Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned against “double standards” in the fight against terrorism in an overt reference to both Turkey and the USA, while reiterating the need to “forget our differences to build a common anti-terrorist front” during an annual address to the Russian Parliament on Thursday.
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Russia’s defense ministry said on Wednesday it had proof that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his family were benefiting from the illegal smuggling of oil from Islamic State-held territory in Syria and Iraq.
“We know for example who in Turkey fills their pockets and allows terrorists to make money from the stolen oil in Syria”, Putin said. But if people think that after carrying out a cynical war crime, killing our people, they’ll get away with a tomato ban or some limits in the construction sector, they’re very wrong.
The shooting down of the jet by the Turkish air force on Tuesday was one of the most serious clashes between a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member and Russian Federation, and further complicated worldwide efforts to battle Islamic State militants. “We will reveal it to the world”, the Turkish leader said in a televised speech in Ankara. The two countries had enjoyed a reasonably close bilateral relationship, despite Turkey’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alliance, in the years preceding the incident.
A senior Iranian official says Tehran is in possession of evidence showing Turkey is involved in illegal oil trade with the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group.
Turkish President Erdogan even said he would resign if Russian Federation could prove the allegations.
Erdogan sought a meeting with Putin on the sidelines of a climate conference in Paris last week, but was snubbed.
“We have recently received additional reports that confirm that that oil from ISIL-controlled (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – former name of the Islamic State terrorist organization) territories is delivered to the territory of Turkey on an industrial scale”, Putin noted.
Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has now said Ankara will speed up work on a pipeline called Tanap, to take delivery of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian Sea.
Erdogan on Thursday claimed that the largest dealer for the IS oil is a Syrian who also has a Russian passport.
The economic situation “is hard but not critical”, Putin said, adding that there were “some positive trends”.
On November 24, Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber that Turkish authorities claim crossed one mile into Turkish airspace.
Moscow says its main target is Islamic State, but most of its air strikes have hit other groups opposed to Assad, many of which are supported by US allies, including Turkey.
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Speaking at a separate meeting with Russian military officers awarded with medals for their action in Syria, Putin said that “positive things have happened there thanks to you and your comrades, who have been working in the air, and, in fact, have been leading the Syrian military units”.
