LONDON/MOSCOW Britain joined U.S.-led air strikes against Islamic State in Syria on Thursday, but Vladimir Putin issued bitter new denunciations of Turkey for shooting down a Russian plane, demonstrating the limits to global solidarity.
Advertisement
The Russian warplane was shut down by Turkish authorities last month after they said the plane violated Turkish airspace for 17seconds, despite repeated warnings to Russia.
Russian Federation has announced sanctions against Ankara banning the import of some Turkish food and reintroducing visas for visitors from the country.
Delivering an annual state of the nation address to lawmakers, Putin said his government knows “who it is that profits in Turkey by letting terrorists sell the oil they stole”.
As more economic sanctions were brought to bear in Moscow, the president said: “If anyone thinks, after this war crime, murdering our people, that they’ll get off with measures hitting their tomato exports or curbs on construction and other sectors, they are mistaken”.
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. Answering a question on whether Moscow wants to form a broad anti-terrorist coalition, Putin said: “We always supported this”.
“And evidently Allah made a decision to punish the ruling clique in Turkey, by depriving it of any reason or logic”.
Ankara’s accusation comes after Russian Federation accused Erdogan’s family of involvement in the trade with ISIS – part of a black market enterprise which adds millions of dollars to the terrorists’ coffers.
On Wednesday, the Associated Press (AP) reported that Russian Deputy Minister of Defence Anatoly Antonov invited dozens of foreign military attaches and hundreds of journalists to present them satellite and aerial images of thousands of oil trucks streaming from the Daesh-controlled deposits in Syria and Iraq into Turkish sea ports and refineries.
The pilots on board the fighter jet shot down near Turkey’s border with Syria bailed out, but one was shot dead, reportedly by rebel forces of the Free Syrian Army as he parachuted down.
“Let’s decrease tensions with our rhetoric”, Davutoglu said.
“Notably his emphasis on terrorism and fighting terrorism in a world full of terrorism, underlines the attack on Russian values, and makes it clear the likes of Turkey are either with Russia or with the terrorists”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye during their meeting on the sidelines of the COP21 UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris, France, Monday, Nov. 30, 2015.
Mr Putin said in his speech that Russia’s air campaign in Syria, which started on September 30, is meant to fend off a terror threat to Russian Federation posed by militant groups in Syria that include people from Russian Federation.
Advertisement
Another Russian serviceman was killed in the rescue operation.
