Ankara (AFP) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on
Thursday said Turkey had proof Russia was involved in illegal oil trade with
the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, countering "immoral" Russian
allegations that his own family was importing oil from the jihadists.
"We have the proof in our hands. We will
reveal it to the world," Erdogan said in a televised address in Ankara.
The Russian defence ministry on Wednesday
accused Erdogan and his family of involvement in the illegal oil trade with IS
jihadists after Ankara's downing of one of Moscow's warplanes last month which
plunged the two countries' relations into a crisis.
"In recent days a fashion led by Russia has
emerged. Actually, Russia does not believe this either," said Erdogan,
referring to the alleged oil trade with IS group.
"Look, Russia has to prove that the Turkish
republic buys oil from Daesh, otherwise this is a slander," he added,
using an Arabic acronym for IS extremists.
"The immoral side of this issue is
involving my family in the affair," Erdogan added.
Erdogan repeated that he would resign if Moscow
proved the allegation and said it was actually Russians who were involved in
oil dealings.
"Who is buying oil (from IS)? 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.
In November, the US Treasury imposed sanctions
on Haswani, who was also placed on an European Union sanctions list, for
serving as a middleman for oil purchases by the Syrian regime from the IS group.
Erdogan said Thursday "a famous Russian
chess player" was also involved in the oil business with IS, without
giving a name. "He's also in this race," he said.
The new US sanctions also apply to Kirsan
Ilyumzhinov, a wealthy Russian businessman and long-standing president of the
World Chess Federation (FIDE) who was formerly president of the southern
Russian region of Kalmykia.
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