Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated that the plane was shot because it violated Turkish airspace. He vowed to resign if Russian can prove its claim. "We have recently received additional reports that confirm that oil from ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant)controlled territories is delivered to the territory of Turkey on an industrial scale," Putin said, according to TASS news agency. The Islamic State is also referred to as ISIL. "We have all grounds to suspect that the decision to down our plane was motivated by the intention to secure these routes of delivering oil to ports where it is loaded on tankers," he said.
Erdogan shot back immediately stating that the Rusian charge is untrue. "It is obvious where we legally buy oil and natural gas from," Erdogan said. "Everyone must know that we are not that disreputable to make such a deal with terrorist organizations." "As soon as such a claim is proved, the nobility of our nation requires (me) to do this (resign)," Erdogan told reporters. But, he added, if the allegations are not proven, then Putin should resign. "I am asking Putin, would you remain?" The United States in the meanwhile has urged both the countries to reduce tensions over the issue. "We all have a common enemy," President Barack Obama said, referring to the so-called Islamic State group. "I want to make sure that we focus on that threat," he said.
Russia and Turkey hold widely different views about how to end the Syrian civil war. Ankara's position is that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has to step down for the conflict to end -- a position that is supported by the US. Moscow backs Assad. In October Russian planes began airstrikes inside Syria claiming to target the Islamic State. Airspace has been a friction point in the past. In early October, Turkey said it intercepted a Russian jet that violated its airspace. The jet moved away when confronted by Turkish planes, Turkey said. Turkey had then delivered a stern warning to the Russian ambassador.
Tension escalates as Moscow alleges Turkey trading oil with IS
George Washington University's Program on Extremism released a survey on Tuesday that states that Americans passively "eat" Islamic State propaganda even if they don't seem to be essentially lively supporters of the terror group. The study examines cases involving Americans charged with terrorism for their suspected support of the Islamic State. It finds that the conversion of suspected supporters to the group's world view often involved a significant amount of direct contact with "pre-existing social contacts who have already embraced jihadist ideology". According to the report, authorities in the US this year have arrested nearly five dozen people for helping to support or plot with the Islamic State.
This is the largest number of terrorism-related arrests in the country in a single year since September 2001. The study portrays a demographic snapshot of the individuals arrested since March 2014. This emerges from a comprehensive review of social media accounts and legal documents of nearly 400 American sympathizers of the Islamic State conducted by researchers at the university. "The spectrum of US-based sympathizers' actual involvement with ISIS (acronym for the Islamic State) varies significantly, ranging from those who are merely inspired by its message to those few who reached mid-level leadership positions within the group", the authors of the "ISIS in America: From Retweets to Raqqa" wrote. "The individuals range from hardened militants to teenage girls, petty criminals and college students," said Lorenzo Vidino, the director of the university's program on extremism. "The diversity is staggering."
Vidino cited FBI statistics which indicate that the authorities are now pursuing 900 terrorism-related investigations in all 50 American states. Around 40 percent of those arrested were converts to Islam, the report states. Of those arrested, the average age is 26, while 86 percent are male, and activity has occurred in 21 states, according to the report found. A slim majority of those arrested had attempted to travel overseas, while nearly one third of those arrested were involved in plots to carry out attacks on US soil. This involves creation of "shout out" accounts, which enable activists to "introduce new pro-ISIS accounts to the community and promote newly created accounts of previously suspended users, allowing them to quickly regain their pre-suspension status".
Islamic State gains in support from US claims new report
