Turkey slams Czech's 'unacceptable' IS ally accusation

Turkey has condemned Czech President Milos Zeman's suggestion that it is an ally of the Islamic State group.

Zeman made those remarks in a debate with the public during his trip to a Czech region when answering a question about why the Turkish armed forces attack the Kurds who are fighting the Islamic militants.

The Czech president said Turkey mediated help for IS to be able to export oil.

Zeman, who is known for his strong anti-Muslim rhetoric, has been critical of Turkey in the past. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis whose government is in charge of foreign policy declined to comment.

In a message to Czech media Wednesday, Turkey's ambassador to Prague, Ahmet Necati Bigali, called Zeman's accusation "unfortunate, unacceptable and based on unfounded accusations.”

IS has wreaked havoc in the Middle East after it formed its “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

At the height of its rule, IS imposed its brutal interpretation of Islamic law across territory straddling Syria and Iraq that was roughly the size of the United Kingdom.

But more than four years after IS declared a cross-border "caliphate", the jihadists have lost all but a tiny patch of land in the village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border.

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