Erdoğan, for his part, denies any involvement in Islamic State oil smuggling, promising to resign the presidency if accusations are proved, saying, “If such a thing is proven, the nobility of our nation would require that I would not stay in office”.
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Turkey already imports LNG from Qatar on the basis of temporary deals.
Last week, speaking in Ankara, he said: “They claim Turkey is buying oil from Daesh” – using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
A day after President Obama tried to smooth over tensions between Turkey and Russia, a top Russian official accused the Turkish president and his family Wednesday of engaging in an illegal oil trade with the Islamic State extremist group in Syria.
Russia’s comments are the latest in a string of allegations the two countries have exchanged since Turkish forces shot down a Russian warplane on November 24, saying it entered its airspace from Syria.
In the briefing the Russian defense ministry officials displayed satellite images which they said showed a “live oil pipeline” of columns of tanker trucks loaded with oil from facilities controlled by Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, and crossing the border into neighboring Turkey. “Those who make such slanderous claims are obliged to prove them”. “I will not remain in this post”.
However, the officials did not provide specific evidence of the involvement of Erdogan or his family in the oil smuggling. Russian Federation has responded by deploying long-range air defense missiles at its air base in Syria and slamming Turkey with an array of economic sanctions.
More evidence, Russian Federation insists, will come to light in the following weeks.
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. Turkey is a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally of the U.S. “What a marvelous family business!”
Lt.-Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian military’s General Staff said Russian airstrikes on the IS oil infrastructure in Syria had halved the militants’ profits.
Turkey has said it downed the Russian plane after it intruded its airspace for 17 seconds despite numerous warnings, and has refused to apologize for the shoot-down. One of the jet’s pilots was killed, as well as a Russian Marine sent to rescue him.
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday met Erdogan and called on both leaders to end their dispute and focus on fighting IS.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday that he would agree to meet with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on the sidelines of an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe meeting of foreign ministers in Belgrade, the Serbian capital.
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And while Turkey’s efforts might only put a dent in one portion of Islamic State funding, U.S. officials say any defensive action by Erdoğan would be better than nothing.
