NATO, Norway apologize to Turkey over insulting incidents in drill

NATO and Norway separately issued apologies to Turkey on Friday after two insulting incidents prompted that Turkish government withdrew 41 soldiers from an ongoing military exercise of the bloc.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that his country had decided to withdraw its soldiers from the NATO's Trident Javelin exercise in Norway after the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and himself were included in a list of "enemies."

A NATO official, who asked to remain anonymous, told Xinhua that two separate incidents occurred on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

In the first incident, a technician found a picture of an Ataturk statue on internet and used it among "Hostile Leaders Biographies" section of the computerized exercise at NATO's Joint Warfare Center in Stavanger, Norway, the official said.

The technician was dismissed from duty after Turkish officials noticed the incident.

In the second one, a contracted civilian by the Norwegian Military in Allied Joint Force Command (JFC) Brunssum in the Netherlands opened a fake account in the name of the Turkish president on NATO's internal social media network, said the official stressing that the suspect was not a NATO official.

The Norwegian official posted anti-alliance comments in the fake account which displayed Erdogan as collaborating with an enemy, the NATO official said, adding that reports suggest the person has Kurdish origin, but his identity is not clarified yet. Norway cancelled his security clearance and dismissed him.

After Erdogan's remarks, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg apologized to Turkey over the two incidents.

"I have been informed about offence caused in a recently concluded exercise at NATO's Joint Warfare Center (JWC) in Stavanger, Norway. I apologize for the offense. The incidents were the result of an individual's actions and do not reflect the views of NATO," Stoltenberg said in a statement.

"The individual in question was immediately removed from the exercise and an investigation is underway. He was a civilian contractor by Norway and not a NATO employee. It will be for the Norwegian authorities to decide on any disciplinary action," he added.

The NATO chief stressed that Turkey is a "valued NATO Ally, which makes important contributions to security."

Stoltenberg conveyed apologies to Turkish Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar at the ongoing International Security Forum in Canada, the NATO official said.

The commander of the JWC in Stavanger, Maj. Gen. Andrzej Reudowicz, has also issued a letter of apology over the incidents.

The Turkish embassy in Oslo would ask for explanation from the Norwegian authorities, a Turkish official told Xinhua.

Norway's defence minister also apologized on Friday. "During a NATO exercise at the JWC in Stavanger, an exercise message was published on the internal exercise network," Frank Bakke-Jensen said in a statement published on the ministry's website.

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

The message was written by a Norwegian national who was hired to work on staff during exercise, he said, adding that the individual was removed from the exercise as a consequence of the incident.

"We will conduct a thorough investigation of the incident, and take the appropriate measures based on the conclusions," Bakke-Jensen stressed.

Turkish Armed Forces issued NATO both verbal and written protest, said the army.

The JWC is a multinational NATO unit based in Stavanger, Oslo. It has staff of 250 personnel including civilians from 11 NATO member states.

In March, Ankara was angered after four Turkish soldiers who were on duty with NATO, as well as a military attache, have been granted asylum in Norway following their application after the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.