Why PayPal is leaving Turkey
US-based online payments giant PayPal will halt its operations in Turkey, but there seems to be more to the story than meets the eye.
Global online payments giant PayPal announced May 30 that it will cease operations in Turkey. The California-based financial services company said the Turkish Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) denied its license application. Starting June 6, users in Turkey will not be able to transfer funds and purchase goods and services through PayPal.
The news caused a mini-storm. Ingrid Lunden, editor and writer for the news website Tech Crunch, suggested that the new development may be part of efforts by “[Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s government … to exert more power on the tech sphere.”
Sozcu newspaper, the erstwhile opponent of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), carried a flashier headline: “[Deputy Prime Minister] Mehmet Simsek left, PayPal is finished.”
Although Simsek kept his post under new Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, he no longer oversees the BDDK. Simsek is considered a leading actor in the AKP’s reformist-realist camp and a friend of foreign investors. His diminished role and PayPal’s problems can be seen as a blow to those who advocate Turkey’s closer integration with the global economy.
