Turkish soldiers training Iraqi troops near Mosul: sources

[Jefferson23]

8. IS oil smuggling to Turkey insignificant: US official -

I guess that depends on what significant means, and a host of other wtf questions



The State Department has dismissed Moscow's charge against its NATO ally

The amount of oil smuggled into Turkey from areas of Syria controlled by the Islamic State group is economically insignificant, the United States said on Friday, after Moscow accused Ankara of profiting from the trade.

US officials said coalition air operations have seriously degraded IS's oil infrastructure, but that in any case most of the crude pumped from its wells was absorbed inside Syria's war zone economy.

Russia and Turkey have in recent days traded allegations that they are involved in the illegal trade, further ratcheting up tensions after Turkish jets downed a Russian bomber on the Syrian border.

"The amount of oil being smuggled is extremely low and has decreased over time and is of no significance from a volume perspective - both volume of oil and volume of revenue," said Amos Hochstein, US special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs.

- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/oil-smuggling-turkey-insignificant-us-official-1088049296#sthash.YtSC3TJe.dpuf