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Turkey lining pockets with smuggled oil trade: Lavrov

Monday, 16 May 2016 9:55 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 16 May 2016 9:56 PM ]

A screen grab from a video released on December 7, 2015 shows the aftermath of a Russian airstrike on Daesh trucks transporting oil from Syria’s Aleppo province.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Turkey is making a huge profit from illegal oil business with terrorists, who smuggle oil from neighboring Syria and Iraq.

Ankara and terrorist groups have "an oil business and business of contraband of artifacts and other illegal movements across the border," Russia's TASS news agency quoted Lavrov as saying on Monday.

Lavrov also said that the Turkish leadership is “lining its pockets” from the business.

Moscow has repeatedly said it has evidence showing Turkey is involved in the smuggling of oil from areas held by the Daesh terrorist group in Iraq and Syria. Ankara has strongly rejected the allegation.

Last December, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution aimed at clogging up the revenue stream of Daesh. It threatened sanctions on parties buying oil from the terrorist group, and advised that countries resist its demands for ransom payments.

Daesh finances its acts of terror mainly through drug trafficking, the sale of oil and antiquities, and ransom from abductions. Furthermore, reports indicate that wealthy individuals in the Persian Gulf region have raised major funds for the terror group.

This picture, obtained from the Russian Defense Ministry's official Facebook page on November 26, 2015, shows Russia's S-400 air defense missile systems at the Hmeimim airbase in the Syrian province of Latakia. (AFP)

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Russian minister said Daesh is receiving support from neighboring countries.

“There is support coming from the outside, especially from those who neighbor Iraq and Syria,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov further noted that Russian airstrikes against terrorists in Syria, which began on September 30, 2015, are helping to “destroy infrastructure used by terrorists to replenish their purse.”

However, he emphasized that the war on terror is not over. "Today, we are far from the end of the road and have a great deal to do.”

Daesh’s heinous campaign of terror spread from Syria to the northern and western parts of Iraq in June 2014. The militants have been committing atrocities against all ethnic and religious groups, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.

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