Iraqi PM says Islamic State smuggles majority of oil via Turkey

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Monday that most oil smuggled by the Islamic State goes through Turkey, joining a chorus of countries linking it with the extremists' financing.

During a meeting with Germany's visiting foreign minister, Abadi stressed the "importance of stopping oil smuggling by (the Islamic State) terrorist gangs, the majority of which is smuggled via Turkey," a statement from his office said.

Relations with Ankara have improved since Abadi took office in 2014, but tensions remain over issues including the Syrian civil war, and more recently a row over a Turkish military deployment in northern Iraq.

It is the latest in a series of accusations linking Turkey and oil smuggling by, which overran large parts of Iraq last year and also holds major territory in neighboring Syria.

Russia accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family of involvement in the Islamic Trade oil trade, to which he responded that Russia was in fact involved.

Iranian media then picked up Russia's claims, prompting Erdogan to lash out at his Iranian counterpart.

And Mohsen Rezaie, secretary of Iran's Expediency Council, said Iranian military advisers on the ground in Iraq and Syria had images of Islamic State oil trucks going to Turkey.

The U.S. has meanwhile said that Islamic State oil smuggling through Turkey is not significant, prompting Moscow to accuse Washington of a cover-up...
  AFP
i24news.tv
7/12/15
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