Asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim that Turkey was buying oil from Daesh, Chebli said that German authorities have no information supporting these particular claims.
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REUTERS/Hannibal HanschkeGerman Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen attends a Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Social Democratic Party (SPD) fraction meeting at the Bundestag in Berlin, Germany November 26, 2015.BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s defense minister ruled out on Tuesday any cooperation between German forces due to take part in the military campaign against Islamic State in Syria and President Bashar al-Assad or his troops.
“If you really want to fight and defeat them (terrorists), then it is necessary to cut off their supplies of ammunition, weapons, money, which they mostly get through Turkey with the support of Saudi Arabia and Qatar”, Assad said.
Assad said Moscow cooperates with the Syrian regime, which is not true of the United States.
Mr Assad told Czech television that U.S. air strikes on Syria had not slowed IS, but that Russian bombing was doing so. “We are rightly determined to prevent terrorists attacks wherever they occur”, he said. Mr. Putin met Mr. Netanyahu weeks earlier in Moscow a bid to make sure that the Russian and Israeli militaries wouldn’t mistakenly target each other inside Syria.
Assad was elected for a third seven-year term last year, but the Syrian opposition and its allies dismissed the voting as a farce. This means that it plays the role that every government should play – maintaining relations with the opponents, too, Assad said.
“We continue to urge Russian Federation to focus its efforts against ISIL, and as we have long said, we’d welcome Russia’s constructive contributions to coalition efforts”, she added. The available information indicates the warplane was in Turkish airspace, State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said. The closure is aimed at stopping the movement of illegal oil as well as the flow of foreign fighters from Syria to Turkey. He said there is still a 98-kilometer (61-mile) stretch of the border that is not sealed. Eleven million others have been forced from their homes.
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“According to the facts, since the beginning of that coalition, if you want to talk about facts not opinions, ISIS has expanded, and their recruits from around the world have increased”, Assad said.
