Russia Claims Turkey’s President Engages in Illegal Oil Trade with ISIS

The harsh words are the latest in a heated spat that began when Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet destined for Syria last week, claiming it violated Turkish airspace.

Turkey has vehemently denied the ISIL oil claims, with Erdogan saying again on Wednesday that he would resign from his post if they could be proved.

“Turkey is the main consumer of oil stolen from its rightful owners, Syria and Iraq, according to information we’ve received”, Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov was quoted as saying by Reuters.

President Vladimir Putin has said Turkey downed the Russian warplane in order to protect its oil trade with the extremist group.

Antonov claimed that ISIS militants make £1.33billion a year from the illegal oil trade.

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner categorically rejected Russia’s allegations.

“The judge said he was familiar with the movie but he couldn´t decide whether Gollum was good or bad”, she said.

“We have not lived with natural gas all our lives… this nation is accustomed to hardship”, said Erdogan, while also emphasising that Turkey had suppliers other than Russian Federation.

Financial flows from the sale of oil products from Syria not only enriched top military and political leaders of Turkey, but also financed members recruitment as well as arms and munitions purchase of terrorists in Syria, Mikhail Mizintsev, head of Russia’s National Defense Management Center, said at the press briefing.

US President Barack Obama has urged Ankara and Moscow to de-escalate tensions over the downed Russian jet but reiterated Washington’s support for Turkey. Otherwise Russia has provided no evidence of its accusations, though Turkish officials said they are attempting to reduce oil smuggling.

Then, in Paris this week, he increased the rhetoric: “We have every reason to believe that the decision to shoot down our aircraft was dictated by the desire to ensure the safety of supply routes of oil to Turkey, to the ports where they are shipped in tankers”.

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. He has said Ankara is taking steps to prevent fuel smuggling, and he challenged anyone who accused his government of collaborating with Islamic State to prove their allegations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday that he would agree to meet with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on the sidelines of an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe meeting of foreign ministers in Belgrade, the Serbian capital.