MHP leader slams NATO over Turkey drill scandal

ANKARA

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli on Nov. 18 described the recent incident during NATO’s drill in Norway as “a disgrace that cannot be fixed or compensated.”

Turkey withdrew from the Trident Javelin exercise after a civilian Norwegian official depicted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as an “enemy collaborator” during a drill in Norway. A portrait of Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was also shown in the “hostile leader list” during a computer-assisted exercise.

Following the incident, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg apologized to Turkey in a written statement as well as to Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar in a face-to-face meeting in Canada.

However, on his Twitter account Bahçeli said NATO was attempting to portray the incident as the work of “a few freaks and low-ranking officials.”

“Apology! What apology! Opening a debate or blaming the first president of the Republic of Turkey as well as the current president with psychological warfare tactics is evidence of open enmity,” he added.

“It is necessary for Turkey to question NATO. What does NATO want from Turkey? What is it waiting for? What does it want to achieve?” Bahçeli added.

Turkey has now reached a point of “all or nothing” with the alliance, he said.

“We were here when there was no NATO. If we cannot stay in this structure it would not be the end of the world,” the MHP leader added.