There is an "international cooperation" against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ said on Nov. 18.
"This [international cooperation] reached a level that gave a soldier courage to show the founder and current leader of a NATO country as an enemy target during an exercise," said Bozdağ speaking to reporters in southeastern Şırnak.
Turkey withdrew from the Trident Javelin exercise after a civilian Norwegian official depicted Erdoğan as an "enemy collaborator" during a bloc exercise in Norway.
On Nov. 17, Erdoğan told ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party members in capital Ankara that a portrait of Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was also shown in the 'hostile leader list' during the computer-assisted exercise.
"Until now NATO has not seen a scandal like this. Neither the world did," Bozdağ said.
Bozdağ welcomed the removal of those responsible from the incident and the apology of NATO secretary-general. However, he added that those who run NATO also have the responsibility to take.
A Norwegian national was removed from the exercise as a consequence of the incident.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Norwegian Defense Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen have apologized to Turkey over the incident.
