“Actually, Russia does not believe this either”, said Erdogan, referring to the alleged oil trade with IS group.
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“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”.
Moscow has already responded with measures including bans on some Turkish fruit and vegetables, and in his icy remarks Putin made clear that would not be the end of it. The pilot was killed and another Russian service member died rescuing the plane’s navigator.
Recently, the United Kingdom chose to send its aircraft to Turkey’s Incirlik Airbase in Adana province while Germany and Denmark also said they will send command ships to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces in the Mediterranean. “But if someone thinks that he can commit a foul war crime, the murder of our people, and just get away with some tomatoes or limits in construction and other spheres, then he is deeply mistaken”. “We won’t be rattling sabers”, he said.
Russia-Turkey tensions have risen since the downing.
He said Russia had known what terrorism was over the years and said the current Russian campaign in Syria was “a fight for freedom, truth and justice”.
Putin has accused his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s family of directly profiting from ISIL oil smuggling into Turkey territory, which Ankara fervently denies.
Turkey would have cause to regret its actions “more than once”, he said.
Turkey has become Moscow´s prime global sparring partner after it shot down a Russian jet on its border with Syria on November 24 – sparking fury and economic sanctions from the Kremlin.
The Turkish and Russian foreign ministers met on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, on Thursday, the first meeting at a senior level between the two countries since the plane’s downing.
Furthermore, several hundred containers are also waiting for clearance in the Turkish Black Sea port of Samsun and at the Russian port of Novorossiysk, according to Turkish authorities.
The Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) on Thursday said that satellite photos presented by Russia’s Defense Ministry this week showing Islamic State militants selling oil to Turkey were in fact images of Kurdish trucks, the Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Russia’s economy has been battered by falling energy prices and Western sanctions imposed after the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. “These were remembered as Pravda lies and nonsense”, Davutoglu said. And the Russian leader has not taken his phone calls. The Syrian leader has the backing of Russian Federation and Iran.
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It is possible that ISIS could have smuggled oil via Sinjar before it was recaptured by US-backed Kurds last month, but that would only help the group smuggle oil to its Raqqa stronghold in Syria – not to Turkey. “They’re conducting strikes. They’re supporting the moderate Syrian opposition”, Warren explained.
