Turkey submitted its letter of intent to join SEPA to the EPC
Published:
Updated:
Author: SEPA.tr — Editorial
Event date: 2 July 2026 · Confidence level: A (official source)
Turkey officially submitted its letter of intent to join the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) to the European Payments Council (EPC).
What happened?
- The Turkish Minister of Treasury and Finance, Mehmet Şimşek, announced that Turkey had submitted its letter of intent to join SEPA to the EPC (Anadolu Agency).
- The same development was also included in the EU–Türkiye High-Level Economic Dialogue joint statement (European External Action Service, EEAS) — this is the primary official source for the claim.
What happened, what did not?
- Happened: The official application process started; the letter of intent was submitted to the EPC.
- Did not: This is not an acceptance or membership. Turkey has not yet been included in the SEPA geographical scope. For this reason, euro transfers between Turkey and the eurozone today run in practice over SWIFT.
Who does it affect?
Individuals and companies sending euros to/from Turkey. In the short term there is no change in operation; as the process advances, we will update this with sources.
Updated on the site
On the Turkey SEPA status page, the “official process: initiated” and “letter of intent: submitted to the EPC” rows were raised to confidence level A.
Note: a country being taken into the scope does not mean that every bank will automatically offer SEPA; country participation and bank participation are separate steps.