The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) is earning as much as $1m a day through the sale of oil to some of its biggest enemies: middlemen from Turkey, Iraq’s Kurdish community and the regime of Bashar al-Assad, according to the US Treasury.
The remarks – made in a speech to the Carnegie Foundation on Wednesday by undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence David Cohen – are likely to raise eyebrows in a region where questions are already being asked over Ankara’s commitment to fighting Isis and Kurdish fighters are battling to avoid being over-run by the jihadis in the Syrian city of Kobani.
“We have made our position very clear on this issue. Both Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Minister of Energy Taner Yıldız have repeatedly denied that oil has been sold by [Isis] to Turkey,” said Tanju Bilgiç, the ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson.