Turkcell Annual General Assembly Dated April 21, 2011

ISTANBUL, April 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Turkcell (NYSE: TKC, ISE: TCELL), the leading communications and technology company in Turkey, held its 2010 Annual General Assembly on April 21, 2011 at the Company headquarters. At the meeting, the Balance Sheet and Profit/Loss Statements of fiscal year 2010, previously approved by the statutory auditors, the audit committee, and the Board of Directors, as well as audited by an independent audit firm, in addition, the proposed 75% dividend distribution from 2010 profits were not approved. The entire Board of Directors and the statutory auditors were not released, and statutory auditors whose term had expired were not replaced.

At the General Assembly, the proposal of Sonera Holding B.V., which represents 13.07% of the Company, to add a new clause to the agenda pertaining to the removal of the Chairman, and the election of a new candidate, was rejected by Government Commissioners under the provisions of Turkish Commercial Law Article 369 (items not appearing on a previously announced General Assembly agenda cannot be discussed). Consequently, the representative of Turkcell Holding A.S., which holds a 51% stake in the Company, decided to abstain from voting on all agenda items due to the rejection of adding the additional agenda item. Turkcell Holding A.S.' representative noted that this rejection would violate the minority shareholder's rights, and therefore the representative duly abstained from voting on all agenda items.

Sonera Holding B.V. which holds 13.07% direct shares in Turkcell and additionally holds a 47.09% stake in Turkcell Holding A.S., voted against approval of the Balance Sheet and Profit/Loss Statements for the fiscal year of 2010, against the release of the statutory auditors, and against their replacement, against the Board of Directors' dividend distribution proposal.

Because each of the items on the agenda requires approval by a simple majority of the shareholders present under Turkish law, none of the items on the agenda, excluding establishment of the presidency board and authorizing the presidency board for the signature of minutes of meeting, were approved.

In particular, the Balance Sheet and Profit/Loss Statements for fiscal year 2010, previously approved by the statutory auditors, the audit committee, and the Board of Directors, and also audited by an independent auditing company, were not approved. Consequently, the proposed 75% dividend distribution from 2010 profits could also not be approved. For this reason, and as made public at the dividend proposal of the Board of Directors, the proposed dividend payment scheduled for May 16 will not be made. The above-mentioned situation is of direct importance for all our shareholders, not least the minority shareholders who hold 34.69% stake.

Our Company Chairman has submitted the requisite application to legally appoint the statutory auditors not appointed at the General Assembly. Separately, our Company Chairman and CEO have initiated the necessary discussions to resolve the disputes. Meanwhile, our Board of Directors and Company management remain in office, and continue to execute operations.

As the sole Turkish company dually listed on the NYSE and ISE, we will continue to execute the corporate governance principles in line with national and international best-practice standards and regulations through our maximized transparency.

ABOUT TURKCELL

Turkcell is the leading communications and technology company in Turkey with 33.5 million subscribers and a market share of approximately 54% as of 2010 (Source: Operator's announcements). Turkcell is a leading regional player, with market leadership in five of the nine countries in which it operates with its approximately 60.4 million subscribers as of 2010. Turkcell reported TRY9.0 billion ($6.0 billion) net revenue and its total assets reached TRY15.1 billion ($9.8 billion) as of 2010. Turkcell covers 82% of the Turkish population through its 3G and covers 99.07% of the Turkish population through its 2G technology supported network. Turkcell has become one of the first operators among the global operators to have implemented HSDPA+ and to reach to 42.2 Mbps speed with HSPA multi carrier solution. Turkcell has been listed on the NYSE and the ISE since July 2000 and is the only NYSE-listed company in Turkey. 51.00% of Turkcell's share capital is held by Turkcell Holding, 0.05% by Cukurova Holding, 13.07% by Sonera Holding and 1.19% by others while the remaining 34.69% is free float.

Read more at http://www.turkcell.com.tr

    
    For further information please contact Turkcell
    Corporate Affairs
    Koray Ozturkler, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer
    Tel: +90-212-313-1500
    Email: koray.ozturkler@turkcell.com.tr

    Investors: Media:
    Nihat Narin, Investor and International    Filiz Karagul Tuzun,
    Media Relations                            Corporate Communications
    Tel: +90-212-313-1244                      Tel: +90-212-313-2304
    Email: nihat.narin@turkcell.com.tr         Email: 
    investor.relations@turkcell.com.tr         filiz.karagul@turkcell.com.tr

SOURCE Turkcell