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Turkish PM vows to do all to fight IS, clear borders amid Russia's accusations of terror links

Xinhua, December 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Thursday that his country is doing all to control its border with Syria and to remove Islamic State (IS) elements from Syrian side of the border with coalition forces.

"Now it seems that the 98-km of border (on Syrian side) is under the control of Daesh (IS in Arabic). We maintain controls with signal systems. We try to clear up Daesh," Davutoglu said in a press conference before his departure for Azerbaijan.

The Turkish prime minister slammed on Russia once again suggesting that Russian air strikes were targeting Syrian rebels that fight against IS militants.

Russia is still using Soviet time propaganda, Davutoglu also said in reply to Russian claims that Turkey purchases illicit IS oil stolen from Iraq and Syria, added Davutoglu.

Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said on Wednesday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family are involved in the oil trade with the Islamic State group.

"Turkey is the major buyer of oil stolen from legitimate owners in Syria and Iraq. According to evidence we have gathered, the highest political elite of the country is involved in this criminal business, including President Erdogan and his family."

But the Turkish president has said he would be ready to resign if Russia managed to prove the allegations.

Antonov also said Russia is now conducting airstrikes on oil pumps, refineries and transport tankers to prevent the smuggling of oil along the Syrian-Turkish border, as a necessary condition for defeating IS.

The revenues from oil is one of the main sources of the activities of the terrorists in Syria. They are earning around two billion U.S. dollars annually.

Davutoglu's pledges also came when Washington has repeatedly demanded that Ankara do more to fight IS militants and tighten up its borders with Syria.

Earlier, U.S. President Barack Obama said at a press conference at the Paris Climate Summit that he had "repeated conversations" with Mr. Erdogan about the need to close the border between Turkey and Syria.

"We've seen serious progress on that front, but there's still some gaps," said Obama. "In particular, there's about 98 km that are still used as a transit point for foreign fighters, (and) ISIL shipping out fuel for sale that helps finance their terrorist activities."

Relations between Moscow and Ankara soured after the latter downed a Russian warplane along Syrian border on Nov. 24, claiming national airspace violation. Endit