Putin Vows To Make Turkey Regret Plane Downing

– Russia’s Defense Ministry asserted that the statements of U.S. officials about Syria are based on double standards, expressing surprise as they seem not to notice how stolen oil by ISIS terrorists is smuggled into Turkey.

“Allah only knows, I suppose, why they did it. And probably, Allah has made a decision to punish the ruling clique in Turkey by taking their mind and reason”, he said, according to a transcript on the Kremlin website.

Turkey’s prime minister struck a defiant tone today (Dec 4) in his nation’s growing spat with Russia, declaring that his country can not be “brought to its knees” by Russian economic sanctions imposed in response to Turkey’s downing of a Russian warplane.

Turkey says the plane strayed into its airspace and ignored repeated warnings, while furious Moscow insists it did not cross from Syria and has accused Ankara of a planned provocation.

“Turkey will regret many times what’s been done”, said Putin. Both Turkey and Russian Federation have arguably taken steps that have benefited ISIS, but the tit-for-tat battle over which government is in business with the Islamic State, and the dubious “proof” being offered, is just distracting. Putin’s remarks came a day after his defense minister brazenly asserted in that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan & his family have been “involved” in ISIS’ unlawful oil trade. “No one has a right to engage in slander against Turkey by saying that Turkey is buying oil from Daesh (IS)”, Erdogan said in comments broadcast by Turkish television on a visit to Qatar.

“Russia is Turkey’s biggest natural gas supplier but it is not the only one”, Erdogan said while addressing the Turkey Innovation Week in Istanbul.

The intensity of Russia’s accusations has been growing since the downing of the jet on November 24, the most unsafe incident involving Russian Federation and a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation state in the past 50 years.

The operation has so far failed to dislodge the militants from a swath of territory where they have proclaimed a caliphate to rule over all Muslims, although Washington and its allies say the attacks have helped to halt the fighters’ advance.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has dismissed Turkey’s claim that Russian Federation is involved in oil trader with Islamic State militants.

“The oil is being consumed nearly entirely inside areas of control of Syria and trading with the regime” of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the official said, adding, “ISIL is selling it into the economy”.

Davutoglu said Turkey was doing all it can and is setting up “physical barriers” on that stretch of border. Putin said he will make sure Turkey’s leadership regrets the downing of Russia’s aircraft.

“Our actions will be guided by primarily by responsibility – to ourselves, to our country, to our people”, Putin said.