Turkish president refutes oil trade with Daesh claims

DOHA

The Turkish president has once again refuted all claims Wednesday that Turkey has been purchasing oil from Daesh.

Speaking at a Qatar University ceremony where he received an Honorary Ph.D. in Doha, Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the allegations about Turkey buying oil from Daesh as “slander”.

“Turkey has not lost its moral ethics [to stoop so low as to] buy oil from a terrorist organization,” said Erdogan. “No one has the right to defame Turkey.”

Erdogan’s remarks came after Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Turkey of buying oil from Daesh.

Following the downing of a Russian warplane that violated Turkey’s airspace near the Syrian border on Nov. 24, Russia announced sanctions against Turkey and President Vladimir Putin has alleged Turkish involvement in oil purchases from Daesh.

Turkish President Erdogan has challenged Putin and said he will step down if Russian claims that Turkey buys oil from Daesh are proved. He called on Putin to do the same if they are not.

“Every country, every nation no matter what power [they] have, should respect the other nation, should not play with its honor,” Erdogan said.

The Turkish president added that he was “watching with sadness” Moscow's unproportional reaction to the downing of Russian jet for violating its airspace.

"The world accepts that we are right,” noted Erdogan. “If those reactions continue, of course, we will have to take measures.”