Israel has accused Turkey of buying oil from ISIS, thereby funding the militants’ activities.
Speaking in Athens, Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said ISIS had “enjoyed Turkish money for oil for a very, very long period of time”.
Turkey denies permitting ISIS smuggling, and the US recently rejected Russian allegations that Turkish government officials were in league the militants.
ISIS has captured swathes of Syria and Iraq, including operational oil fields.
Moshe Yaalon told reporters after a meeting with his Greek counterpart: “It’s up to Turkey, the Turkish government, the Turkish leadership, to decide whether they want to be part of any kind of cooperation to fight terrorism.
“This is not the case so far. As you know, Daesh [Islamic State] enjoyed Turkish money for oil for a very, very long period of time. I hope that it will be ended.”
Moshe Yaalon also alleged that Turkey had “permitted jihadists to move from Europe to Syria and Iraq and back”.
US state department officials last month rejected Russian allegations of Turkish government involvement but a state department spokesman said IS oil was being smuggled into Turkey via middlemen.
Efforts by Israel and Turkey to repair damaged ties already hit a setback this month over demands for compensation for the deaths of 10 Turkish activists on an aid ship in 2010.
The Israeli navy had raided a flotilla of ships trying to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza.
Senior Israeli and Turkish officials met in December to try to repair relations, raising hopes of progress in negotiations to import Israeli natural gas.
According to the US Department of Treasury, ISIS has made more than $500 million trading oil.
A treasury official said ISIS’ “primary customer” has been the government of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, despite its ongoing battle to overthrow the regime.
ISIS had also looted up to $1 billion from banks in territory it held, Adam Szubin told the BBC.
A US-led coalition has been bombing ISIS targets, including oil facilities, in Syria and Iraq for over a year.
ISIS’ finance chief was recently killed in one such mission, Pentagon officials announced on December 10.
“The two are trying to slaughter each other and they are still engaged in millions and millions of dollars of trade,” Adam Szubin said of Syria and ISIS, in comments reported by Reuters news agency.
The group was estimated to be making as much as $40 million a month from the oil trade, including from buyers in Turkey, he added.
ISIS’ other main source of funding comes from extorting money from people in the territory under its control, said Adam Szubin.
Cutting off the group’s cash flow was a key part of the coalition strategy to defeat ISIS, he said.
Unlike other designated terrorist groups, ISIS did not rely on funding from foreign donors, but generated money from its own operations, Adam Szubin said.
The US-led coalition has recently launched a military campaign, dubbed Tidal Wave 2, intensifying air strikes on ISIS oil fields, refineries and tankers being used by the group.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dismissed Russian claims he is benefiting from the oil trade with ISIS as “slander”.
Russia claims that Turkey is the biggest buyer of oil smuggled from ISIS-held territory, accusing Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family of direct involvement.
However, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would resign if such allegations were proved.
Russia and Turkey are locked in an angry spat over the downing of a Russian warplane by Turkish forces.
Responding to the allegations, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said “no one has a right to engage in slander against Turkey by saying that Turkey is buying oil from Daesh [ISIS]”.
Earlier, Russia’s defense ministry displayed satellite images it said showed columns of trucks loaded with oil crossing from ISIS territory in Iraq and Syria into Turkey.
“According to available information, the highest level of the political leadership of the country, President Erdogan and his family, are involved in this criminal business,” Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov told the briefing in Moscow.
Russia said it was producing only “part of the evidence” for now and did not provide direct proof of their claim that Recep Tayyip Erdogan and family were involved.
The US has also rejected the allegations.
“We just don’t believe that to be true in any way, shape or form,” a State Department spokesman said.
President Vladimir Putin has already accused Ankara of downing the plane on its Syrian border to protect oil supply lines.
Turkey said the Russian SU-24 fighter plane intruded into its airspace and ignored repeated warnings to leave.
Russia and Turkey have important economic ties, and in the wake of the incident Moscow imposed visa requirements for Turkish visitors, and placed restrictions on trade with Ankara.
On December 2, Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Russia’s response “disproportional” and said Turkey would take their “own measures” if they continued, without specifying what they would be.
Despite the tensions Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said he is prepared to meet Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu at a security conference in Serbia this week.
It would be the first time the officials have met since the downing of the Russian fighter jet.
Russia is accusing Turkey of shooting down its fighter jet on the Syrian border in order to protect its oil trade with ISIS.
Speaking at international talks on climate change in Paris, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the warplane’s downing a “huge mistake”.
Turkey has denied any ties to ISIS and is part of a US-led coalition carrying out airstrikes against the militant group.
The Turkish government has refused to apologize for the incident.
One Russian pilot was killed and the other rescued following the crash on November 24. Turkey says the plane entered its air space – an accusation Russia denies.
On November 30, the US state department said evidence from Turkish and US sources indicated the aircraft did violate Turkish airspace.
Spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said the US wanted to “encourage dialogue now… we need to de-escalate the situation”.
Photo Reuters
Russia has been carrying out air strikes in Syria, targeting rebels against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, including ISIS.
Turkey is a vehement opponent of Bashar al-Assad and has been accused of turning a blind eye to jihadist fighters crossing from its territory into Syria.
Until a few months ago, Turkey was reluctant to play an active role in the coalition against ISIS. However, in August it allowed the US-led coalition to begin using its airbase at Incirlik.
Russia has imposed sanctions on Turkey over the downing of the plane, including restrictions on imports of Turkish food and an end to visa-free travel.
ISIS earns much of its money from illegal sales of oil – however, Turkey has staunchly denied that it is involved in the trade.
“We have every reason to think that the decision to shoot down our plane was dictated by the desire to protect the oil supply lines to Turkish territory,” Vladimir Putin said at a news conference in Paris on November 30.
The Russian president said his president had received more information to show that ISIS oil was passing through Turkish territory.
Earlier Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu said the incident was unfortunate but that Turkey had a right and duty to protect its airspace and would not apologize.
On November 30, Russia said it would ban mainly imports of agricultural products, vegetables and fruits from Turkey, although it may delay the restrictions for several weeks to “ease inflationary pressure”.
Turkish industrial goods would not be banned for now but future expansion of the sanctions was not ruled out, officials said.
Turkey and Russia have important economic links. Russia is Turkey’s second-largest trading partner, while more than three million Russian tourists visited Turkey in 2014.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will act “patiently, not emotionally” before deciding its response to the economic sanctions.
According to US officials, an American airstrike has destroyed more than 238 fuel trucks controlled by ISIS militants in north-east Syria.
It is thought the pilots found the trucks parked up together, waiting to be loaded at an oil production point near al-Hasakah and Dayr Az Zawr.
Warning shots were reportedly fired to scare away the civilian drivers, before the destruction of the trucks began.
Islamic State makes large amounts of money from oil it produces from seized facilities.
The US Department of Defense says it will release video of the air raid, which took place over the weekend.
Last week another 116 tankers were destroyed in a previous airstrike.
Pentagon spokesman, Capt. Jeff Davis, said on November 23: “This was conducted in many ways identical to our last,”
“It was proceeded with a leaflet drop to warn drivers out of their trucks as well as a show of force.”
Jeff Davis said there were no reports of civilian casualties.
The oil truck strikes are part of Operation Tidal Wave II, a change in tactics on the part of the coalition. Previously, petrol supplies were largely avoided because of the impact on civilian populations.
A US-led coalition began a campaign of air strikes in Syria and Iraq in 2014, after ISIS took large parts of both countries.
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