Turkey Bids for 2020 Olympics Arm in Arm With Turkcell!

ISTANBUL, April 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Turkcell (NYSE: TKC, ISE: TCELL), the leading communication and technology company has announced its collaboration with the Turkish Athletics and Swimming Federation to further strengthen its support for Istanbul's 2020 Olympics bid. Turkcell, which already sponsors Istanbul's candidacy for the 2020 Olympics, will provide support to 200,000 athletes through this collaboration.

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     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130429/612699 )

Through the cooperation established with the Turkish Athletics Federation, the World's 10^th High Performance Center will be opened under the leadership of Turkcell in İzmir-Halkapinar.  Initially, the facilities in Halkapinar will be renewed, whereupon the Center will be structured so as to serve the elite athletes of all nations in collaboration with the International Athletics Federation (IAAF).

Additionally, for the first time in Turkey's swimming history, the government and private sector are collaborating in support of amateur sports within as major a project as Istanbul 2020.  This project, conducted by the Turkish Swimming Federation together with Michael Phelp's coach, Bob Bowman, will provide Turkey with a comprehensive swimming system, to be built from the foundations up.  While based at the İstanbul Tozkoparan Olympic Pool Center, Bob Bowman is set to coach in Ankara, Trabzon, Kayseri, Samsun and Mersin within the scope of this project.  

At the press conference, Minister of Youth and Sports Suat Kilic said that "Turkey, developing in every field, also witnesses historical achievements in sports.  Moreover, still greater achievements can be realized hand in hand with the private sector.  With Turkcell's support we will make this a permanent facility, raising elite athletes of every age group and providing them with world-class facilities.  I wish to thank Turkcell for the support they have provided in taking this journey with us towards Istanbul 2020, which will bring great benefit to our country."

While Turkish Athletics Federation Chairman Mehmet Terzi and Turkish Swimming Federation Chairman Ahmet Bozdogan thanked Turkcell for its contribution to Turkey, world famous trainer Bob Bowman commented that "It is very exciting for me to be involved in such an important project whereby Turkey will uncover its huge potential in swimming with the support of the business world.  I would like to congratulate Turkcell, and I sincerely hope that this project sets an example for the other actors in the business world."  

During the ceremony Turkcell CEO Sureyya Ciliv stated that "Since inception, Turkcell has been providing support for the development of amateur sports.  We continue to collaborate with six sports federations within the scope of the "Runners to the Future" project.  With these new projects with the Athletics and Swimming Federations, we aim for these disciplines to make a difference in Istanbul's candidacy in 2020 Olympics.  Our wish is to reinforce the power of Turkey and carry both disciplines towards success in 2020.  Applauding the athletes we have raised at Turkcell Performance Centers on the Olympic winners' podium would give us an immeasurable sense of pride."

ABOUT TURKCELL Turkcell is the leading communications and technology company in Turkey, with 34.9 million subscribers as of March 31, 2013. Turkcell is a leading regional player, with market leadership in five of the nine countries in which it operates with its approximately 69.2 million subscribers as of March 31, 2013. 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 Superonline, a wholly owned subsidiary of Turkcell, is the one and only telecom operator to offer households fiber broadband connection at speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps in Turkey. As of February 28, 2013, Turkcell population coverage is at 99.19% in 2G and 84.26% in 3G.  Turkcell reported a TRY2.7 billion (US$1.5 billion) revenue with total assets of TRY18.9 billion (US$10.4 billion) as of March 31, 2013. 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 http://www.turkcell.com.tr

For further information please contact Turkcell

Nihat Narin                       
Division Head of Investor and International        
Media Relations                        
Tel: +90-212-313-1244                      
Email: [email protected]    

Banu Uzgur
International Media Relations Manager    
Tel: +90-212-313-1506    
Email: [email protected]
[email protected]

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SOURCE Turkcell