister of Environment Hamdi ÜÇPINARLAR had
officially declared the green Santa Claus image. Our approach was viewed with sympathy by all the
participants and procured very positive reactions. One of the inevitable and even the most important
component of world peace is environment.

Now our children will ask ;

- Why did you change the colors of Santa Claus into green?

Using a language they will understand, we will tell them that "one of the biggest, the most important, the most
urgent problems of our world is the protection of wild life". We will draw the attention of children on the issue
of protection of environment through the green Santa Claus. We will use the color green to create a magic
effect. The children can see Santa Claus the color they want to see after getting this reply.