Turkey is the primary consumer of oil stolen by Islamic State from its lawful owners, i.e. Syria and Iraq, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said.
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In a Moscow briefing, officials showed satellite images of tanker trucks loaded with oil traveling from IS posts in Syria and Iraq across the border into Turkey.
“What we have seen is that ISIL relinquishes ownership and sells its oil at the wellhead in Syria and Iraq and that oil is sold to smugglers, middlemen, truckers”.
“According to available information, the highest level of the political leadership of the country, president Erdogan and his family, are involved in this criminal business”.
“Maybe I’m being too blunt, but one can only entrust control over this thieving business to one’s closest associates”, he said.
Antonov pointed the finger at the recent appointment of Erdogan’s son-in-law Berat Albayrak as energy minister and alleged that the president’s son runs one of the country’s main energy companies.
Erdogan responded to Russian accusations of his family’s involvement in Daesh oil smuggling by claiming he would resign if unquestionable evidence on the matter was presented.
Russia has imposed tough sanctions against Turkey, including import bans, restrictions on visas for Turkish nationals and restrictions on Russians going on holiday in Turkey.
He said that Turkey’s downing of a Russian jet at the border with Syria was a “treacherous war crime”.
“We must leave all arguments and disagreements behind and make one powerful fist, a single anti-terror front, which would work on the basis of global law under the aegis of the United Nations”, he said, addressing lawmakers and top officials who gathered in an ornate Kremlin hall.
Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan has denied the allegations.
Turkey said it shot down the plane after it violated its airspace for 17 seconds despite repeated warnings, while Russian Federation has insisted that the aircraft stayed in Syria’s airspace.
Putin said that to efficiently combat terrorism the global community must halt any support of terrorist groups, and said that Turkey has allowed the IS to thrive by illegally purchasing its oil.
During the brifing, the ministry has space surveillance photographs demonstrating that Daesh now transports up to 200,000 barrels of oil for processing to third-party countries including Turkey.
In response, Turkey has slammed the Russian claims as “slander” and challenged Russia to produce hard evidence that proves any link.
Speaking at a news conference before leaving for an official visit to Azerbaijan, Davutoglu said Turkey was working with partners from the US-led anti-IS coalition to remove the jihadists from the Syrian side of the border.
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Also in the Czech television interview, Mr Assad also criticised the government of Syria’s neighbour, Turkey, after its shot down a Russian warplane inside Syria on 24 November.
