Erdoğan: We have withdrawn our troops from NATO drill in Norway

Turkey has decided to withdraw its 40 troops from the joint NATO drill conducted in Norway, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced in a speech at a Justice and Development (AK) Party meeting in Ankara on Friday.

“Yesterday, an incident took place in Norway. They made something like an enemy chart, which included Atatürk [the founder of modern Turkey], and my name on it. When we heard of this, our EU minister and our chief of staff were on their way to Canada. They filled us in on the situation. It was a NATO drill, where we had 40 troops. Therefore, we decided to withdraw our troops.”

Erdoğan added that even if those names were removed from the chart, Turkey would be withdrawing its troops.

Erdoğan also stated that Syria's Afrin must be cleared of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)-affiliated Democratic Union Party (PYD) terrorists, adding Turkey was disappointed with the United States "not keeping most of its promises" and he did not want the same experience in Afrin.

He added that Turkey’s military operation in Syria's Idlib was continuing as planned and that considerable progress had been made thanks to the joint stance of Turkey, Russia and Iran.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.

Erdoğan also said that the creator of the Daesh terrorist organization and the creator of PYD are one and the same.

“Whoever promoted the PYD are the ones who aim to deepen Iraq’s instability by encouraging the government of Northern Iraq to declare independence. It should be kept in mind that the same powers continue to shelter and cultivate the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).”

FETÖ terrorists are led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gülen, who orchestrated Turkey's July 15 coup attempt and is the mastermind behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.