Turkey is now claiming that Russia is involved in the illegal oil trade.
This comes the day after Russian military chiefs publicly accused the Turkish government of funnelling millions of dollars in illicit oil revenues to ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared during a televised address on Thursday that he had “proof” that Russia was involved in illegal oil trading with ISIS in Syria and warned he would reveal it to the world.
Erdogan said “a famous Russian chess player” was also involved in the oil business with ISIS…without giving a name.
Press TV reports:
“In recent days a fashion led by Russia has emerged. Actually, Russia does not believe this either,” Erdogan said, adding that Moscow has to “prove that the Turkish republic buys oil from Daesh, otherwise this is a slander.”
The remarks came one day after Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Moscow was in possession of evidence indicating that the complicity of Turkish president along with his family in the smuggling of oil from territories held by Daesh in Syria and Iraq.
“Turkey is the main consumer of the oil stolen from its rightful owners, Syria and Iraq,” he said, citing photos showing columns of tanker trucks purportedly loading oil at Daesh-controlled installations in the two violence-scarred Middle Eastern states before entering neighboring Turkey.
The Turkish president, however, described Antonov’s comments as “immoral,” reiterating that he would step down if Moscow proved the allegations.
Moscow and Ankara are locked in a war of words since November 24 when Turkey downed a Russian fighter jet inside Syria, claiming that it had entered Turkish airspace, an accusation strongly rejected by Moscow.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said that Turkey will regret “more than once” the downing of a Russian warplane near the Syrian-Turkish border, stating that Moscow will not turn a blind eye to Ankara’s “aiding of terrorists.”
Niamh Harris