Erdogan's Chief Adviser Calls for Turkey's NATO Membership to be Reconsidered

It is time to reconsider the issue of Turkey's membership in NATO, Erdogan's chief adviser, Yalcın Topcu, has stated, according to local media. Turkey has the second largest army in the alliance after the United States.

"The presence of the great Turkish nation in this institution [NATO] has become questionable," Topcu said, branding the alliance's behavior towards Ankara as "brutal and dishonorable," Haberturk daily reported, quoted by RT. 

Tensions between the military bloc and Turkey escalated last week when Turkey's founding leader, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and current president Recep Tayyip Erdogan were depicted as "enemies" during NATO drills in Norway. Erdogan said the incident was an attack targeting "Turkey and the Turkish nation."

"What [NATO] did is a scandal," the Turkish leader told a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) provincial congress in the eastern province of Bayburt on Sunday, Hurriyet reported. "They know that they cannot stop our country, which is why they are putting us on a target board. I hope that those who welcomed attacks against us before now understand the real face of the matter, as Ataturk was also included."

"The issue is not a personal or party issue. The target is Turkey and the Turkish nation," he noted. 

"Today there is a Turkey that cannot be compared with 15 years ago in every field - from the economy to the defense industry, and from trade to diplomacy. There is now a Turkey that produces its own weapons and tanks," Erdogan warned.

Last week, Turkish troops were forced to leave NATO drills ahead of schedule, after the names of Erdogan and Ataturk appeared in an embarrassing "enemy chart." It was decided to...