US and EU step up pressure on Turkey over Russia sanctions

Source:Financial Times Date:15Sep2022

Tipping my hat to Laura Pitel. Excellent investigative journalism. To casual followers of Turkey, the article means Erdogan’s hopes of luring Russian money to Turkey to bankroll the elections has already feiled. Any economic or financial benefit from such flows will be negated by harsh sanctions on Turkey’s ability to borrow abroad
The US is focusing on Turkish banks that have integrated into Mir, Russia’s domestic payments system, two western officials involved in the plans told the FT, as Brussels prepares a delegation to express its concerns to Turkish officials directly.

Five of Turkey’s largest banks, VakıfBank, Ziraat Bank, İş Bank, DenizBank and Halkbank, are members of the Mir payment system, which was developed by Russia’s central bank as a domestic alternative to Visa and Mastercard.