In response to Moscow accusations that Turkey is involved in oil trade with the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorist group, USA officials claimed that the volume of oil smuggled from IS-controlled territories is too insignificant to interest government officials.
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Moscow and Ankara have been exchanging allegations in recent days over Turkey’s involvement in the illicit oil trade.
“Turkey is the main customer of this oil that is stolen from Syria and Iraq”, said deputy defense minister Anatoly Antonov at a defense briefing reported in Russian newspaper Pravda.
The charges and counter-charges have been fast and furious since last week, when the Turkish air force shot down a Russian fighter jet near Turkey’s border with Syria.
“For that money the bandits are recruiting mercenaries, buying weapons and staging cruel terror attacks aimed against our citizens, as well as citizens of France, Lebanon, Mali and other countries”.
Russian Federation has blamed the USA for attempts to cover up the smuggling of illicit oil into Turkey from the Syrian territory under the occupation of Daesh terrorists after Washington’s claims that the amount of such oil transfers is negligible.
Turkey said it shot down the plane after it violated its airspace despite repeated warnings.
“But we also need to know that it can not go like this forever”, he said.
While Putin has repeatedly said that the Russian troops in Syria wouldn’t engage in ground combat, the statement signaled a high degree of the Russian military’s involvement in coordinating the Syrian army’s action.
In a signal of imposing more sanctions against Ankara, Putin said Turkey will not just suffer from limitations on agricultural products and construction companies. “Many people there are from Russian Federation, and if they win in Syria, sooner or later they will come to Russian Federation as well and will continue with their terrorist activities here”.
Russian Federation buys about $1 billion worth of Turkish food and other products annually and is Turkey’s No. 1 energy provider, shipping gas, coal and oil.
“Of course we have different views but we need to continue to talk in order to narrow our differences”, Cavusoglu was quoted as saying by the state-run Anatolia news agency. “Sanctions are detrimental to both sides”. One piece of footage showed a long line of trucks at what appeared to be a crossing point on the Syrian-Turkish border.
Moscow has infuriated Turkey by alleging Ankara has links with Islamic State.
Russian Federation is bombing Syria outside the U.S.-led coalition.
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“The economics don’t make sense for that to happen”, the official said.
