Altimo will seek the removal of Turkcell's chairman at a shareholder meeting next week, the Financial Times reports. Turkcell's major shareholders Altimo and TeliaSonera want to break the hold on Turkcell of Mehmet Emin Karamehmet, the company's founder who is one of Turkey's most powerful businessmen. His Cukurova group owns only 13 percent of Turkcell but controls it through a complex structure. If Altimo and TeliaSonera succeed in removing Colin Williams from Turkcell's board, they will try to elect two more independent members to dilute Karamehmet's influence. TeliaSonera, which is likely to make the proposals at the meeting, last month accused Williams of failing in his duty to be impartial because he stopped the proposal from appearing on the meeting's agenda. "Any shareholder with more than 5 per cent can bring any issue directly to the meeting. So the issue will be brought … We don't believe Mr Karamehmet will be able to block this," said Altimo CEO Alexei Reznikovich, although he also noted the possibility of Cukurova's owner seeking court injunctions before the meeting. Altimo VP Mustafa Kiral said the disputes over ownership were damaging Turkcell's performance, preventing it from setting a clear strategy for overseas expansion, even though its cash pile of more than USD 3 billion would easily allow acquisitions. Williams became board chairman in February 2010, when Karamehmet, who had previously held the position, received an 11-year jail sentence from a Turkish court over loans made by a bank he owned before Turkey's 2001 financial crisis. He has not been jailed and is appealing the conviction. Altimo will suggest several candidates to replace Williams, including Julian Horn Smith, a former Vodafone executive who now sits on its advisory board.
