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| Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a meeting of his ruling AK Party in Ankara |
Turkey is pulling 40 soldiers out of a Nato exercise in Norway, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, after his name was included in a list of enemies on a poster at the drill, an incident that drew an apology from Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Turkey has the second-largest army in the alliance and borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran, giving it great strategic importance for Nato. But the relationship has become fractious as Ankara drifts away from the alliance and the European Union, alarming the West.
Erdogan said an โenemy posterโ, featuring his name on one side and a picture of modernTurkeyโs founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, on the other, was unfurled at the training exercise in Norway, prompting a decision by Turkeyโs military chief and European Union minister to pull the troops out.
โThey said they had decided to pull our troops out and will do so, so we told them to not stop and go ahead โฆ take our 40 soldiers out of there,โ Erdogan told members of his ruling AK Party in Ankara.
Commenting on the incident at Natoโs Joint Warfare Centre in Stavanger, Norway, Stoltenberg said: โI apologise for the offence that has been caused.โ
โThe incidents were the result of an individualโs actions and do not reflect the views of Nato,โ he said in a written statement.
The individual involved, a civilian contractor seconded by Norway and not a Nato employee, was immediately removed from the exercise, Stoltenberg said. It would be up to the Norwegian authorities to decide on any disciplinary action, he said.
โTurkey is a valued Nato Ally, which makes important contributions to Allied security, Stoltenberg added.
The Norwegian ministry of defence and the joint war centre command both declined to comment.
