Erdogan Denies Turkey Buys any Oil from Islamic State

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denied Thursday that Turkey bought any oil from the Islamic State group, insisting his country's fight against the jihadists was "undisputed".

"Shame on you. Those who claim we buy oil from Daesh (IS) are obliged to prove it. If not, you are a slanderer," Erdogan said, lashing out at Russian charges after the downing of a warplane on the Syrian border.

Tuesday's incident prompted a tough response from Moscow, a major trade partner and Turkey's largest energy supplier.

But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara did not need to apologize "on an occasion that we are right," adding that he had already said "sorry" in a phone call with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has denounced the act as a "stab in the back" by "accomplices of terrorists."

But Erdogan denied Ankara was collaborating with IS.

"Our country's stance against Daesh has been clear since the very beginning," Erdogan said in a speech to local officials at his presidential palace in the Turkish capital.

"There is no question mark here. Nobody has the right to dispute our country's fight against Daesh or to incriminate us."

Turkey and Russia stand on opposing sides of the four-year Syrian conflict, with Ankara pushing for the ouster of President Bashar Assad by backing moderate opposition rebels.

Moscow is one of the few remaining allies of the Damascus regime.

Russia further enraged Turkey with the launch of its air campaign in Syria in September, accusing Moscow of focusing its fire on moderate rebels rather than IS jihadists.

"Those who carry out a military campaign with the pretext of fighting Daesh are targeting anti-regime opponents," Erdogan said.

"You say you are fighting Daesh. Excuse me, but you are not fighting Daesh. You are killing our Turkmen kinsmen hand-in-hand with the regime in order to clear areas north of Latakia," he said, referring to the Syrian port city.

IS extremists have severely damaged Islam and the Muslims, he said, but added there was no difference between "an organization’s terror and state terror," referring to the Assad regime.

Erdogan called Russia a "strategic partner" which he said required solidarity rather threats. "We are saddened by this," he said.

"There is no reason for us to target Russia with which we have multi-faceted and very strong ties, without any border violation," he noted, saying that disagreements with Moscow over the Syrian crisis and Ankara's activating its military rules of engagement were two separate things.

"If the same incursion happens today, Turkey will be obliged to retaliate."

Erdogan also hit back at Putin's charges that Turkey's leaders were encouraging the Islamisation of the country.

"How dare you speak like that," said Erdogan. "Ninety-nine percent of Turkey is Muslim."

Comments 13
Default-user-icon illegitimate & illiterate Southern (Guest) 26 November 2015, 15:01

I must admit your longing for progressive lifestyle and knowledge is exhibited daily in your comments. Please never change... thank you for being you, Southern.

Default-user-icon The Free Shia Legion (Guest) 26 November 2015, 15:05

I hope speakfreely will become more intelligent this winter

Default-user-icon Shia ISIS (Guest) 26 November 2015, 15:08

southern fellei7
do you have proof of how turkey buys oil from Dash on the black market? One single proof, just one... please!

Default-user-icon Labayka (Guest) 26 November 2015, 15:23

Labayka Ya Ardogan Ya Batal Ya Modern Day Version of Yazid

Missing peace 26 November 2015, 18:28

not only turkey but also your beloved bashar buys oil from isis.... LOL

Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at Oklahoma University added some juicy details about the trade, "In particular, one person who's been fingered is a very prominent Christian businessman close to the [Syrian] president who buys it, then arranges with the Syrian government to have it shipped back."
26 09 2014

http://www.kjrh.com/decodedc/isis-oil-is-going-to-its-enemy-the-syrian-regime

"The regime in Damascus has pulled its punches with ISIS from the beginning in order to promote the idea that all of Assad's enemies are terrorists," Reed told CBC. "So if you allow ISIS to flourish and then ISIS in return also gives you breathing space—let's say it allows oil to pass through its territory, allows refineries they could cut off to keep operating under regime control—it benefits both sides."

Missing peace 26 November 2015, 20:39

zambrotta you just need to read more and you ll get your answers...

1/you think isis uses banks to stash their money thus can be easily tracked down? lol

2/ assad has choices... iran is providing him oil and support so he isn't that deprived from it because of isis...

and i repeat what i told you yesterday : you are a very naive bashar bootlicker... educate yourself before coming with your posts that shows your ignorance on these matters....

Thumb Mystic 26 November 2015, 19:55

Turkey is a very unpopular country, have been for a long time.
Let's not forget the Armenian Genocide aswell.

Missing ArabDemocrat.com 26 November 2015, 22:13

Let us not forget indeed how the political descendants of those that committed the genocide support the Assad regime.

Thumb Mystic 27 November 2015, 12:16

Who are those descendants if I may ask?

Thumb theresistance4.0 26 November 2015, 21:07

lol really dude

Missing humble 26 November 2015, 21:37

Even Tric Trac doesn't believe this turkish guy...

Missing ArabDemocrat.com 26 November 2015, 22:12

Wrong Southern. What is proven is that it is your Assadist regime that buys oil from ISIS and a Russian bank is the payment intermediary between the two.

Default-user-icon nevas (Guest) 27 November 2015, 10:02

There is ample proof that turkey and the syrian regime bought oil from ISIS.