Türkiye said to announce soon alternative to Russia's Mir payment system

The Turkish government will announce details of the payment system developed as an alternative to the Russian Mir system in the next two days, Aydınlık newspaper reported, citing sources.

Earlier, Bloomberg news agency, citing an unnamed senior Turkish official, reported that the Turkish state-owned banks Halkbank, Ziraat Bank and VakıfBank decided to stop using the Russian payment system Mir. According to the agency, such plans of Turkish banks are an example of how "secondary US sanctions force countries to distance themselves from Moscow". It is claimed that such a decision by the banks also marks a turn in Türkiye's position regarding sanctions against the Russian Federation.

"...Tourists and merchants in tourist regions (Türkiye) are experiencing difficulties with payments. They urge the government to 'find a solution'. In recent days, President Tayyip Erdogan held a meeting with economic departments on the situation with the (system) Mir in the Vahdettin mansion. After the meeting, it became known that the work was continuing. According to the information received by Aydınlık, the details of the payment system, which is being worked on as an alternative to the Mir system, will be announced in a day or two," the newspaper writes.