Turkcell on Defensive After Election Maintenance Memo Got Leaked

(Bloomberg) -- Turkey’s biggest mobile phone operator Turkcell is defending a decision to shut offices to most employees over the election weekend after it caused a furor on social media with plans for maintenance on voting day.

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Turkish Twitter users on Friday began sharing an internal memo by Turkcell management that banned its personnel from entering offices until Monday morning.

The uproar reflected anxieties over the security surrounding the vote. In response, the company said it’s taking extraordinary measures to maintain uninterrupted service during Sunday’s elections.

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The news hit a nerve after opposition parties accused Russia of trying to influence the outcome of the vote in favor of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an accusation the Kremlin has denied.

Turkcell said the work was similar to what was done in previous elections. It’s necessary to keep services intact at times of high traffic and protect the mobile network from “malicious” attacks, the company said in a statement to Turkey’s official news agency Anadolu.

Shares of Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS, as the mobile company is formally known, dropped as much as 6.2% before trimming losses to 2.8% as of 4 p.m. in Istanbul.

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Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the opposition candidate who’s in a close race with Erdogan, warned unidentified Russian groups against meddling in the NATO member’s elections.

Turkcell is controlled by Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund, while Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman has a 19.8% stake thorough his investment vehicle LetterOne.

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