Santa Claus took to the sky, this time minus his reindeers and sleigh. Dressed in red and white, paraglider Ilker Özgüven took off on Wednesday from the Amanos Mountains in Iskenderun, a district in the southern Turkish province of Hatay some 876 kilometers (544 miles) east of Demre, the Turkish town where St. Nicholas who inspired the modern-day image of Santa Claus lived centuries ago.

Renting a Santa costume from a local shop, Özgüven filled his bag with gifts and jumped from a slope at a height of 1.2 kilometers. Twenty minutes later, he safely landed at Atatürk Monument Square, to the delight of the children who were there playing. The flying Santa dispersed presents to the children and posed for selfies. "I did this to cheer up the children. We have been through difficult times. I hope we will have healthy days ahead. I call on people not to forget to please the children," he told reporters.