St Nicholas’s bones ‘found in Turkey’
MORE THAN £3 million has been raised in 24 hours by a major fundraising appeal for refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar.
The money flooded in following a broadcast by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) across all major UK television channels on Wednesday night.
The 13 member charities who make up DEC took action to step up their humanitarian relief in the wake of more than half a million people seeking medical care, food and sanctuary.
The majority of those are Muslim ethnic minority Rohingya people, who have fled to Bangladesh amid atrocities and fatalities in Rakhine state, on Myanmar’s western coast, following clashes between insurgents and security forces in recent weeks.
Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi – the civilian leader of Myanmar, also known as Burma – has repeatedly faced criticism from across the globe for her refusal to condemn the actions of the security forces.
The money will be used to help aid agencies provide emergency relief, with teams already on the ground helping with food, water, shelter and medical care for the thousands of children, women and men in makeshift settlements. TURKISH ARCHAEOLOGISTS believe they may have discovered the remains of Saint Nicholas, from whom the legend of Santa Claus emerged, beneath a church at his birthplace in the south of the country.
If confirmed, the discovery would scotch the long-held belief his remains had been removed to the southern Italian town of Bari.
St Nicholas was born and served as a bishop of what is now the Turkish Mediterranean town of Demre, near Antalya, in the fourth century.
He was buried in the area formerly known as Myra, but his bones were believed to have been stolen and taken to Bari.
Archaeologists, however, have recently discovered what they think is a temple below the church and now believe his remains may be lying there, said Cemil Karabayram, the head of Antalya’s Reliefs and Monuments authority.