Norway apologizes to Turkey over insulting incident

Ankara Nov 18 (IANS) Norway s Defence Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen has apologized to Turkey after a civilian official depicted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as an "enemy" during a NATO drill in the country.

"During a NATO exercise at the Joint Warfare Center (JWC) in Stavanger an exercise message was published on the internal exercise network " Xinhua news agency quoted the minister as saying in a written statement on Friday.

"The message does not reflect Norway s views or policies and I apologize for the content of the message " he said.

"Turkey is an important ally in NATO we value our good cooperation."

The civilian Norwegian official was removed from the exercise by JWC following the incident and a thorough investigation was underway the statement said.

Earlier on Friday Turkey announced it has withdrawn 40 soldiers from NATO s Trident Javelin military exercise in Norway after the founder of the Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were included in a list of "enemies".

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also issued an apology to Turkey over the incident.

--IANS
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