The Russian defense ministry on Wednesday accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family of profiting from illegal shipments of oil by IS the terrorist group in Syria.
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The top diplomats of Turkey and Russian Federation were set to meet for the first time since Ankara shot down one of Moscow’s warplanes as dozens of foreign ministers gathered in Belgrade on Thursday. The fierce personal attack on Erdogan reflects the Kremlin’s anger and signals that Russia-Turkey tensions will likely continue to escalate.
“Turkey is the main buyer of oil stolen by IS”.
Erdogan denounced the charge.
The Turkish strongman accused Moscow of “slander” and has rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands to apologise over the plane incident, saying that Turkey was acting well within its rights to protect its border.
Putin said that to efficiently combat terrorism the global community must halt any support of terrorist groups, and said that Turkey has allowed the IS to thrive by illegally purchasing its oil.
“The irony of the Russians raising this concern is that there’s plenty of evidence to indicate that the largest consumer of ISIL oil is actually Bashar al-Assad and his regime, a regime that only remains in place because it is being propped up by the Russians”, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
Turkey and Russian Federation are close economic partners, with Moscow the main supplier of oil and gas to the energy-poor country. “What a marvellous family business!” “The cynicism of Turkish leadership is limitless”.
“Three major transportation routes running from the IS-held (formerly ISIS) areas in Syria and Iraq to the territory of Turkey have been revealed”, Rudskoi said.
Additionally, the contractors of Turkey’s first nuclear energy plant in Mersin’s Akkuyu district – whose reactor is due to be built in 2016 – are two subsidiaries of Russia’s state-owned Rosatom.
Russian Federation does not strive for the resignation of President Erdogan, because this is an internal affair of the Turkish people.
The western route goes to Turkish ports on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
The head of the National Center for Control of Defense, Mikhail Mizintsev, said that the Defense Ministry of Russian Federation would unveil more information next week about the volumes of arms sales and terrorist training on the territory of Turkey, TASS reports.
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Russia’s defence ministry claimed on 2 December that it had proof Erdogan and his family were benefitting from the smuggling of oil from parts of Syria and Iraq controlled by IS.
