MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. The decision of Turkish banks to stop using Russia’s Mir payment cards was made under unprecedented pressure from the United States. Moscow and Ankara need to jointly look for ways to counter this, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
"It is clear that banks and economic operators are under the most intense pressure from the United States; they are threatened with secondary sanctions on the banking system. Of course, this decision was made as a result of this unprecedented pressure. The situation is complex, and, of course, we need to jointly look for ways to counter this pressure in such a way so as not to harm our trade and economic cooperation and to not deprive the many millions of Russian tourists who visit Turkey every year during comfortable conditions," the Kremlin spokesman said, answering a relevant question.
Private Turkish banks Is Bankasi and Denizbank announced on September 16 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.