Several dozen people took part in a rally in Antalya in southern Turkey against the decision of Turkish state and private banks to refuse to cooperate with the Russian Mir payment system, Aydınlık reported on Thursday.
At a rally organized by the Patriotic Party (Vatan Partisi), protesters chanted, "Leave the Mir cards alone," and "Trade with Russia must continue." Deputy Chairman of the party Serdar Uskuplu said that "the suspension of the Mir cards is an obstacle to the work of Turkey's tourism industry and merchants in Antalya."
Aydınlık notes that after the decision on the Mir cards, businesses operating in the tourism industry, from grocers to textile producers, from ice cream stores to leather goods stores, estimate an average loss of 80%.
Three state-owned banks in Turkey have refused to use the Mir system. Official sources have not yet confirmed this information. According to the channel, the state banks decided on Tuesday morning to withdraw from the Russian payment system, but it has not yet been officially announced. Private Turkish banks Is Bankasi and Denizbank announced on September 16 that they would stop accepting Mir cards following a statement by the US Department of Treasury about their intention to impose sanctions for supporting Russia's attempts to expand the use of its payment system abroad.
Last week, Erdogan instructed relevant ministries to work out alternatives to the use of Mir cards in the country. This issue was discussed at the government meeting on September 26, as well as during the meeting of the president with the heads of the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank and the leading local banks on September 23. The decisions taken at these meetings were not reported.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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Based on materials from TASS