Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Norway's defence minister expressed his regrets Friday over an incident at NATO training exercises which prompted Turkey to withdraw its participation.

"I regret the incident which occurred during the NATO exercise at the Joint Warfare Centre in Stavanger," defence minister Frank Bakke-Jensen said in a statement to AFP after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan withdrew troops to protest the incident in Norway he deemed offensive.

source: AFP