Erdogan to discuss alternatives to the Russian Mir system with ministers

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will discuss with ministers alternatives to Russia's Mir payment system after two private Turkish banks stopped accepting its cards, BLOOMBERG reported. The same is reported by Habertürk.

“We will hold a meeting and make a final decision,” the president said.

In September, two large private banks in Turkey - Isbank and Denizbank - stopped accepting Mir cards. Isbank said its decision was influenced by the US Treasury's warning to financial institutions. The warning said that if they enter into new or expand existing agreements with the National Payment Card System (NSPK; Mir card operator), they "risk supporting Russia's efforts to circumvent US sanctions."

After two Turkish banks refused to accept Mir cards, Erdogan decided to hold a "high-level" meeting to discuss the situation and possible sanctions from Western countries. At the same time, the NSPK itself noted that "there is no catastrophic decline in volumes in Turkey." The operator has five partner banks in the country, and the remaining three banks “continue to work to varying degrees: someone works with cards of Russian sanctions banks, someone works with all banks,” said Vladimir Komlev, HEAD of the NSPK.

Following Turkish Isbank and Denizbank, Mir cards were no longer accepted by Kazakhstani Halyk Bank and Vietnamese BIDV. On September 23, the service of foreign cards of the Russian payment system was suspended in Uzbekistan.