ANKARA, September 29. /TASS/: Turkey’s state bank Ziraat bankasi has suspended the service of cards of the Russian Mir payment system in Turkey, Reuters reported citing chief executive Alpaslan Cakar on Thursday.
On September 16, private Turkish lenders Is Bankasi and Denizbank announced that they would suspend accepting Mir cards following the US Treasury Department's announcement of its intention to impose sanctions for supporting Russia's attempts to expand the use of its payment system abroad. Also, Mir cards were being accepted by Turkish state-owned banks Ziraat Bankasi, VakifBank and Halkbank. Earlier the Turkish TV channel NTV reported that state-owned banks decided to withdraw from the Russian payment system on Tuesday morning, but it has not yet been officially announced.
Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan instructed the relevant ministries to work out alternatives to the use of Mir cards in the country. The issue was discussed at a government meeting on September 26, as well as on September 23 at a meeting between the President and heads of the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank and leading local banks. The meetings did not result in any solutions.
