Russian Federation accuses Turkey’s Erdogan of oil dealings with IS

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Russian Federation of slander for its allegations that Turkey and Erdogan’s family are buying oil from Islamic State (IS) militants.

“The main consumer of this oil stolen from its legitimate owners Syria and Iraq is Turkey”, deputy defence minister Anatoly Antonov told journalists.

The briefing did not actually provide hard evidence linking Erdoğan to the illegal oil trade, but Antonov insinuated that the connection involves his son, Bilal Erdoğan, an executive with a shipping company, and his son-in-law, Berat Albayrak, the country’s energy minister.

“What a great family business!”

Other ministry employees added that Antonov’s claim was backed by satellite images, the report went on to say.

“The United States supports Turkey’s right to defend itself and its airspace and its territory”, Mr Obama said.

If the allegations by Russian Federation are proven to have merit, the Turkish leader said he would resign from office.

He said the best way to stop the oil trade from IS-controlled territory into Turkey would be to close the Turkey-Syria border.

Russian Federation responded harshly, with President Vladimir Putin declaring Russian Federation was “stabbed in the back by the accomplices of terrorists”, referring to Turkey’s alleged underhanded oil dealings with the Islamic state in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Moscow and Ankara have been locked in a war of words since last week when a Turkish air force jet shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian-Russian border, the most serious incident between Russia and a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation state in half a century. “We don´t want this problem to hurt our current relations or potential any further”.

Erdogan said he would resign if indisputable evidence on the matter were presented.

The Turkish president added that he was “watching with sadness” Moscow’s unproportional reaction to the downing of Russian jet for violating its airspace. Additionally, the contractors of Turkey’s first nuclear energy plant in Mersin’s Akkuyu district – whose reactor is due to be built in 2016 – are two subsidiaries of Russia’s state-owned Rosatom.

But he said the tanker trucks are operated by private smugglers, not directly by the IS group, and Turkey is working with its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies to seal its border.

Another main route for smuggled oil, according to the ministry, runs from Deir Ez-zour in Syria to the Syrian border crossing at Al-Qamishli.

“Our hope and prayer is that indeed Russian Federation and Iran will stay committed to the concept of a transition that really legitimizes governance in Syria in a way that can bring about a ceasefire and in a way that can bring an end to the conflict”, Kerry said.