Turkish baths

14 October 2003

The Scandinavian telecoms group s investment in the Turkish mobile operator turned sour long ago. But the latest dispute could jeopardise Turkey s ability to attract foreign capital.

This content is for Subscribers only

Context News

TeliaSonera launched legal action on Monday to cancel an extraordinary meeting of shareholders at Turkcell.

The meeting was called for last month – for the purpose of electing all seven board members – by one of the Turkish mobile operator's statutory auditors. The auditor said the meeting was called due to the board of directors being unable to agree upon important and strategic decisions for Turkcell.

Turkcell said last month it intended to buy a majority stake in Digiturk, Turkey's leading digital television broadcaster. Digiturk is owned by YKB, which is itself controlled by Cukurova, the dominant Turkcell shareholder.

Cukurova, whose finances are reportedly stretched, has four seats on Turkcell's board. TeliaSonera has three, along with a veto on strategic decisions.

TeliaSonera asserted there were no grounds for calling an extraordinary meeting. It said the Turkcell board had functioned properly but had yet to decide upon the rationale of proposed relatedparty transactions.

Context News

Email a friend

Please complete the form below.

Required fields *