But he stressed Russian Federation and Turkey should “de-escalate” their row to resolve the issue and focus instead on Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the real enemy.
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Putin’s remarks came a day after his defense minister brazenly asserted in that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan & his family have been “involved” in ISIS’ unlawful oil trade.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu dismissed Russian allegations that Turkey was buying oil from ISIS as “Soviet-style propaganda” on Thursday and said the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member was doing all it could to secure its border with Syria.
Turkey has said it downed the Russian plane after it intruded its airspace for 17 seconds despite numerous warnings, and has refused to apologize for the shoot-down. Russia – Turkey’s main energy supplier – is also imposing sanctions against Turkey that will hurt its food exports and has also told Russian tourists not to visit the country.
He also censured “part of the leadership in Turkey” which engages in trade with terrorist groups in Syria and neighboring Iraq and is responsible for the Russian pilot’s death.
The two countries have been locked in an escalating war of words after Turkey shot down a Russian war plane on November 24, after claiming it had strayed into its airspace and had warned Russia about this. Moscow has been conducting airstrikes in Syria at the request of its ally Syrian President Bashar Assad, whom Turkey opposes, since September 30. “We won’t be rattling sabers”, he said.
According to Lavrov, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu proposed a meeting on the sidelines of an worldwide conference for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) set to take place in Belgrade.
“We know who is lining pockets in Turkey and gives a chance to terrorists to earn money on the sale of oil stolen from Syria”, President Putin said in his address. Their strong language reflects their president’s conviction that Turkey has “stabbed Russian Federation in the back”.
Minutes after Putin had finished speaking, his energy minister, Alexander Novak, said Russian Federation was halting talks with Ankara on the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, a symbolic move created to emphasise the strength of Kremlin anger. According to him, the terrorists are using this money to recruit mercenaries, buy weapons, organize inhumane terror attacks directed against the citizens of Russia, France, Lebanon, Mali and other countries.
But Putin has also made efforts to reach out Russia’s major population of around 20 million Muslims. “We will reveal it to the world”, Mr Erdogan said in a televised address in Ankara.
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He said the best way to stop the oil trade from IS-controlled territory into Turkey would be to close the Turkey-Syria border. The Russian leader refused to meet with Erdogan at a global climate in Paris, which they both attended Monday.
