While it seemed MTN had put the R73 billion Turkcell lawsuit to bed, the litigants are not going down without a fight.
Last week, the High Court of South Africa dismissed a $4.2 billion (R73 billion) Turkcell lawsuit against MTN.
MTN had a long-running dispute with Istanbul-based Turkcell, which was claiming damages against the mobile operator, as a result of MTN having acquired a 49% interest in Irancell in 2005.
Turkcell sought substantial damages ($4.2 billion excluding interest) from MTN, pursuant to allegations of impropriety in the award of the first private mobile telecommunications licence in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Turkish company said MTN engaged in illicit activity to obtain a GSM licence in Iran.
In a turn of events, Turkcell issued a statement yesterday, saying it will appeal the South African court’s ruling, arguing the issue should be decided in Iran, not South Africa.
“On 26 November 2013, we announced that our company filed a lawsuit in South Africa against South African mobile operator MTN and its group companies, as well as former company executives, demanding compensation for the damages incurred by our company as a result of the unlawful acts during the first private GSM licence tender process in Iran; and on 1 June 2017, we announced the lawsuit was going to be examined on the merits,” Turkcell says in a statement.
After the last hearing, the court decided the Iranian courts have jurisdiction and not the South African courts, says the company.
“We are of the opinion that in the lawsuit, which has been ongoing for almost 10 years, South African law should be applied and the South African courts should also have jurisdiction over the matter since MTN’s headquarters is located in South Africa and the unlawful acts were planned in this location.
“Therefore, our company will continue to enforce all its legal rights against this decision, including an appeal of the decision and will strongly and decisively continue to defend its rights for both compensation of the damages incurred and also to ensure the relevant executives of MTN are held accountable and punished.”
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