Russia has presented new evidence that Turkey is buying oil from the Islamic State and supplying it to the rest of the world. The United States is also reportedly involved in the agreement by refusing to bomb ISIS oil trucks, based on the grounds that it would be harmful to their fellow NATO member. With escalating tensions between Russia and Turkey, it appears as though Russian President Vladimir Putin will do everything in his power to reveal this news to the public.
According to the Russian Deputy Minister of Defense Anatoly Antonov, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his family have been involved in the oil business with ISIS for years. Russia claims that by conducting airstrikes in Syria, the country has helped to cut the amount of illegal oil sales in the Middle East in half. The Russian Ministry of Defense says that the country plans to continue conducting airstrikes in Syria in order to put more pressure on the infrastructure of ISIS oil. Additionally, Russian military officials have stated that they are aware of three distinct routes that ISIS uses to transport oil to Turkey.
Antonov says that the ISIS oil trade reaches the highest members of the Turkish government, as Turkey and ISIS have reportedly been working together to steal oil from Turkish neighbors. Antonov also presented photos, videos and maps which detail the trafficking of stolen oil by ISIS and Turkey. Meanwhile, the United States is not bombing any ISIS oil trucks, as American officials are aware that doing so would be detrimental to Turkey. Most of the oil in question is stolen from Syria and Iraq.
Oil is a major part of how terrorist organizations like ISIS earn money. These groups earn about $2 billion annually by stealing and selling oil. They use this money to fund their acts of violence throughout the world. Turkey is said to be the primary consumer of the stolen oil. As ISIS steals the oil, Turkey facilitates the entire process, allowing ISIS to successfully get away with the crimes.
And of course, President Erdoğan is fully involved as well. In fact, his son, Bilal Erdoğan, is the Turkish Minister of Energy. It could be said that Bilal Erdoğan is essentially single-handedly funding ISIS. From there, the oil obtained from ISIS is shipped throughout the world by Turkey. Any oil that comes from Turkey could have very well come from ISIS. Therefore, by purchasing Turkish oil, one is also supporting terrorism.
For now, the Russian Ministry of Defense says that it will continue to investigate the matter in order to publicly expose more financial schemes of Turkey. The ministry also encourages other parties throughout the world to look into the matter themselves. If what Russia is saying is true, ISIS has some very strong support in the Turkish government.
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