Turks abandoning ‘pro-Israel’ Visa and Mastercard – media

Turkish citizens are increasingly cancelling their Visa and Mastercards as part of a nationwide boycott of companies or nations that support Israel, local daily Yeni Safak reported on Thursday.

Banks are reportedly struggling to cope with unprecedented demand for cards issued by the country’s domestic payment system Troy, which was founded by the Istanbul-based Interbank Card Center in 2015.

The shift to the local payment system is part of a protest against the financial support provided by Western countries to Israel amid the flare-up of deadly hostilities between Israel and militant groups in Gaza.

Supporters of the boycott have launched a hashtag campaign #TroyKartaGeçiyoruz (#WeGoToTroyKarta), urging Turks to switch to locally issued cards. The hashtag has been supported by more than 100,000 posts in recent days.

Since the launch of the campaign against Visa and Mastercard, nearly 19 million new Troy cards have reportedly been issued.

Troy, Türkiye's only domestic payment card, was officially launched in April 2016. The system offers financial services, including the issuing of credit cards, debit cards, and prepaid cards and network processing. Since 2017, Troy cards have been accepted in the US on the Discover Card network.

Earlier this week, the Turkish parliament removed Coca-Cola and Nestle products from restaurants within the parliament campus over their alleged support for Israel.

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