Telsim, Turkey's second largest mobile phone company, announced that it welcomed a decision by a U.S. District Court Judge, the Honorable Jed S. Rakoff, to dismiss RICO claims filed on behalf of Motorola and Nokia against the Uzan family, owners of Telsim. Judge Rakoff's order follows an earlier decision by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, to dismiss all RICO claims brought against the Uzan family. Following this decision, Telsim is reiterating its assertion that the claims of Motorola and Nokia should be arbitrated under Swiss law, as originally stipulated under their respective vendor financing agreements.
Hakan Uzan, Chief Executive of Telsim, commented, "We are pleased that, after nearly a month of consideration, Judge Rakoff has dismissed the RICO claims brought against me and several members of my family. This dispute has always been a commercial disagreement among Telsim, Motorola and Nokia -- precipitated by the rapid, unpredictable economic collapse of the Turkish economy in the last four years -- and not by any alleged fraud. Our objective has been, and continues to be, to reach a resolution of this dispute in Swiss arbitration that would reschedule our debt with Motorola and Nokia. Continued attempts by these companies to cast this as anything other than a commercial dispute only serves to negatively impact the value of their commercial and financial interests in Telsim."
