Erdoğan pledges to step down if Russia proves Daesh oil claims

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday dismissed and criticized Russia's allegations that Turkey buys oil from Daesh, saying that he would step down if Putin proves his claims, while he condemned the killing of civilians under the pretext of anti-terrorism operations in Syria.

Speaking at Qatar University, Erdoğan questioned the motives behind Russia's operations in Syria, as he noted they directly support Assad's oppressive regime, which has killed over 340,000 civilians in the past five years.

He reiterated once again that Turkey has no intention to escalate the situation or act based on emotions, saying "We will do whatever is prescribed by international diplomacy" and dismissed Russia's allegation that Turkey buys oil from Daesh.

"Nobody can cast aspersions on Turkey regarding the purchase of oil from the terrorist organization Daesh" Erdoğan said, adding that Turkey is not so dishonorable as to buy oil from terrorist organization.

He challenged Putin once again to prove his 'baseless allegations' and said "The moment they can show proof of Turkey buying oil from Daesh, I will resign, and likewise those who cannot prove their allegations should resign."

Previously, Erdoğan had stated that Turkey buys its gas and oil only from officially known sources, including Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan and Northern Iraq, as well as LNG from Algeria and Qatar.

"Adding fuel to the fire benefits no one," the president said and added that Turkey is saddened by the disproportional responses of Russia 'to an incident in which the whole world agrees Turkey is right.'

He continued by saying that Turkey will take its own measures if Russia's disproportional responses continue.

Erdoğan noted that he had previously warned Russian President Vladimir Putin about violating Turkey's airspace, and the latter had apologized and said it would not repeat, but they violated it again on November 24.

On November 24, two Turkish F-16 fighter jets on an aerial patrol intercepted a Russian warplane within rules of engagement when it violated Turkish airspace near the Syrian border.

The Russian warplane received 10 warnings about its violation within five minutes before it was shot down.

This was not the first time Russian warplanes had violated Turkish airspace. In October, Russian warplanes violated Turkish airspace. Russian officials had apologized and pledged that such incidents would not reoccur in the future.