Norway apologizes to NATO member Turkey over insulting incident

Ankara, Nov 18  : 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 exercise 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Earlier on Friday, Turkey announced it has withdrawn 40 soldiers from NATO's Trident Javelin military exercise in Norway after the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and Turkish President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.