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.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Here’s How Much Wealth You Need to Join the Richest 1% Globally
Mercedes Sets Out to Make Sexy Vans With Yacht-Like Interiors
JPMorgan Asset Says Markets Are Right to Bet on US Rate Cuts
Debt-Limit Talks to Intensify as Biden Set to Depart for Japan
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.
Why Turkey’s Election Is a Big Test for Erdogan: QuickTake
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.
Kremlin Denies Meddling Ahead of Turkey’s Knife-Edge Elections
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.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
Eric Adams Is Starving New York City’s Universal Pre-K Program
Sweetgreen Tests Robots to Make Faster, More Efficient Sad Desk Salads
Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions Becomes a Media Powerhouse
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.