“According to our data, the top political leadership of the country – President Erdogan and his family – is involved in this criminal business”.
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The shooting down by Turkish fighter jets of a Russian warplane on the Syrian border on 24 November plunged relations between Moscow and Ankara into their biggest crisis since the Cold War.
Erdogan said during a speech at Qatar University on December 2 that “no one has the right to engage in slander against Turkey as to suggest that Turkey is buying oil from Daesh (IS)”.
Exhorting both sides to focus on the common enemy, the Islamic State (Isis), the American president somewhat echoed the comments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the intensification of efforts against the extremist group.
Noteworthy, the Islamic State makes about two billion dollars a year on illegal oil trade.
The rift is growing between Russian Federation and Turkey.
“We will provide you with the information on the amount of weapons, components of explosive substances and the training of gunmen on Turkey’s territory next week”, Mikhail Mizintsev said.
ISTANBUL, TURKEY – MAY 30: Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters during a ceremony to mark the 562nd anniversary of the conquest of the city by Ottoman Turks on May 30, 2015 in Istanbul, Turkey.
‘We know the price of Erdogan’s words.
Mr Erdogan on Wednesday called Russia’s response “disproportional” and said Turkey would take their “own measures” if they continued, without specifying what they would be.
The strike on the Russian plane, which was reportedly in Turkish airspace for less than 20 seconds, killed one of the plane’s pilots and resulted in the death of a marine sent to rescue him.
The Russian charges were also dismissed by the White House, whose spokesman criticized Russian support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom he said is “the largest consumer of ISIL oil”.
Sergei Rudskoy, the head of the Russian General Staff’s operative command, said three main oil routes had been identified: The western route to Turkish ports in the Mediterranean; the northern to Patma oil refinery; the eastern to Cazri transfer point.
Erdogan countered the Russian claims to ISIS links, saying: “I will resign if Moscow’s claims are proven true because the nobility of our nation requires me to do this”.
Russian officials said the Turkish president and his son were involved in oil trade with the Islamic State group a week after Turkey downed Russian jet.
Turkey denies it buys oil from the Islamic State, but several news reports suggest Turkey tolerates some level of oil smuggling from its southeastern borders with Iraq and Syria. Lavrov said he would meet 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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Russian Federation said it was producing only “part of the evidence” for now.
