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government document found dumped in a landfill near Moscow. A picture of the Finance Ministry letter detailing the meeting with Turkish Deputy Finance Minister Bulent Aksu was published on the Telegram channel of Russia’s Baza news service on August 19. “The feasibility of signing a memorandum at these negotiations was discussed, it was decided that we need to work on it and now we are working on it,” Moiseev told Bloomberg by phone. “Depending on what will be in the memorandum, we will proceed.” The Bank of Russia established the financial messaging system in 2014 with the aim of “reducing external risks” and shielding Moscow against the threat of being cut off from the global SWIFT service. The idea is to ensure uninterrupted services for transferring messages in SWIFT formats, according to a presentation on the central bank’s website. Russia is in talks about connecting China to the network. The central bank also created Russia’s MIR card and the National Payment Card System to process domestic payments in 2015 in response to sanctions risks. Officials at the talks in Moscow discussed access for Turkey’s banks to the Russian messaging system, as well as extending MIR’s use to more Turkish lenders, according to the letter. They also held talks on payments in national currencies.
Turkey and the US late on August 7 said they have agreed to establish a joint operation centre in Turkey to coordinate and manage a planned safe zone in northern Syria. The news came after three days of tense talks in Ankara, during which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stepped up threats that he would launch a military operation to deal with US-backed Kurdish forces if the matter was not quickly resolved. However, Reuters noted that the agreement—announced in separate statements issued by Turkey's Defence Ministry and the US Embassy in Ankara—did not state whether the Nato allies had overcome two main points that had divided them, namely how far the proposed safe zone should extend into Syria, and who would command forces patrolling the area. With US backing, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which includes the Kurdish YPG militia that Ankara sees as linked to the “terrorist” Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which for decades has waged an insurgency in southeastern Turkey, has taken control over the last four years of much of northeastern Syria in battles with Islamic State.
Jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan has said if given the chance he could stop the conflict between the Turkish state and Kurdish militants within a week, according to a statement released by his lawyers on August 8. Ocalan is the founder of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and EU. It launched a separatist insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984. Ocalan has been incarcerated in an island prison since Turkish special forces captured him in Kenya in 1999. A ban on visiting Ocalan, in place since 2011, was lifted in May when his lawyers met him for the first time in eight years. The lawyers said in the statement that they met him again on August 7. The conflict between Turkey and the PKK has claimed the lives of around 40,000 people. A ceasefire broke down in 2015 after several years of peace talks.
Syrian entrepreneurs in Turkey who have fled the conflict in their home country will be given access to local business networks and knowhow to build their managerial capacity under a mentoring programme launched by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Turkey is the biggest recipient of Syrian refugees in the world. It is currently providing shelter to more than 3.6mn Syrians, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The huge inflow is a severe humanitarian and economic challenge for the host country. Syrians who enter Turkey with a valid passport have foreigner status and can start businesses. According to the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey, the number of registered companies with Syrian owners or partners in Turkey is estimated to be over 10,000 and they employ around 100,000 people. Most of the companies are small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), the predominant segment of the Turkish economy. In order to better integrate the Syrian-led businesses and improve their competitiveness, the EBRD, together with the
25 TURKEY Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com