Turkey has expressed interest in joining the EU's SEPA payments system, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said.
According to Reuters, Fidan made the comment during a press conference in Ankara, responding to a question about talks held the previous day with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and two other European Commissioners.
Context of the talks
The Ankara meeting on 30 June 2026 forms part of a broader dialogue between Turkey and the EU. According to Fidan, discussions between the relevant financial institutions on Turkey's potential participation in SEPA are ongoing, though no timeline for a decision was given. The topic has been under discussion for some time: an EU official was reported in March 2026 as saying that the bloc had pitched Turkey on joining its payments system.
SEPA is a 41-country initiative that harmonises cross-border euro-currency transactions across participating states, allowing payments to move between accounts within the area in a manner intended to be cheaper, faster, and more secure than traditional cross-border transfers. Membership is generally associated with countries in the European Economic Area, though a number of non-EU states also participate under separate agreements.
Turkey's inclusion would extend the scheme to a market that connects Europe with wider Eurasian and Middle Eastern trade routes, though the source material does not specify additional terms, conditions or a target date for potential Turkish accession.
Wider EU-Turkey relations
Fidan's remarks came alongside broader talks covering the relationship between Ankara and Brussels, with EU officials, including Kallas, visiting Turkey earlier in the week. The statement on SEPA was made in the context of these wider discussions rather than as a standalone financial announcement, and no further detail was provided on which Turkish or EU institutions are involved in the technical discussions, or what conditions would need to be met before any formal application could proceed.
For the payments industry, any move by Turkey towards SEPA integration would be relevant to banks, payment service providers, and businesses that process euro-denominated transactions with Turkish counterparts, since SEPA membership typically reduces the cost and settlement time of such transfers compared with non-SEPA cross-border payment rails. As it stands, the statement confirms continued interest and ongoing institutional talks, without indicating whether or when Turkey might formally join the scheme.
