Incident with Russian Su-24 prompted by Ankara's political interests - Kosachyov
MOSCOW. Nov 25 (Interfax) - While downing the Russian Sukhoi Su-24, Turkey was defending not its security interests but rather its political and largely economic interests, because Turkish businessmen cooperate with ISIL structures, head of the Federation Council Committee for International Affairs Konstantin Kosachyov has said.
"There are reasons to believe that the Turkish authorities realized perfectly well what they were doing; that in reality they were protecting their interests - political and largely economic - not their air space," he said at a Wednesday session of the Federation Council.
"Unfortunately, there are many indications that Turkish businessmen are actively cooperating with ISIL structures, using the uncontrollability in the zone, making money on oil and product smuggling, on trade in looted works of art - everything that lies in temptation's way and sells well," he said.
Thus, in his opinion, Turkey is becoming a beneficiary of a shadow business stained with the blood of the Syrian population.
"It is clear that ISIL and the like have built up their power because they used constant and large-scale support from a number of states and unfortunately we can recognize that Turkey is one of them and thus bears actual shared responsibility for all the actions of terrorists and the terrorist international as a whole," Kosachyov said.