ISTANBUL--Turkey's Capital Markets Board will appoint two board
members to Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS (TCELL.IS)soon, Chairman
Vahdettin Ertas told Turkish TV channel CNBCe Tuesday, after a
series of failed annual shareholder meetings amid the long-running
dispute over control of Turkcell.
Turkcell's major shareholders--founder Mehmet Karamehmet and his
Cukurova conglomerate, Sweden's TeliaSonera AB (TLSN.SK) and Altimo
of Russia--have been fighting a battle for control of Turkcell
which has delayed both an agreement on the composition of the board
and the distribution of dividends.
Turkey market regulator Capital Markets Board in March appointed
three independent board members to Turkcell to improve corporate
governance. Turkcell's board has six members in addition to its
chairman. With the regulator's appointment, the number of
independent members has increased to four. However, the terms of
duty for the remaining members expired on April 29 and Turkcell
shareholders couldn't convene at the latest shareholders meeting on
June 24.
Last week, a U.K. court of appeals ruled that Turkcell
stakeholder Cukurova Holding AS must pay $1.56 billion within 60
days to a Russian shareholder Alfa Group to redeem its shares that
it forfeited after defaulting on a loan.
At 0915 GMT, Turkcell shares were trading steady at TRY11.65
amid a 0.15% lower overall Istanbul market.
Write to Yeliz Candemir at yeliz.candemir@dowjones.com
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