LONDON, UK, December 7, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Turkish operator Turkcell announced on 7 December that it would launch an appeal in an ongoing court legal battle with MTN, after receiving clarification from the South Gauteng High Court of South Africa that jurisdiction over the matter is held by Iranian courts and the legal dispute should be settled in line with Iranian law.

The case in question was initiated almost a decade ago, and concerns damages allegedly caused by South African mobile operator MTN, which Turkcell believes used bribery and corruption in order to hijack an Iranian license agreement and alter the outcome of a tender. The Turkish operator now intends to launch a formal appeal.

Serhat Demir, Vice President, Legal and Regulation at Turkcell: "We are surprised and disappointed with the Court's decision preventing a South African company's illegal acts from being subjected to a trial in South Africa."

According to Demir, the fact that MTN has its headquarters in South Africa means that local law should be applied and South African courts should have jurisdiction over the lawsuit.

The dispute was first filed by Turkcell against MTN and its subsidiaries on 26 November 2013, naming former executives from the company and demanding compensation for damages relating to an Iranian GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) tender. An announcement came on 1 June 2017 that the case would be examined on the merits.

Turkcell will appeal the latest decision and pursue a legal route to compensation, and added that it hopes to bring to the MTN executives it holds responsible for acts of corruption and bribery to justice via the South African legal system.

Turkcell is directly and indrectly owned by TWF, the wealth fund of the Republic of Turkey (26.2% of shares) and LetterOne Holdings (19,8% of shares), the investment firm co-founded by Russians investors including Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and German Khan.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA

GAUTENG LOCAL DIVISION, JOHANNESBURG

CASE NUMBERS: 2013/44462

In the matter between:

TURKCELL ĺLETIŞIM HIZMETLERI A.S.                                                          First Plaintiff

EAST ASIAN CONSORTIUM B.V. Second Plaintiff

and

MTN GROUP LIMITED First Defendant

MTN INTERNATIONAL (MAURITIUS) LTD Second Defendant

MTN HOLDINGS (PTY) LIMITED Third Defendant

MTN INTERNATIONAL (PTY) LIMITED Fourth Defendant

NHLEKO, PHUTHUMA FREEDOM Fifth Defendant

CHARNLEY, IRENE Sixth Defendant

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/turkcell-plans-to-appeal-south-african-courts-decision-in-mtn-case

Shamir Atif
DI PR
+44 20 7454 5111
email us here

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.