Top Russian military officials on Wednesday accused the Turkish president of personally benefiting from the illegal oil trade with the Islamic State group (ISIS). Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Russia has evidence that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family are directly linked to ISIS' oil operations, reported BBC.
"Turkey is the main consumer of the oil stolen from its rightful owners, Syria and Iraq. According to information we've received, the senior political leadership of the country - President Erdogan and his family - are involved in this criminal business," Antonov told reporters and several dozen foreign military representatives who were summoned at short notice to the Russian army's national defense command center in Moscow, according to The Telegraph.
Antonov said Russia is aware of three main oil smuggling routes to Turkey, where "large quantities" of oil are brought into the country via "live oil pipelines" consisting of thousands of oil trucks, according to RT.
The Russian Defense Ministry showed reporters what it said were satellite pictures depicting thousands of trucks being loaded with oil at ISIS installations in Syria and Iraq, and then carrying the oil across the border into Turkey, according to The Associated Press.
It also provided videos of airstrikes on ISIS oil facilities and maps detailing the smuggling routes. However, Russia did not provide evidence showing that Erdogan and his family were involved in the illegal oil trade.
Turkey has also supplied the ISIS and Al-Nusra militants with up to 2,000 fighters, 120 tons of ammunition and 250 vehicles, said Chief of National Center for State Defense Control Lt. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev, reports RT.
The following video was shown during the briefing held in Moscow on Wednesday:
Antonov continued: "Maybe I'm being too blunt, but one can only entrust control over this thieving business to one's closest associates. In the West, no one has asked questions about the fact that the Turkish president's son heads one of the biggest energy companies, or that his son-in-law has been appointed energy minister. What a marvelous family business! The cynicism of the Turkish leadership knows no limits. Look what they're doing. They went into someone else's country, they are robbing it without compunction."
Antonov added that since Russia began targeting the oil operations in Syria on Sept. 30, ISIS' income from illegal oil smuggling has been halved, from about $3 million per day to $1.5 million a day.
Russia has hit 32 oil complexes, 11 refineries, 23 oil pumping stations, and destroyed 1,080 trucks carrying oil products, according to Lieutenant-General Sergey Rudskoy.
Responding furiously to the Russian allegations, Erdogan said that nobody has a right to "slander" Turkey, and insisted the country would never stoop so low as to buy oil from ISIS. He once again claimed that he would resign if the allegations are proven to be true, reported Reuters.
Rudskoy said more evidence will be presented in the coming days.
