President Erdoğan made statements regarding the sanctions threats against Turkey due to Russia’s Mir payment system.
Erdoğan stated that they are evaluating the steps to be taken regarding Mir Kart.
President Erdogan Speaks About Mir Kart
After the US targeted Turkish banks that are included in Russia’s Mir payment system, İşbank and DenizBank announced that they suspended the Mir application.
Erdogan used the following statements on the subject:
“The most important point about these cards is the event called Mir Card. This was a step between us and Russia. We are evaluating the steps to be taken on this issue with our related friends. According to him, I hope we will take these steps again. Of course we have an alternative, that’s different. But the trouble is, here are the different versions of these sanctions. These, of course, do not really suit friendship, they do not suit the regulation of our economic relations.
What are we going to do now? What could be the alternatives, the relevant ministers are interviewing on these alternatives. After these meetings, I hope to gather all my friends in Istanbul on Friday. We will hold a meeting with them and make our final decision here.”
After Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February, it was affected by the sanctions of western countries and was excluded from the global payment system.
The Mir system can be seen as the Russian equivalent of Visa and Mastercard. The system is accepted in North Korea, Cuba and some post-Soviet countries. It is also predicted that the system will soon take place in Iran.
The head of Russia’s Mir payment system said that despite the suspension of Mir debit cards by two banks, it continues to operate in Turkey.
