Turkey's Ziraat Bank, Halkbank, and Vakıfbank, which the holders of the Mir bank cards prefer for operations, continue to use the Russian payment system in the country, the newspaper reported.
Transactions that do not use US dollars and euro are made exclusively in lire and rubles, the report said. Turkish banks allowed the use of the Mir bank cards in 2019 to make it easier for Russian tourists to pay for goods and services while visiting Turkey.
The newspaper noted that Turkey is normally complying only with UN sanctions, therefore it considers Western sanctions against Russia the same illegitimate as US sanctions against Iran.
On Monday, Turkish banks Ishbank and Denizbank confirmed to Sputnik that they had stopped servicing the Mir bank cards over US and UK sanctions against Russia.
On Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he might make a decision on the further use of Mir cards in Turkey after a meeting with cabinet ministers on Friday.