‘Russia will not forget Turkey’s complicity with terrorists’

Turkey is reportedly preparing to reduce imports of Russia gas by a quarter next year, in the latest sign of antagonism between Ankara and Moscow after the downing of a Russian jet.

They said they had identified three main routes for oil from Syria and Iraq into Turkey, most of which they claimed comes from fields near Dier ez-Zor in eastern Syria.

Putin didn’t address efforts to start a peace process in Syria in his speech, focusing on the need to pool global efforts in the fight against terrorism following the attacks in Paris and the downing of a Russian passenger plane in Egypt. The IS has claimed responsibility for both.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has challenged Putin and said he will step down if Russian calims are proved.

“We must leave all arguments and disagreements behind and make one powerful fist, a single anti-terror front, which would work on the basis of worldwide law under the aegis of the United Nations”, he said, addressing lawmakers and top officials who had gathered in an ornate Kremlin hall.

“It is precisely with this money that the bandits recruit mercenaries, buy arms and organise inhuman terrorist acts aimed against our citizens, the citizens of France, Lebanon, Mali and other countries”.

Russian Federation has already banned some Turkish food imports, including selected fruit and vegetables, as part of a wider retaliatory sanctions package. “No one has a right to engage in slander against Turkey by saying that Turkey is buying oil from Daesh (IS)”, he said while on a visit to Qatar.

But President Barack Obama and other senior USA officials have also voiced frustration in recent days at lingering gaps in security along a roughly 100 km (62-mile) stretch of Turkey’s border with Syrian territory controlled by Islamic State.

Russia and Turkey have been locked in a diplomatic confrontation since a Turkish jet fighter shot down a Russian bomber aircraft on the Syrian-Turkish border on November 24. “They earn around $2 billion annually, spending these funds on hiring militants from around the world and equipping them with weapons, equipment, and arms”, Antonov said.

Erdogan lashed out at the latest Russian accusations.