“Actually, Russia does not believe this either”, said Erdogan, referring to the alleged oil trade with IS group.
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He added: “And evidently Allah made a decision to punish the ruling clique in Turkey, by depriving it of any reason or logic”.
Meanwhile Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier on Thursday vowed never to forget Turkey’s downing of one of Moscow’s warplanes, as he lashed out once again at the leadership in Ankara over the incident.
Turkey shot down the Russian aircraft last month after it said the jet crossed from Syrian to Turkish airspace, a claimed denied by Moscow but backed up by the United States.
Putin, whose administration has already announced sanctions against Ankara including a ban on the import of some Turkish foods, and reintroduced visas for Turkish visitors, insisted Turkey would be made to regret its actions. “We remember that the militants who operated in the North Caucasus in the 1990s and 2000s found refuge and received moral and material assistance in Turkey”, Putin said at the annual state of the nation address in Moscow. In an address to the nation broadcast live on Russian television, Putin said that “if anyone thinks Russia’s reaction will be limited to trade sanctions, they are deeply mistaken”. “And they will keep regretting it”.
On Wednesday Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov told a briefing in Moscow that Turkey’s senior leadership and personally President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are involved in the illegal production and transportation of Syrian and Iraqi oil to Turkey.
“We are not planning to engage in military sabre-rattling (with Turkey)”, said Putin, after asking for a moment’s silence for the two Russian servicemen killed in the immediate aftermath of the incident, and for Russian victims of terrorism.
“It is precisely with this money that the bandits recruit mercenaries, buy arms and organise inhuman terrorist acts aimed against our citizens, the citizens of France, Lebanon, Mali and other countries”.
Mr Putin added that countries “should not apply double standards on terror” or use terrorist groups for their own ends.
It was also reported by RIA news agency that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would meet his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday on the sidelines of an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe meeting in Belgrade.
He said the best way to stop the oil trade from IS-controlled territory into Turkey would be to close the Turkey-Syria border.
Both Russian pilots ejected from the Su-24 plane after being shot down by two Turkish F-16s. “To sit around a table to talk – that’s the method we would prefer”.
IS on Wednesday released a video in which a Russian-speaking man identifies himself as Magomed Khasayev, confesses to spying for Russian intelligence and then is shown apparently being beheaded by another Russian-speaking man. “He’s also in this race”, he said.
His angry warnings came shortly after Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey was doing everything it could to control its border with Syria, including setting up “physical barriers” along the 61 mile stretch of land adjoining Islamic State (IS)-held territory.
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.
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“Modern Russian weapons have worked efficiently, and the priceless experience of its use in combat will be analyzed to help further improve our weapons”, he said.
