‘Turkish President Erdogan and His Family Involved in Buying Oil from ISIS

Turkey will regret “more than once” about its shooting down of a Russian bomber jet near the Syrian-Turkish border, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, adding Moscow would not ignore Ankara’s “aiding of terrorists”.

“Who is buying oil (from IS)?”

Russian Federation went on the offensive during a Defense Ministry media briefing Wednesday alleging that top Turkish leaders, including the president, are involved in illegal oil trade tied to the Islamic State group, RFE/RL reported.

“No one has a right to engage in slander against Turkey by saying that Turkey is buying oil from Daesh (IS)”, Erdogan was quoted as saying during a visit to Qatar by the AFP news agency.

“Let me say it. George Haswani, holder of a Russian passport and a Syrian national, is one of the biggest merchants in this business”, Erdogan said.

Antonov pointed the finger at the recent appointment of Erdogan’s son-in-law Berat Albayrak as energy minister and alleged that the president’s son runs one of the country’s main energy companies.

“What a great family business!”

Despite the evidence presented by Russia, Erdogan is unlikely to keep his promise to resign if his links with Islamic State and illegal oil trade are proven, Antonov said.

Sergei Rudskoy, the head of the Russian General Staff’s operative command, said three main oil routes had been identified: The western route to Turkish ports in the Mediterranean; the northern to Patma oil refinery; the eastern to Cazri transfer point.

Russia’s comments are the latest in a string of allegations the two countries have exchanged since Turkish forces shot down a Russian warplane on November 24, saying it entered its airspace from Syria.

Oil smuggling, much of it to Turkey, is a key source of income for ISIS.

Russian Federation said it was producing only “part of the evidence” for now and did not provide direct proof of their claim that Mr Erdogan and family were involved.

The defence ministry officials showed the journalists what they said were satellite images depicting thousands of trucks carrying oil from IS-occupied areas in Syria and Iraq into Turkey.

Meanwhile, the Turkish and Russian foreign ministers are to meet on the sidelines of an worldwide gathering in Serbia, according to Turkey’s Foreign Ministry. “I am asking Mr. Putin would you stay?”

Putin had on Monday said the reason Turkey downed a Russian warplane last week was that it wanted to protect supplies of oil from Islamic State.