Turkey shot down Russian jet to protect IS oil trade: President Putin

Russia has accused Turkey of shooting down its warplane near the border with Syria in order to protect its oil trade with the Islamic State group. Speaking at international talks on climate change in Paris, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the downing of the plane a huge mistake. Turkey has denied any ties to IS and is part of a US-led coalition carrying out air strikes against the militant group. The Turkish government has refused to apologise for the incident. Yesterday, the US state department said evidence from Turkish and US



sources indicated the aircraft did violate Turkish airspace.

Mr Putin said at a news conference in Paris yesterday that they have every reason to think that the decision to shoot down their plane was dictated by the desire to protect the oil supply lines to Turkish territory. He said Russia had received more information to show that IS oil was passing through Turkish territory.