Turkish Network in Dispute

Turkeys Turkcell says that it has received a request from one of its two statutory auditors that it was calling an Extraordinary General Shareholders Meeting. The EGM will be held at the end of next month. In its notice to Turkcell, the statutory auditor stated that the Extraordinary General Shareholders Meeting was being called "due to the Board of Directors being unable to agree upon important and strategic decisions for Turkcell".

Turkcell says that it has no authority under the Turkish Commercial Code to object to such a notice and is required to take all necessary actions to convene the Extraordinary General Shareholders Meeting.

The agenda for the meeting was set by the statutory auditor and includes the election of all seven members of the Turkcell Board of Directors.

In response, TeliaSonera has not disagreed on board decisions. However, the Turkcell board has been unable to agree on some issues concerning related party transactions. TeliaSonera acquired the 37% stake in Turkcell when it took over Finland's Sonera.

Turkcell has approximately 17.2 million postpaid and prepaid customers as of Jun 30, 2003. Turkcell is the only NYSE listed company in Turkey."

Posted to the site on 2nd September 2003