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| Nato apologises to Turkey after 'Erdogan and Ataturk depicted as enemies' in joint exercise | Nato apologises to Turkey after 'Erdogan and Ataturk depicted as enemies' in joint exercise |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Nato’s chief has apologised to Turkey after the country’s leaders were allegedly depicted as “enemies” in a joint military exercise. | |
| Both current president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s and reforming ex-leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s names were involved in the reported incident in Norway. | |
| Turkey has withdrawn 40 soldiers from the drills. | |
| In an address to his ruling party’s provincial leaders on Friday, Mr Erdogan said his and Ataturk’s names were placed on a “table” listing “enemies” during the Nato exercise. | |
| He said he had personally instructed the immediate withdrawal of the Turkish troops “even if those names are removed” from the table. | |
| The Turkish leader said of the Nato alliance: “There can be no such pact, no such alliance.” | |
| Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said: “I have been informed about offence caused in a recently concluded exercise at Nato’s joint warfare centre in Stavanger, Norway. | |
| “I apologise for the offence that has been caused. The incidents were the result of an individual’s actions and do not reflect the views of Nato.” | |
| He added: “The individual in question was immediately removed from the exercise by the joint warfare centre, and an investigation is underway. He was a civilian contractor seconded by Norway and not a Nato employee. | |
| “It will be for the Norwegian authorities to decide on any disciplinary action. Nato has been in contact with the Norwegian authorities on this issue. | |
| “Turkey is a valued Nato ally, which makes important contributions to allied security.” | |
| Ataturk was the founder of modern Turkey, having led the republic from 1923 after the Ottoman sultanate was abolished. | |
| He presided over sweeping changes to society including secularisation and the introduction of Latin script to the language. | |
| Additional reporting by agencies |