Russian Deputy Minister of Defense Anatoly Antonov and his colleagues, during an event at the defense ministry’s headquarters in Moscow, showed foreign defense attaches based in Moscow some satellite images purporting to show ISIL transporting oil to Turkey.
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Attempts to bring Russia into the group of nations focused on Islamic State were complicated by the downing of the Russian warplane by Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member, which says the jet crossed into Turkish airspace on the Syrian border.
“Turkey is the main consumer of the oil stolen from its rightful owners, Syria and Iraq”.
Antonov said Erdogan’s son heads a leading Turkish energy company and that his son-in-law has been named Turkey’s energy minister. This is a brilliant family business!
Erdogan denied the claims, saying he would resign from his post as President if it were true.
“He said that despite the downing of the Su-24 by Ankara, Moscow will continue to strive for a broad, global coalition to combat the terrorist group, adding that he regrets the deterioration of relations between Russian Federation and Turkey”, reports Sputnik. Turkey is a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally of the U.S. They did not, however, provide any evidence to back up the claims of personal involvement of Erdogan and his family in the illegal oil trade. “It’s up to the people of Turkey to decide”.
“Turkey has not lost its moral values so as to buy oil from a terrorist organisation”, he added. “The cynicism of the Turkish leadership has no limits”. The ministry alleged that Erdoğan was personally profiting from the oil trade.
“Along with our allies, the United States supports Turkey’s right to defend itself and its airspace and its territory”. One Russian pilot was killed and a Russian marine died trying in the effort to rescue the second pilot. Putin said in Paris, where Erdogan had asked the Kremlin for a one-on-one meeting.
“We have every reason to think that the decision to shoot down our plane was dictated by the desire to protect the oil supply lines to Turkish territory, right to the ports where it is loaded onto tankers”, Putin said during a news conference on the fringes of the climate talks in Paris.
Erdogan, speaking after his meeting with Obama, said that a return to “diplomatic language” would be “sufficient” to resolve tensions with Russian Federation.
But it did not target important energy projects such as the Turkish Stream gas pipeline or food stuffs such as lemons or nuts, most of which Russian Federation imports from Turkey.
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Antonov, meanwhile, said that IS militants make $2 billion a year from the illegal oil trade, and he squarely put the personal blame on Erdogan. He told Mr Erdogan that IS must be pursued by all sides, echoing a message he delivered to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
