Will Turkish banks restart the Russian payment system MIR?
A statement from an official at a Turkish state bank has shed light on whether the Russian payment system MIR will be relaunched in Turkey. According to a source from a Turkish state bank, who spoke to RIA Novosti, Turkish authorities have not yet considered restarting the MIR payment system in the country.
“There is no such decision at the moment!” the source stated. The official added, “Such decisions are made at the government level, and we comply when a decree reaches us. Currently, there is no decision on this matter.” The source also noted that public banks have not received any instructions to resolve issues related to bank transfers between Turkey and Russia.
Earlier, Emre Doğan, Deputy Chairman of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Council, announced that he was considering recommending to the Turkish government that the Russian payment system be allowed to operate again in the country. Five Turkish banks previously accepted MIR cards, but this service was halted due to the threat of secondary sanctions.
In February of this year, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on the National Payment Card System, which operates MIR. Following these sanctions, all “friendly” countries that accepted Russian cards terminated this service.
Since the beginning of this year, Turkish banks have started to reject payments coming from Russia. A source familiar with the matter told TASS that Russian authorities have been in talks with Ankara, but by early fall, nearly all Turkish banks decided to halt transactions related to Russia and Belarus.
According to the source, all foreign-affiliated banks in Turkey have already stopped payments to Russian companies, and now state and private banks without foreign affiliations are following suit. The banks are reportedly trying to protect themselves from “potential future restrictions and sanctions.”
The source mentioned that Emlak Katılım remains the only bank continuing to serve Russian-Turkish trade. This bank processes transactions in Turkish lira and Russian rubles, while many Turkish banks immediately block transactions in U.S. dollars or euros.
