MTN Group has announced that it has filed a motion to have dismissed the case filed against it by Turkcell in a U.S. court.<\/p>\n
On March 28, the Turkish-based telecoms firm filed a complaint in U.S. District Court of Columbia, Washington DC, against MTN Group, demanding $4.2 billion in damages over the award of the cellular licence in Iran in 2004.<\/p>\n
TurkCell claimed that MTN used political and monetary lures to enhance its relationships and leverage its position within Iran. \u201cMTN undertook to eliminate TurkCell and take over [the license for itself], by bribing the Iranian government with promises of nuclear votes, defense equipment, and outright cash payments,\u201d a portion of the complaint read.<\/p>\n
In its motion to dismiss\u201a MTN contends that Turkcell’s US claim is a legally insufficient restatement of a case that Turkcell has already tried and lost.<\/p>\n
MTN’s motion seeks the dismissal of Turkcell’s US claim on the grounds that there is no proper basis for such a claim to be brought for three principal reasons, according to MTN:<\/p>\n
MTN added that it and MTN International both lack sufficient contact with the United States to be subject to the jurisdiction of the US court.<\/p>\n
Turkcell must respond to MTN’s motion to dismiss by 1 August 2012, and MTN said it will reply to the Turkcell response by 15 August 2012.<\/p>\n
The court\u2019s decision is expected later this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs previously stated, and for the reasons set out in the motion to dismiss\u201a MTN believes that there is no legal merit to Turkcell\u2019s US claim and no basis for such a claim to be brought in the US court\u201a and MTN therefore remains confident that the claim will be dismissed\u201a\u201d MTN said.<\/p>\n
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