Five of the Turkish banks have started using the Russian payment system Mir, raising concerns that it could be used to circumvent sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. As Mastercard and Visa have stopped operating in Russia, Mir card payments will allow Russian tourists to pay for their purchases in Turkey. There are “very serious developments” regarding the adoption of the system that will allow Russians in Turkey to pay for their purchases, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in the resort of Sochi, according to the Turkish Anadolu Agency on Saturday. Turkey has also agreed to pay for some Russian gas in rubles, Erdogan said. The Turkish leader’s meeting with Putin on Friday came three weeks after they met in Iran. The deepening ties between the two countries are worrying Western officials, some of whom are considering punitive actions against Turkey, such as asking companies to cut funding to Turkish companies, the Financial Times reported. There have been no official talks about such actions for Turkey so far, the media added. Ankara has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine but has not imposed sanctions on Russia or closed its airspace over the country, which is one of Turkey’s top trading partners. And Turkey needs all the financial support it can get. Turkey’s economy grew by 11% in 2021 from a year earlier, but it is beset by soaring inflation that reached nearly 80% in July. The Turkish lira has also lost half its value against the US dollar this year. The country’s central bank has been drawing on its foreign currency to support the currency – but reserves were boosted by $3 billion last week after Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom transferred some money to a Turkish subsidiary for a construction project, Bloomberg reported. In June, US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo met with Turkish officials and bankers, warning them not to be used as a conduit for Russian money. Turkey is the top destination for Russian tourists, with 7 million of them visiting in 2019, according to Nikkei.
