You might have seen accusations in the press this week* that the Islamic State is selling oil to Russia. Apparently, Turkish President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan claims that Putin is one of the key buyers in Syria’s dirty illegal oil trade. But don’t fall for it: the story now being peddled to us by the Western press is a panicked response to a major Russian exposé that first came to light last week. Actually, it’s our friend Turkey who has been caught buying oil from the terrorist organization…and that’s not all. Recent revelations point to evidence that:
- Erdogan’s son is dealing in illegal arms and oil with the Islamic State.
- Russian satellite images show three main oil smuggling routes to and from Turkey.
- Turkey shot down the Russian jet because it is defeating I.S and therefore interfering with Erdogan’s lucrative trade.
- Somehow, despite the scale of the operation, The USA seems to have missed all of this.
- There are also new claims about an Iraqi security team who have evidence of a top Israeli military officer fraternizing with members of the I.S.
- A journalist has uncovered evidence the USA is complicit in a Turkish terror campaign against a Kurdish village last March. He claims the Turkish army waged this war on civilians alongside Islamic jihadists.
You may remember Putin accusing the USA of creating and arming the Islamic State. In that interview, which we covered here, the Russian President claimed the White House knows exactly which of its allies are buying the oil that allows I.S to keep on growing.
We’ve had to wait a while to find out who he was referring to, and this is big news. But these revelations are at risk of being lost in a quagmire of lies, as Erdogan, backed by Western intelligence agencies and their media lapdogs, has inverted the truth to distract and confuse the public.
When a Russian jet was downed by Turkey in late November, Putin said:
“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.”
Two days ago, the Russian Defense Ministry held a major briefing on new findings concerning IS funding in Moscow (see video). According to Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov, up to 2,000 fighters, 120 tons of ammunition and 250 vehicles have been delivered to Islamic State and Al-Nusra militants from Turkish territory.
“Terrorism without money is an animal without teeth,” Antonov declared, saying Russia was determined to fight the Islamic State. He pointed out that attacking the source of their wealth is the logical key to defeating them. Antonov showed satellite evidence that Turkey is involved in a large-scale illegal smuggling campaign, and said:
“Today, we are presenting only some of the facts that confirm that a whole team of bandits and Turkish elites stealing oil from their neighbors is operating in the region.”
He claimed there are thousands of trucks and live oil pipelines involved.
“According to our data, the top political leadership of the country- President Erdogan and his family- is involved in this criminal business.”
“These [airstrikes] helped reduce the trade of the oil illegally extracted on the Syrian territory, by almost 50 per cent,” Antonov says, adding: “The income of this terrorist organization was about $3 million per day. After two months of Russian airstrikes their income was about $1.5 million a day.”
Turkey is certainly getting a lot of attention, but it has overshadowed other important news. A claim by the Iraqi security forces could point to Israel as a suspect in the terrorist group’s training and operations command.
In another massive revelation, FARS news agency reports that Iraqi security forces recently took an Israeli colonel hostage, along with the Islamic State militants he was accompanying. The Iraqi army commander told the agency that the Israeli militant “had participated in the ISIL group’s terrorist operations.”
The colonel was arrested along with the jihadists, and the Iraqi commander even specified the traitor’s name and dog collar number:
“The Israeli colonel’s name is Yusi Oulen Shahak and is ranked colonel in Golani Brigade with the security and military code of Re34356578765az231434.”
The Iraqi commander said it wasn’t the first time Israelis had been caught with Islamic State militants, but they had never before found a high ranking officer. Iraq also claims that I.S drones with Israeli-made labels have been shot down on two occasions.
Along with Israel’s Netanyahu, Reccep Tayyip Erdogan is far more of a tyrant than Vladimir Putin. His military is targeting Kurdish citizens, an ethnic group with their own language who are alienated in their own country. Most anti-Kurdish atrocities at the Turkish government’s hand have been ignored by the mainstream media, although a few independent journalists have uncovered clues that (like the downing of the Russian jet) Turkey’s actions have the USA’s approval.
President Erdogan has crushed civil liberties during his time in power, and responded with extreme violence during Turkish protests against his leadership. Other Western allies such as Qatar, Israel and Saudi Arabia are also known for their horrendous repression and human rights records, yet Putin- the only leader who is actually doing anything to crush the terrorist cell- always attracts the most criticism from the Western press.
Erdogan strongly denies Russia’s allegations, and has said he will resign if it can be proved he’s lying. Judging by the following image and Antonov’s statement in full, it the corrupt President should be packing his bags as we speak.
*First published December 4th 2015 here.
Sophie McAdam 