Mehmet Emin Karamehmet

Turkey's largest mobile phone operator Turkcell's annual general meeting on May 25 approved the distribution of a three billion lira ($841 million) dividend, a company official has told Reuters.

The company stated on May 24 that shareholders of Turkcell Holding, which holds 51 percent of Turkcell, agreed to propose the three billion lira dividend.

Turkish holding company Çukurova did not declare an intent to buy a 13.22 percent stake in Turkcell from Russia's Alfa Telecom by a Nov. 18 court deadline, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Nov. 21. 

"No declaration was made by the Friday (deadline). Now in line with the court decision, the option of buying has moved to Alfa," the source said. 

Russian bank VTB said late on Nov. 7 it had reached an agreement with Alfa Group about a joint investment in Turkey's top mobile operator Turkcell.

The announcement comes ahead of a mid-November deadline for Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman and Turkcell's founder Mehmet Emin Karamehmet to resolve a dispute over control of the Turkish company.

A possible ruling in favor of Turkey's Çukurova Holding by a U.K.-based arbitration court has played a significant role in a recent decision by the company's Russian partner in Turkcell, Alfa Telecom, about selling its Turkcell stakes, sources told daily Hürriyet. 

Ziraat Bank is expected to play a key role in the transaction, added sources.  

Russia's Alfa Telecom said on March 25 it was ready to sell a 13.22 percent indirect stake in Turkcell to Turkey's Çukurova and Ziraat Bank for a total of around $2.7 billion, according to a statement to the Istanbul stock exchange.

Russia?s Alfa Telecom has applied to Turkey?s Competition Board to take indirect control of leading Turkish mobile phone operator Turkcell from Çukurova Holding, the latest step in a long-running battle for control of the company.

Qatari media group beIN has completed the takeover of Turkish satellite network and pay-tv provider Digitürk, a statement from the company said late on July 13, while Qatari Emir Tammim bin Hamad al-Thani met and conferred with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an behind closed doors in Istanbul. 

An affiliate of Qatari-based television network Al Jazeera has acquired Turkish pay-tv platform and satellite network Digitürk, a statement from the companies said late on July 13.

Ali Fuat Yılmazer, a former Istanbul police intelligence chief who has been under arrest since July 23 as part of an illegal wiretapping case, confirmed in a Dec. 4 statement released by his lawyer that some 160 high-profile people were wiretapped between 2008 and 2009. 

Some 160 individuals, including top businesspeople such as Doğuş Holding’s Ferit Şahenk, daily Hürriyet Chairwoman Vuslat Doğan Sabancı, Koç Holding’s Ali Koç, Çukurova Holding’s Mehmet Emin Karamehmet, along with former top soldiers and journalists, were wiretapped with fake names in 2008 and 2009.