Turkcell Asserts U.S. Jurisdiction in Corruption and Bribery Lawsuit Against MTN - MTN's Characterization of Business Practices as "Commercial Activity" Is Shocking

ISTANBUL, Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Turkcell (NYSE:TKC, ISE: TCELL), the leading communications and technology company in Turkey, yesterday filed in a U.S. District Court substantial legal justification for the court to consider Turkcell's corruption and bribery lawsuit against MTN Group Ltd. and its subsidiary MTN International Limited (together MTN). Turkcell's original legal complaint alleges MTN engaged in acts of corruption and bribery to steal Turkcell's award of the Iranian GSM telecommunications license in 2004 and 2005. This latest legal filing was in response to MTN's motion to remove the case from U.S. courts.

Citing MTN's violations of international norms of law, Turkcell asserts that MTN's promises of military arms and International Atomic Energy Agency votes plus its payment of multiple bribes are more than adequate to support the American court's jurisdiction over the case under the Alien Tort Statute.  Turkcell also provided the court with a detailed description of MTN's extensive business dealings in the United States supporting personal jurisdiction. Turkcell's claim is supported by sworn testimony from MTN's own director of Iran operations detailing MTN's extraordinary tortious corruption and bribery in violation of the law of nations. 

The documents submitted to the court by Turkcell further dispute MTN's characterization of the case as a "commercial dispute," stating that if MTN calls throwing votes and promises of arms to be "commercial," presumably MTN would also characterize its networks' involvement in Iran monitoring dissidents and disrupting cell phone communications as "phone bill disputes."

MTN will have 15 days to file a reply brief with the Court, following which the U.S. court is expected to rule on the jurisdiction question. 

Press inquiries should be directed to Read McCaffrey of Patton Boggs LLP, Turkcell's United States legal counsel handling the case, at + (1) 202-457-5243.

ABOUT TURKCELL

Turkcell is the leading communications and technology company in Turkey, with 34.7 million subscribers and a market share of approximately 53% based on June 30, 2012 results. Turkcell is a leading regional player, with market leadership in five of the nine countries in which it operates with its approximately 65.8 million subscribers as of June 30, 2012. It has become one of the first among the global operators to have implemented HSPA+. It has achieved up to 43.2 Mbps speed using the Dual Carrier technology, and is continuously working to provide the latest technology to its customers, e.g. 84 Mbps in the near future. Turkcell reported a TRY2.6 billion (US$1.4 billion) net revenue with total assets of TRY17.4 billion (US$9.6 billion) as of June 30, 2012. It has been listed on the NYSE and the ISE since July 2000, and is the only NYSE-listed company in Turkey. Read more at www.turkcell.com.tr

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI A.S.

SOURCE Patton Boggs LLP