Turkcell to Hold General Assembly Meeting to Solve Disputes

Turkcell, Turkey’s biggest mobile-phone operator, will have its extraordinary annual shareholder’s meeting on Aug. 11, after a disputed meeting in April.

The company announced the meeting date to the Istanbul Stock Exchange, or ISE, after the closure of the bourse on Wednesday.
“The company’s auditors decided that the company’s Extraordinary General Assembly meeting will take place August 11, 2011 at 3 p.m. in Turkcell Plaza’s Conference Hall,” read Turkcell’s statement to the stock exchange.

A dispute among the three partners – Sweden’s TeliaSonera, Russia’s Altimo and Turkey’s Çukurova – over control of the company has resulted in a failure to make crucial decisions including dividend distribution on April 21.

TeliaSonera and Altimo pressured Turkcell to oust Chairman Colin Williams from the board.

The Swedish and Russian partners argue that Williams has hampered Turkcell’s growth by favoring its founding shareholder, Çukurova Chairman Mehmet Emin Karamehmet.

June 23, 2011
SOURCE: HURRIYET DAILY NEWS