Minutes after Putin had finished speaking, his energy minister, Alexander Novak, said Russian Federation was halting talks with Ankara on the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, a symbolic move created to emphasise the strength of Kremlin anger.
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Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan has denied the allegations.
Erdogan had dismissed earlier Russian claims that Ankara is involved in the illegal oil trade with jihadist groups, including IS, in Syria and Iraq, insisting he would resign if allegations were proved true. According to information we’ve received, the senior political leadership of the country – President Erdogan and his family – are involved in this criminal business.
“The Turkish leaders has exhibited extreme cynicism”.
Putin said that given a push to improve relations with Ankara in recent years, Moscow did not understand why its rival in the Syria war had downed its jet.
“Look, Russia has to prove that the Turkish republic buys oil from Daesh, otherwise this is a slander”, he added, using an Arabic acronym for IS. “We frankly see no evidence, none, to support such an accusation,”State Department spokesman Mark Toner said”.
But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will not admit to profiting from oil deals with terrorists even if his face is “smeared with smuggled oil”, Antonov said.
President Vladimir Putin called on the worldwide community to form a joint front under the United Nations to defeat terrorism, as he lashed out at Turkey over the downing of a Russian warplane.
“All the colleagues listened very attentively and a lot of them at least share the opinion that there had been no need to attack the unprotected Russian bomber, which was of no threat to Turkey”.
Oil from IS-controlled areas in Syria is shipped to refineries in third countries after being transported to Turkey, the head of the Russian General Staff’s operative command said Wednesday. Though several of the oil fields have already been hit by the U.S.-led coalition, Britain chose a target with low risk of collateral damage for its first strike in Syria.
Russian officials described three main routes by which they said oil and oil products were smuggled from Islamic State territory into Turkey.
Davutoglu also renewed an accusation that Russian operations in Syria were hampering efforts to clear Turkey’s border of IS militants.
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The ministry provided photographs of columns of oil fuel tankers on the Turkish-Syrian border.
