As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 15, 2019

April 1, 2020

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM20-F

 

 

 

REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR (g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

OR

 

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 20182019

OR

 

TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period fromto

OR

 

SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of event requiring this shell company report

Commission File Number:1-15092

 

 

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI A.S.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 

 

TURKCELL

(Translation of Registrant’s Name into English)

Republic of Turkey

(Jurisdiction (Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)

Turkcell Kucukyali Plaza

Aydinevler Mahallesi Inonu Caddesi No:20 Kucukyali Ofispark

Maltepe

Istanbul, Turkey

(Address (Address of Principal Executive Offices)

Mr. Zeynel Korhan Bilek

Telephone: +90 212 313 8150

Facsimile: +90 216 504 4058

Turkcell Kucukyali Plaza

Aydinevler Mahallesi Inonu Caddesi No:20 Kucukyali Ofispark

Maltepe

Istanbul, Turkey

(Name, (Name, Telephone,E-mail and/or Facsimile Number and Address of Company Contact Person)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of theofthe Act:

 

Title of each class

Trading symbol

 

Name of each exchange on which registered

American DepositaryOrdinary Shares

Ordinary Shares, Nominal Value TRY 1.000*

TKC

 

New York Stock Exchange

New York Stock Exchange

 

*

Not for trading on the NYSE, but only in connection with the registration of ADSs representing such ordinary shares pursuant to the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission.Commission

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act: None

 

 

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report.

Ordinary Shares, Nominal Value TRY 1.000                2,200,000,000

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 ofRegulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☐ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or anon-accelerated filer. See definition of “accelerated filer and large accelerated filer” inRule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Large Accelerated Filer  ☒

 Accelerated Filer  ☐ 

Non-Accelerated Filer

 

  

Emerging growth company

 

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards* provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

 

*

The term ‘‘new“new or revised financial accounting standard’’standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

 

U.S. GAAP  ☐

  

International Financial Reporting Standards as issued

by the International Accounting Standards Board  ☒

  Other  ☐

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow. Item 17 ☐ Item 18 ☐

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined inRule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒.

 

 

 


TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

ITEM 1.

  

IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS

   2 

ITEM 2.

  

OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE

   2 

ITEM 3.

  

KEY INFORMATION

   2 
  

3.A SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

   2 
  

3.B CAPITALIZATIONAND INDEBTEDNESS

   7 
  

3.C REASONSFORTHE OFFERAND USEOF PROCEEDS

   7 
  

3.D RISK FACTORS

   7 

ITEM 4.

  

INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY

   2829 
  

4.A HISTORYAND DEVELOPMENTOFTHE COMPANY

28

4.B BUSINESS OVERVIEW

   29 
  

4.B BUSINESS OVERVIEW

31
4.C ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

   8390 
  

4.D PROPERTY, PLANTAND EQUIPMENT

   8491 

ITEM 4A.

  

UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

   8592 

ITEM 5.

  

OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS

   8592 
  

5.A OPERATING RESULTS

   8998 
  

5.B LIQUIDITYAND CAPITAL RESOURCES

   104108 
  

5.C RESEARCHAND DEVELOPMENT, PATENTSAND LICENSESETC.

   107113 
  

5.D TREND INFORMATION

   108113 
  

5.E OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS

   109115 
  

5.F TABULAR DISCLOSUREOF CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS

110

5.G SAFE HARBOR

110

ITEM 6.

DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES

111

6.A DIRECTORSAND SENIOR MANAGEMENT I. BOARD MEMBERS

111

6.B COMPENSATION

114

6.C BOARD PRACTICES

   115 
  

6.D E5.G SMPLOYEESAFE HARBOR

116
ITEM 6.DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES   116 
  

6.A DIRECTORSAND SENIOR MANAGEMENT

116
6.B COMPENSATION121
6.C BOARD PRACTICES122
6.D EMPLOYEES123
6.E SHARE OWNERSHIP

   118124 

ITEM 7.

  

MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

   118125 
  

7.A MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS

   118125 
  

7.B RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

   119125 
  

7.C INTERESTSOF EXPERTSAND COUNSEL

   119125 

ITEM 8.

  

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

   119126 
  

8.A CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTSAND OTHER FINANCIAL INFORMATION

   119126 
  

8.B SIGNIFICANT CHANGES

   121127 

ITEM 9.

  

THE OFFER AND LISTING

   121127 
  

9.A OFFERAND LISTING DETAILS

   121127 
  

9.B PLANOF DISTRIBUTION

   121128 
  

9.C MARKETS

   121128 
  

9.D SELLING SHAREHOLDERS

   121128 
  

9.E DILUTION

   121128 
  

9.F EXPENSESOFTHE ISSUE

   121128 

ITEM 10.

  

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

   121128 
  

10.A SHARE CAPITAL

   121128 
  

10.B MEMORANDUMAND ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION

   122128 
  

10.C MATERIAL CONTRACTS

   133140 
  

10.D EXCHANGE CONTROLS

   133

10.E TAXATION

134140 
  

10.E TAXATION

141
10.F DIVIDENDSAND PAYING AGENTS

   139147 
  

10.G STATEMENTBY EXPERTS

   139147 
  

10.H DOCUMENTSON DISPLAY

   139147 
  

10.I SUBSIDIARY INFORMATION

   139147 

ITEM 11.

  

QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

   139147 

ITEM 12.

  

DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES OTHER THAN EQUITY SECURITIES

   142150 

ITEM 13.

  

DEFAULTS, DIVIDEND ARREARAGES AND DELINQUENCIES

   143151 

1


ITEM 14.

  

MATERIAL MODIFICATIONS TO THE RIGHTS OF SECURITY HOLDERS AND USE OF PROCEEDS

   143151 

ITEM 15.

  

CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

   143151 

ITEM 16.

   144152 
  

16.A AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT

   144152 
  

16.B CODEOF ETHICS

   144152 


  

16.C PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEESAND SERVICES

   144153 
  

16.D EXEMPTIONSFROMTHE LISTING STANDARDSFOR AUDIT COMMITTEES

   145153 
  

16.E PURCHASESOF EQUITY SECURITIESBYTHE ISSUERAND AFFILIATED PURCHASERS

   145153 
  

16.F CHANGEIN REGISTRANTS CERTIFYING ACCOUNTANT

   145154 
  

16.G CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

   145154 
  

16.H MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE

   149158 

ITEM 17.

  

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

   149158 

ITEM 18.

  

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

   149158 

ITEM 19.

  

EXHIBITS

   150159 

2


INTRODUCTION

This is the 20182019 annual report for Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. (“Turkcell”), a joint stock company organized and existing under the laws of the Republic of Turkey. The “Company”, “we”, “us”, “our”, “Group” and similar terms refer to Turkcell, its predecessors, and its consolidated subsidiaries, except as the context otherwise requires.

Our audited Consolidated Financial Statements as of December 31, 20182019 and 20172018 and for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 20182019 included in this annual report have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”).

Certain figures included in this annual report have been subject to rounding adjustments. Accordingly, figures shown for the same category presented in different tables may vary slightly, and figures shown as totals in certain tables may not total exactly. In this annual report, references to “TL”, “TRY” and “Turkish Lira” are to the Turkish Lira, and references to “$”, “U.S. Dollars”, “USD”, “U.S. $” and “cents” are to U.S. Dollars and, except as otherwise noted, all interest rates are on a per annum basis. In this annual report, references to “Turkey” or the “Republic” are to the Republic of Turkey.

Statements regarding our market share and total market size in Turkey are based on the Information and Communication Technologies Authority’s (“ICTA”) or operators’ announcements, and statements regarding penetration are based on the Turkish Statistical Institute’s (“TUIK”) announcements pertaining to the Turkish population. Furthermore, statements regarding our 2G coverage are based on the ICTA’s specifications as well as the TUIK’s announcements, and statements regarding our 3G coverage are based on the ICTA’s 3G coverage calculation specifications issued on April 25, 2012. Statements regarding 4.5G coverage and performance are based on our own calculations, pending publication of ICTA specifications.

References to the Information and Communication Technologies Authority or the ICTA include its predecessor entity, the Telecommunications Authority.

We have not independently verified the information in industry publications or market research, although management believes the information contained therein to be reliable. We do not represent that this information is accurate.

The methodology for calculating performance measures such as subscriber numbers, average revenue per user (“ARPU”) and churn rates varies substantially among operators, and is not standardized across the telecommunications industry, and reported performance measures thus vary from those that would probably result from the use of a single methodology. In addition, subscriber numbers in the mobile communications sector may be difficult to calculate as a result of individuals having more than one SIM card, or SIM cards being removed due to periods of inactivity. The differing methodologies for calculating these performance indicators make it difficult to draw comparisons between these figures for, and to determine the relative market share of, different mobile operators.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This annual report includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Sectionsection 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Safe Harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this annual report, including, without limitation, certain statements regarding our operations, financial position, and business strategy, may constitute forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “intend”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “continue”, or similar statements.

Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable at this time, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations are contained in cautionary statements in this annual report, including, without limitation, in conjunction with the forward-looking statements listed below, and include, among others, the following:

 

competition from our historic competitors and/or the entrance of new direct and indirect competitors in the market due to new applications and regulatory changes in Turkey with respect to certain technologies;

our growth strategy being partly dependent on new investment opportunities;

 

1


instability in the political environment and/or downturn in the economy, as well as volatile international markets and events and the threat of terrorism, in Turkey and/or internationally;internationally, in particular as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 global outbreak;

 

foreign exchange rate risks which could affect the Turkish macroeconomic environment and could significantly affect our results of operation and financial position in future periods if hedging tools are not available at commercially reasonable terms;

 

reduction in cash generated from operations and increased capital needs, which may increase our borrowing requirements, and consequently, our finance costs and exposure to the risks associated with borrowing;

 

regulatory decisions and changes in the regulatory environment;

 

failure by us, our local partners with whom we enter into cooperation agreements or similar agreements, or one of our suppliers, to comply with laws and regulations regarding unethical business practices, including bribery and corruption, and international sanctions;

 

interests in several companies that may expose us to various economic, business, political, social, financial, liquidity, regulatory and legal risks and may not provide the benefits that we expect;

 

risks related to our dependence on network and IT systems and the products and services we provide through third party suppliers, as well as our exposure to technological changes in the communications market, including industries where we traditionally do not compete;

 

various risks with respect to our base transceiver stations performance, including spectrum limitations and frequency costs, certain coverage and local production obligations relating to the 4.5G license and alleged health risks and zoning limitations related to our base transceiver stations;

 

our dependence on certain suppliers for network equipment and the provision of data services as well as distributors;

 

Turkcell’s complex ownership structure and ongoing disagreements among our main shareholders;

 

legal actions and claims to which we are a party;

 

inherent limitations of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting and other controls;

 

our ability to retain key personnel, our partners and distributors;their employees; and

 

volatility in the market price of our ADSs.

 

ITEM 1.

IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS

Not Applicable.

 

ITEM 2.

OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE

Not Applicable.

 

ITEM 3.

KEY INFORMATION

3.A Selected Financial Data

Our audited annual Consolidated Financial Statements including our consolidated statements of financial position as of December 31, 20182019 and 20172018 and our consolidated statements of profit andor loss, other comprehensive income, changes in equity and cash flows for the three years in the period ended December 31, 20182019 (“Annual Consolidated Financial Statements”) included in this annual report have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”).

Effective from the fourth quarter of 2015, our financial statements have been presented in TRY only, the currency in which we recognize the majority of our revenues and expenses. We no longer present financial statements in USD. This change has allowed us to align our Turkish and US reporting.

The following information should be read in conjunction with “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects”, our audited Consolidated Financial Statementsconsolidated statement of financial position as of December 31, 20182019 and 2017,2018, and the related consolidated statements of profit andor loss, other comprehensive income, changes in equity, and cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 2017 and 2016,2017, and the related notes appearing elsewhere in this annual report.

2


The following table presents our selected consolidated statements of income, statement ofprofit or loss, financial position and cash flows data as of and for each of the years in the five-year period ended December 31, 2018,2019, presented in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB which have been derived from our audited Consolidated Financial Statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 20182019 and as of the respective years.

 

  2018 2017 2016 2015 2014  2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 
  (TRY millions, except share data and certain other data)  (TRY millions, except share data and certain other data) 

Selected Financial Data Prepared in Accordance with IFRS as Issued by the IASB

      

Consolidated Statement of Income Data

      

Total revenues(1)

   21,292.5  17,632.1  14,285.6  12,769.4  12,043.6 

Cost of revenues(2)

   (14,146.0 (11,350.2 (9,236.6 (7,769.5 (7,383.9
Selected Financial Data Prepared
in Accordance with IFRS as
Issued by the IASB

Consolidated Statement of Profit
or Loss Data
   

Total revenue(1)

 25,137.1  21,292.5  17,632.1  14,285.6  12,769.4 

Cost of revenue(2)

 (17,083.5 (14,146.0 (11,350.2 (9,236.6 (7,769.5

Gross profit

   7,146.5  6,281.9  5,049.0  4,999.9  4,659.7  8,053.7  7,146.5  6,281.9  5,049.0  4,999.9 

Other income

   241.4  74.4  78.6  44.5  58.9  140.7  241.4  74.4  78.6  44.5 

Administrative expenses

   (673.4 (645.2 (721.8 (625.3 (562.7 (779.8 (673.4 (645.2 (721.8 (625.3

Selling and marketing expenses

   (1,626.7 (2,005.4 (1,910.9 (1,901.9 (1,974.6 (1,555.2 (1,626.7 (2,005.4 (1,910.9 (1,901.9

Net impairment losses on financial and contract assets

   (346.4  —     —     —     —    (338.9 (346.4  —     —     —   

Other expenses

   (381.5 (773.3 (312.8 (270.4 (135.2 (487.3 (381.5 (773.3 (312.8 (270.4

Operating profit

   4,359.9  2,932.4  2,181.9  2,246.8  2,046.1  5,033.3  4,359.9  2,932.4  2,181.9  2,246.8 

Finance income

   1,932.1  818.4  961.6  756.1  955.4  297.5  1,677.1  597.2  618.3  455.5 

Finance costs

   (3,619.1 (1,141.3 (1,134.4 (799.5 (1,247.0 (2,025.1 (3,364.1 (920.1 (791.1 (499.0

Net finance/(cost)/income

   (1,687.0 (322.9 (172.8 (43.4 (291.6

Monetary gain(3)

   —     —     —     —    205.1 

Net finance costs(3)

 (1,727.7 (1,687.0 (322.9 (172.8 (43.4

Share of loss of equity accounted investees(4)

   (0.1  —     —     —    4.5  (15.7) (0.1) —   —   —   

Profit before income taxes

   2,672.8  2,609.5  2,009.1  2,203.3  1,964.0 

Profit before income tax

 3,289.9  2,672.8  2,609.5  2,009.1  2,203.3 

Income tax expense

   (495.5 (571.8 (423.2 (667.1 (730.4 (785.6 (495.5 (571.8 (423.2 (667.1

Profit from continuing operations

   2,177.3  2,037.8  1,586.0  1,536.2  1,233.6  2,504.3  2,177.3  2,037.8  1,586.0  1,536.2 

Profit/(loss) from discontinued operations(4)

   —     —    (42.2 367.3  202.8 

Profit for the period

   2,177.3  2,037.8  1,543.8  1,903.6  1,436.5 

Gain/(loss) from discontinued operations(4)

 772.4   —     —    (42.2 367.3 

Profit for the year

 3,276.7  2,177.3  2,037.8  1,543.8  1,903.6 

Attributable to:

           

Owners of the Company

   2,021.1  1,979.1  1,492.1  2,067.7  1,864.7  3,246.5  2,021.1  1,979.1  1,492.1  2,067.7 

Non-controlling interest

   156.3  58.6  51.7  (164.1 (428.2

Profit for the period

   2,177.3  2,037.8  1,543.8  1,903.6  1,436.5 

Basic and diluted earnings per share – Total Group(5)

   0.93  0.90  0.68  0.94  0.85 

Non-controlling interests

 30.2  156.3  58.6  51.7  (164.1

Profit for the year

 3,276.7  2,177.3  2,037.8  1,543.8  1,903.6 

Basic and diluted earnings per share – from continuing operations(5)

   0.93  0.90  0.70  0.77  0.76  1.14  0.93  0.90  0.68  0.94 

Consolidated Statement of Financial Position Data (at period end)

           

Cash and cash equivalents

   7,419.2  4,712.3  6,052.4  2,918.8  9,031.9  10,238.7  7,419.2  4,712.3  6,052.4  2,918.8 

Total assets

   42,765.3  33,982.5  31,600.2  26,207.3  23,694.2  45,715.0  42,765.3  33,982.5  31,600.2  26,207.3 

Long-term debt(6)

   13,119.6  8,258.0  6,935.1  3,487.8  1,247.9  12,677.4  13,119.6  8,258.0  6,935.1  3,487.8 

Total debt(7)

   20,155.5  12,536.1  9,781.2  4,214.2  3,697.7  20,305.7  20,155.5  12,536.1  9,781.2  4,214.2 

Total liabilities

   26,711.7  18,937.4  15,531.8  11,788.4  6,983.6  27,632.0  26,711.7  18,937.4  15,531.8  11,788.4 

Share capital

   2,200.0  2,200.0  2,200.0  2,200.0  2,200.0  2,200.0  2,200.0  2,200.0  2,200.0  2,200.0 

Total equity

   16,053.6  15,045.1  16,068.4  14,418.9  16,710.6  18,082.9  16,053.6  15,045.1  16,068.4  14,418.9 

Weighted average number of shares(8)

   2,184,750,233  2,193,184,437  2,193,184,437  2,200,000,000  2,200,000,000  2,183,922,483  2,184,750,233  2,193,184,437  2,193,184,437  2,200,000,000 

3


  2018 2017 2016 2015 2014   2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 
  (TRY millions, except share data and certain other data)   (TRY millions, except share data and certain other data) 

Consolidated Cash Flows Data(9)

          

Net cash generated by operating activities

   5,829.9  3,101.3  607.1  1,901.3  1,990.8 

Net cash used in investing activities

   (4,535.6 (3,304.6 (2,976.7 (3,563.0 (1,378.0

Net cash generated by/ (used in) financing activities

   (534.4 (1,566.7 4,839.0�� (4,887.4 93.0 

Net cash inflow from operating activities

   9,026.6  5,829.9  3,101.3  607.1  1,901.3 

Net cash (outflow) from investing activities

   (3,027.3 (4,535.6 (3,304.6 (2,976.7 (3,563.0

Net cash (outflow)/ inflow from financing activities

   (3,478.0 (534.4 (1,566.7 4,839.0  (4,887.4

Other Financial Data

            

Dividends declared or proposed(10)(11)

   —    1,900.0  3,000.0   —    794.0    —    1,010.0  1,900.0  3,000.0   —   

Dividends per share (declared or proposed)(11)

   —    0.86  1.36   —    0.36    —    0.46  0.86  1.36   —   

Gross margin(12)

   34 36 35 39 39   32%  34%  36%  35%  39% 

Adjusted EBITDA(13)

   8,788.0  6,228.3  4,619.5  4,140.5  3,761.8    10,426.4  8,788.0  6,228.3  4,619.5  4,140.5 

Capital expenditures(14)

              7,643.0             4,087.4            3,494.4              8,536.2             2,144.8    7,224.7  7,643.0  4,087.4  3,494.4  8,536.2 

 

(1)

Total revenuesrevenue includes telecommunication services revenues, equipment revenues, revenues from financial services, call center revenues, and revenue and commission fees on betting business call center revenues and revenues from financial services (Note 5).

(2)

Total cost of revenuesrevenue includes depreciation and amortization charges, cost of goods sold, payments for our treasury share (the amount paid to the government under our license) and universal service fund, transmissioninterconnection and termination fees, radio costs, billing costs, depreciation and amortization charges, technical, roaming charges, interconnection fees, cost of goods sold, and personnelemployee benefit expenses for technical personnel, related to our technicians frequency expenses, andradio costs, transmission fees, cost of revenuesrevenue from financial operationsservices, roaming charges, and billing and archiving costs (Note 10).

(3)

A hyperinflationary period commencedAs at December 31, 2019, interest income and expense on January 1, 2011 in Belarus. Infinancial assets measured at amortized cost are shown netted of on our consolidated statement of profit or loss. The Company has presented financials as of December 31, 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015 accordingly for which the financial statements of subsidiaries operating in Belarus, restatement adjustments have been made to compensate the effect of changes in the general purchasing power of the Belarusian Ruble in accordance with IAS 29. IAS 29 requires that financial statements prepared in the currency of a hyperinflationary economy be stated in terms of the measuring unit current at the balance sheet date. The economy of Belarus was considered to transit out of hyperinflationary statusamount is TRY 255.0 million, TRY 221.2 million, TRY343.3 million and we determined to cease applying IAS 29 starting from January 1, 2015. Therefore, subsidiaries operating in Belarus have not applied IAS 29 in 2015.TRY 300.5 million, respectively.

(4)

Following inconclusive negotiations for us to purchase Telia’s stake inAs of October 1, 2016, Fintur and KCell, we decided to sell our Fintur stake and consequently, Fintur iswas classified as held for sale and reported as discontinued operations, and on December 12, 2018 the Group signed the definitive agreement to transfer its total shareholding in Fintur to another shareholder of Fintur, Sonera Holding B.V. (“Sonera Holding”). The transfer was completed on April 2, 2019 for a final value of TRY 2,229.6 million (EUR 352.9 million) (Note 16). Gain on sale of the associate amounting to TRY 772.4 million has been recognized under gain from discontinued operations.

(5)

2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 and 20172015 EPSs are computed over 2,193,184,437 shares and 2018 EPS computed over 2,184,750,233 shares.the “Weighted average number of shares”.

(6)

Long-term debt consists of long-term loans and borrowings, debt securities issued as well as long-term lease obligations.

(7)

Total debt consists of long-term and short-term loans and borrowings, debt securities issued as well as lease obligations.

(8)

We haveIn 2019, we purchased 827,750 shares at a price range of TRY 11.89 to TRY 12.24; in 2018, we purchased 8,434,204 shares withat a price range of TRY 10.01 to TRY 12.33, and in 2016 we purchased 6,815,563 shares at a price range of TRY 8.92 to TRY 9.99 as part of our share buyback decisions on July 27, 2016 and January 30, 2017. The transactions amount to TRY 9,998 thousand, TRY 94,620 thousand.thousand and TRY 65,606 thousand, respectively. Treasury shares are deducted from Equity (Notes 2526 and 26)27).

(9)

The presentation of statement of cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2015 has been revised in 2016.

(10)

The dividend paid in 2017 was related to the years 2010 through 2016. With regard to theTRY 1,900 million dividend paid in 2018 relating to the year 2017 the amount proposedwas approved by the Board of Directors on February 15, 2018 was TRY 1,239.5 million, however the amount approved at the Annual General Meeting heldAssembly on March 29, 2018 and paid in three installments. The dividend paid amounting to TRY 1,010 million in 2019 relating to the year 2018 was TRY 1,900 million.approved by the Annual General Assembly on September 12, 2019, and paid in October 31, 2019. The Annual General Meeting for 20182019 has not been called for as at March 7, 2019.April 1, 2020.

(11)

Dividends per share were computed over 2,200,000,000 shares. The dividends per share were TRY 0.36,1.36, TRY 1.360.86 and TRY 0.860.46 for the years ended 2014, 2016, 2017 and 20172018 respectively (equivalent to $0.07, $0.26$0.23, $0.15, and $0.16$0.08 respectively as of December 31, 2018)2019).

(12)

Gross margin is calculated as gross profit divided by total revenues.

(13)

Adjusted EBITDA is anon-GAAP financial measure that is defined as the profit of the Company for the period before finance income, finance costs, income tax expense, other income, other expense,expenses, monetary gain, profitgain or loss from discontinued operations, share of profit or loss of equity accounted investees and depreciation and amortization. A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income is presented below.

(14)

Capital expenditure in 2018 and 2019 includes the impact of IFRS15 and IFRS16 adjustmentadjustments amounting to TRY 3,000.5 million.million and TRY 2,441.5 million, respectively.

Non-IFRS measures

Adjusted EBITDA is anon-GAAP financial measure that is defined as the profit of the Company for the period before finance income, finance costs, income tax expense, other income, other expense,expenses, monetary gain, profitgain or loss from discontinued operations, share of profit or loss of equity accounted investees and depreciation and amortization. Our management reviews Adjusted EBITDA as a key indicator each month to monitorin monitoring our financial performance. Net income is also considered by our management as an indicator forof our overall business performance, which includes results from

4


our operations, financing and investing activities. Adjusted EBITDA is not a measurement of financial performance under IFRS and should not be construed as a substitute for profit for the period as a measure of performance, or cash flow from operations as a measure of liquidity.

Adjusted EBITDA, among other measures, facilitates performance comparisons from period to period and management decision making. It also facilitates performance comparisons from company to company, subject to differences in the way it is calculated by different companies. Adjusted EBITDA as a performance measure eliminates potential differences caused by variations in capital structures (affecting interest expense), tax positions (such as the impact of changes in effective tax rates on periods or companies) and the age and book depreciation and amortization of tangible and intangible assets (affecting relative depreciation and amortization expense). Adjusted EBITDA is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in evaluating the performance of other mobile operators in the telecommunications industry in Europe, many of which present Adjusted EBITDA when reporting their results.

Nevertheless, Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider itbe considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for analysis of, our results of operations, as reported under IFRS.

Some of these limitations are:

 

it does not reflect our cash expenditures or future requirements for capital expenditures or contractual commitments;

 

it does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs;

 

it excludes the share of profit or loss of equity announced investees and discontinued operations;

 

it does not reflect the interest expense, or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments, on our debt;

 

it excludes depreciation, amortization and impairments and although depreciation and amortization arenon-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future, and Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements;

 

it does not reflect other income and expense items which are generally outsidebeyond the scope of our ordinary operations;

 

it is not adjusted for allnon-cash income or expense items that are reflected in our consolidated statement of cash flows; and

 

other companies in our industry may calculate this measure differently from how we do, which may limit its usefulness as a comparative measure.

We compensate for these limitations by relying primarily on our results under IFRS and using Adjusted EBITDA measures only supplementally. See “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” and the Consolidated Financial Statements contained elsewhere in this annual report.

The following table provides a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA, as calculated using financial data prepared in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB, from net profit, which we believe is the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB.

 

5


  Year ended December 31,   Year ended December 31, 
  2018 2017 2016 2015 2014   2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 
  (Million TRY)   (Million TRY) 

Profit for the period

   2,177.3  2,037.8  1,543.8  1,903.6  1,436.5 

Profit or (loss) from discontinued operations

   —     —    (42.2 367.3  202.8 

Profit for the year

   3,276.7  2,177.3  2,037.8  1,543.8  1,903.6 

Gain or (loss) from discontinued operations

   772.4   —     —    (42.2 367.3 

Income tax expense

   (495.5 (571.8 (423.2 (667.1 (730.4   (785.6 (495.5 (571.8 (423.2 (667.1

Consolidated profit before income tax

   2,672.8  2,609.5  2,009.1  2,203.3  1,964.0    3,289.9  2,672.8  2,609.5  2,009.1  2,203.3 

Share of loss of equity accounted investees

   (0.1  —     —     —    4.5    (15.7 (0.1  —     —     —   

Depreciation and amortization

   (4,288.0 (2,597.0 (2,203.3 (1,667.8 (1,639.4   (5,046.6 (4,288.0 (2,597.0 (2,203.3 (1,667.8

Other operating income/(expense)

   (140.1 (698.9 (234.2 (225.9 (76.3

Monetary gain

   —     —     —     —    205.1 

Finance income/(costs)

   (1,687.0 (322.9 (172.8 (43.4 (291.6

Other operating income/(expense), net

   (346.6 (140.1 (698.9 (234.2 (225.9

Net finance (costs)

   (1,727.7 (1,687.0 (322.9 (172.8 (43.4

Adjusted EBITDA

   8,788.0  6,228.3  4,619.5  4,140.5  3,761.8    10,426.4  8,788 0  6,228.3  4,619.5  4,140.5 

The following table presents selected operational data:

I. Operating Results

 

  As of and for the
year ended December 31,
   As of and for the
year ended December 31,
 
  2018 2017 2016   2019   2018   2017 

Industry Data

                

Population of Turkey (in millions)(1)

   82.0  80.8  79.8    83.2    82.0    80.8 

Turkcell Data(2)

          

Number of mobile postpaid subscribers at end of period (in millions)(3)

   18.8  18.5  17.4    20.4    18.8    18.5 

Number of mobile M2M subscribers at end of period (in millions)

   2.4  2.3  2.1    2.6    2.4    2.3 

Number of mobile prepaid subscribers at end of period (in millions)(3)

   14.9  15.6  15.7    12.4    14.9    15.6 

Number of fiber subscribers at end of period (in thousands)

   1,385.6  1,204.3  1,043.9    1,484.7    1,385.6    1,204.3 

Number of ADSL subscribers at end of period (in thousands)

   905.6  921.4  818.0    719.1    905.6    921.4 

Number of IPTV subscribers at end of period (in thousands)

   613.4  505.9  359.7    719.7    613.4    505.9 

Total Turkcell Turkey subscribers at end of period (in millions)

   36.7  36.7  35.3    35.7    36.7    36.7 

Total Turkcell Group subscribers at the end of period (in millions)(4)

   48.9  50.2  50.1    46.7    48.9    50.2 

Mobile average monthly revenue per user (in TRY)(5)

   33.9  29.8  26.8    39.8    33.9    29.8 

Postpaid

   48.2  43.0  39.2    56.4    48.2    43.0 

Postpaid (excluding M2M)

   54.9  48.5  44.0    64.1    54.9    48.5 

Prepaid

   16.9  14.9  13.9    18.3    16.9    14.9 

Fixed Residential average monthly revenue per user (in TRY)(5)

   55.7  53.6  51.1    64.5    55.7    53.6 

Mobile average monthly minutes of use per subscriber(6)

   359.5  347.1  323.9    415.3    359.5    347.1 

Mobile Churn(7)

   2.1 1.9 2.3   2.7%    2.1%    1.9% 

Fixed Churn(8)

   1.8 1.8 1.8   2.1%    1.8%    1.8% 

Number of Turkcell employees at end of period

   4,065  3,967  3,870    4,060 ��  4,065    3,967 

Number of employees of consolidated subsidiaries at end of period(9)

   20,120  19,768  18,995    21,813    20,120    19,768 

 

(1)

The population of Turkey for 2019, 2018 2017, and 20162017 is based on TUIK’s announcements.

(2)

For a discussion of how these metrics affect our revenues, please see “Item 5A. Operating Results,—VI. —VI. Year Ended December 31, 20182019 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2017—2018—a. Revenues”.

(3)

Subscriber numbers do not include subscribers in Ukraine, Belarus, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and Germany.

(4)

Subscriber numbers include subscribers in Ukraine, Belarus, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and Germany.

(5)

We calculate average revenue per user using the weighted average number of our mobile or fixed subscribers, as relevant, in Turkey during the period.

(6)

Average monthly minutes of use per subscriber is calculated by dividing the total number of incoming and outgoing airtime minutes of use by the average monthly sum of postpaid and prepaid mobile subscribers in Turkey for the year divided by twelve.

6


(7)

Average monthly mobile churn rate represents the rate of mobile subscriber disconnections during a certain period and is the percentage calculated by dividing the total number of subscriber disconnections during a certain period by the average number of subscribers for the same period. For these purposes, we define “average number of subscribers” as the number of subscribers at the beginning of the period plus one half of the total number of gross subscribers acquired during the period. See “Item 4.B. Business Overview—V. Churn” for information concerning subscriber disconnection policy, changes in the policy and change in presentation as of the third quarter of 2018.2018 and as of 2019.

(8)

Average monthly fixed churn rate represents the rate of fixed subscriber disconnections during a certain period and is the percentage calculated by dividing the total number of subscriber disconnections during a certain period by the average number of subscribers for the same period. For these purposes, we define “average number of subscribers” as the number of subscribers at the beginning of the period plus one half of the total number of gross subscribers acquired during the period. Churn refers to our fixed subscribers in Turkey that are both voluntarily and involuntarily disconnected from our network. Fixed churn rate includes switches between Fiber and ADSL.

(9)

See “Item 6.D. Employees” for information concerning our consolidated subsidiaries.

3.B Capitalization and Indebtedness

Not applicable.

3.C Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds

Not applicable.

3.D Risk Factors

The following is a discussion of those risks that we believe are the principal material risks faced by our Company and its subsidiaries. No assurance can be given that risks that we do not believe to be material today will not prove to be material in the future. Consequently, the risks described below should not be considered to be exhaustive.

Competition in the Turkish telecommunications market may adversely affect the growth of our business and our financial condition, and the competition that we face may evolve with our business strategy.

The majority of our revenue comes from our operations in Turkey. Competition in this market and regulatory actions, in particular those that limit our ability to respond effectively to competitive pressures, may adversely affect the growth of our business and our financial condition. If the competition we face intensifies or the market slows or develops in unexpected ways, this could harm our business and financial condition.

In our conventional Turkish telecommunications market, we currently face price competition on telecommunication services from two other operators, Vodafone Telekomunikasyon A.S. (“Vodafone”) and Turk Telekom Group.Telekomunikasyon A.S. (“Turk Telekom”). Turk Telekom’s majority shareholder, Oger Telecom, has defaulted on the bank loans it used to finance its stake in Turk Telekom. Accordingly, the ownership of Oger Telecom’s 55% stake was transferred to a special purpose company established by the creditor banks in late 2018. Its creditor banks have announced the launch of a sale process for their stake in September 2019. We cannot predict how this situation will be resolved or whether there will be changes in its strategy or ownership in the meantime. The outcome of this situation could have a significant impact on the competitive environment in which we operate.

A key element of our strategy is to offer digital services and become the “digital operator”.services. As a result, we expect to find ourselves increasingly in competition with companies that specialize in the development of internet applications and services (namely“over-the-top” “over-the-top”, or “OTT” services). The leading companies in these businesses have the advantage of operating in more lightly regulated environments and are generally global entities (WhatsApp,

YouTube, Spotify, etc.), while our companyCompany is, as of today, is primarily a Turkey-based telecom company with a smaller global footprint operating in a heavily regulated market and with a smaller global footprint.market. Most of these global players have entered the Turkish market, which is likely to significantly increase the competition we facethereby creating a highly competitive environment in these businesses, andwhich may have a negative impact onnegatively affect the growth of our growth capabilities as a digital operator.services businesses. In addition, newer applications from less well-known developers are constantly being introduced and may disrupt areas of the digital services industry in which we seek to compete. These established and newer applications and services make use of the internet as a substitute for some of our more traditional services, such as messaging and voice. Reduced demand for these telecommunications services has had and are expected to continue to have an adverse impact on our revenues. Furthermore, other “traditional” operators in Turkey also offer such services that they have developed independently or in partnership with global OTTs as part of their offerings, thereby further increasing competition in the local market.

Another Moreover, pirated digital content is provided by multiple online platforms in Turkey, some of which offer a large selection of high-quality content that is readily accessible online and through dedicated apps, which has significantly, and may continue to negatively, affect the demand for the digital content we offer, in particular our TV and music services, which has had and may continue to have an adverse impact on our revenues generated through these services. A further obstacle to our digital services growth as a “digital operator” is that certain apps offered by our competitors are already embedded in the phones of our customers, which increases their visibility and accessibility in comparison with our apps.the apps we offer. For example, the Apple Music app, which is a competitor of our fizy app, is embedded into iPhones and is thus significantly more accessible. Additionally, as a result of Huawei being placed on a US trade blacklist in 2019, resulting in Google removing the licensed version of its Android mobile operating system from future Huawei devices, the development of the mobile apps we offer will become more costly and time-consuming as these will have to be adapted for Huawei’s upcoming Harmony app ecosystem.

7


In our conventional telecommunications business, in the past, Turkey’s principal telecommunications regulator, the ICTA, has interfered with our ability to price our services and respond to competitive pressures. Regulatory actions, in large part from the ICTA, have been a significant factor in shaping the development of the Turkish market and in our ability to respond to changes in the market. Regulatory actions have often favored our competitors, such as interconnection rates which have been set asymmetrically and have facilitated increased competition. It is possible that the ICTA may also act to regulate other areas of our business, including data and digital services, and we cannot predict the impact that such regulation would have on our ability to execute our strategy and on our competitive position. Furthermore,sub-brand initiatives of the existing competitors, and new licenses and authorizations issued by the regulator such as Fixed Telephony Service (“FTS”)fixed telephony service and Mobile Virtual Network Operatormobile virtual network operator (“MVNO”) licenses have made it easier and/or more attractive for new direct and indirect competitors to enter the market.

In some businesses, we are dependent on our competitors for certain services that we provide. For example, we are reselling xDSLXDSL from the incumbent operator Turk Telekom and we are dependent on their sales service in this business. Therefore, any delay or negligence of Turk Telekom could result in dissatisfaction of our customers and lead to churn of our xDSLXDSL subscribers. Competition in the market may also be adversely affected by changes in a number of other areas that are not specific to telecommunications, such as taxes (in particular taxes on our services and on mobile devices), increases in interest rates, depreciation of the Turkish Lira against the U.S. Dollar or Euro, adverse macroeconomic developments and changes in consumer behavior. Any one of these could in turn adversely affect the development of our business and consequently, our financial results.

Our growth strategy is partly dependent on new investment opportunities, which could affect our business and financial condition, and the return on our investments cannot be guaranteed.

In addition to growing our existing business, our strategy for growth involves selectively seeking and evaluating new investment opportunities and participating in those meeting our criteria. We may pursue inorganic growth opportunities, principally in Turkey and in countries or ventures in which we are already present, in order to leverage our experience and technological base in mobile or fixed telecommunications and/or services. We may also pursue opportunities which include alliances, such as MVNOs, management service agreements, branding andknow-how support services, digital services cooperation and marketing partnerships. In accordance with our convergence strategy, the opportunities that we pursue in some markets, including Turkey, may include services that would be adjacent or complementary to services that we already offer in such markets.

Further, we may provide services in related areas and also consider investing or increasing our investments in business areas outside of the scope of our core business. Examples of opportunities that we are currently considering or investing in outside of our traditional telecommunications activities include the following:

 

As part of our strategic focus on growing our digital operator strategy,services business, we offer our digital services outside of Turkey to other operators through our Dutch subsidiary Lifecell Ventures Cooperatief U.A. (“Lifecell Ventures”), which offers Turkcell’s digital communications, entertainment and transactional applications. Lifecell Ventures’ business model is based on charging consultancy, brand and license fees in return for provision of digital service infrastructure andknow-how to other operators. We cannot ensure the commercial success or profitability of this business. The success of this strategy to export our digital applications to countries outside of Turkey will depend on our and our partners’ ability to compete against global and local players in these markets, as well as the local competitive environment, consumer trends and preferences and market conditions, all of which may be significantly different from the Turkish market. Furthermore, as this business grows and expands into new markets, namely through digital services cooperation agreements and similar agreements, we will face increasing reputational, regulative and commercial risks in those new markets, both directly and through our local partners.

(“Lifecell Ventures”) based in the Netherlands, which offers Turkcell’s digital communications, entertainment and transactional applications. Lifecell Ventures’ business model is based on charging consultancy, brand and license fees in return for provision of digital service infrastructure and know-how to other operators. We cannot ensure the commercial success or profitability of this business, which depends on our and our partners’ ability to compete against global and local players in these markets, as well as the local competitive environment, consumer trends and preferences and market conditions, all of which may be significantly different from the Turkish market. Furthermore, as this business grows and expands into new markets, namely through additional digital services cooperation agreements and similar agreements, we will face increasing reputational, regulative and commercial risks in those new markets, both directly and through our local partners.

 

We have participatedare one of the six founding partners with a 19% share of a company named Turkiye’nin Otomobili Girisim Grubu Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (“Turkiye’nin Otomobili”, or “TOGG” or “Turkey’s Car”), established in a consortium that has committedJune 2018 to manufacture electric passenger cars in Turkey in the coming years. Turkcell aims to act as the technology partner in the consortium which has established a company in June 2018, named “Turkiye’nin Otomobili Girisim Grubu Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S.” (“TOGG”). We are a founding partner of TOGG with a 19% stake. The initial capital of the consortium is agreed upon asstands at EUR 500 million, subject to the confirmation of a stimulus package by the Government, to which all parties have committed to contribute as per the level of their individual stakes. As of March 7, 2019,20, 2020, we invested TRY 5028.5 million as our share of the initial capital. This is a new business for us, in which we will face new risks. While still incapital, and the planning stage, the consortium aims to manufacturetotal paid-in capital of TOGG stands at TRY 150 million. The company has launched the prototype electric car byon December 27, 2019 and targets full production in 2022. AssociatedOur Company aims to act as the technology partner in this new business in which we face new risks, are envisaged to benamely financial, development and manufacturing process risks, as well asrisks. We also face risks related to the shared control of TOGG, namely the risk of violating anti-corruption laws such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and European Union regulations as well as applicable economic sanctions and embargoes and other risks. For further information relating to the corruption and sanctions laws to which we are subject, see—“If we, our local partners with whom we enter into cooperation agreements or similar agreements, or one of our key suppliers fail to comply with laws and regulations regarding unethical business practices, including bribery and corruption, and international sanctions, this could adversely affect our business and financial condition” below.

 

In 2017, we entered the energy business, throughOur subsidiary Turkcell Enerji Cozumleri ve Elektrik Satis Ticaret Anonim SirketiA.S. (“Turkcell Enerji”), which is has been engaged in electricity trading, wholesale sales and retail sales since 2017 through its electricity supply license from the Turkish Energy Market Regulatory Authority (“EMRA”). ThroughThis business exposes us to various risks, including regulatory risk and the risk of trading electricity on commercially non-viable terms, the cost of electricity being significantly affected namely by exchange rates (imported resources such as natural gas and coal account for more than 40% of electricity production in Turkey), the available supply of natural gas and regulatory actions. Further, the profit margins in this business are currently lower than that of our telecommunications businesses. In addition, as the owned capacity in solar energy investments of Turkcell Enerji increases, this might bring in additional operational, financial, regulatory and other risks.

 

8


business we face various risks that are new to us, including an exposure to a new regulatory regime and the risk of not being able to buy and sell electricity on commercially viable terms. The cost of electricity is significantly affected by exchange rates (imported resources such as natural gas and coal account for more than 50% of electricity production in Turkey), the available supply of natural gas and regulatory actions. Further, the profit margins in this business are currently lower than that of our telecommunications businesses. Turkcell Enerji is also evaluating new opportunities in solar energy production (primarily for our own use and for sale) which, if successful, might bring in additional operational, financial, regulatory and other risks.

A new company called Sofra Kurumsal ve Odullendirme Hizmetleri A.S. (“Sofra Kurumsal”) has been incorporated by our Company’sOur subsidiary Turkcell Odeme ve Elektronik Para Hizmetleri A.S. (“Turkcell Odeme” or “Paycell”) together with Belbim Elektronik Parais one of the founding partners of Sofra Kurumsal ve OdemeOdullendirme Hizmetleri A.S., a subsidiary of the Municipality of Istanbul, and Posta ve Telgraf Teskilati A.S., the Turkish Post. The company (“Sofra”). Sofra is mainly involved in the provision of services via various means such as service coupons, meal coupons, meal cards, electronic coupons and/or smart cards, as well as vehicle payments and smart keys. AllThe financial success of this company cannot be assured, as its growth is largely dependent on its capacity to penetrate a highly competitive market which is largely controlled by a few key players. Additionally, all three Sofra stakeholders share equal rights, namely in terms of board nominations, and the unanimous consent of the shareholders is required in the context of general assemblies, thereby possibly slowing down the decision-making process and affecting our ability to execute business decisions and take other actions that we consider to be in the best interest of the company. Additionally, the financial success of this company cannot be assured, as its growth is largely dependent on its capacity to penetrate a highly competitive market which is largely controlled by a few key players. Turkcell Odeme may also participate as a founding shareholder in the incorporation of a “Joint Payment Company” together with private and public companies in order to carry out system operating activities as well as other activities authorized under the Law numbered 6493 on Payment and Security Settlement Systems, Payment Services and Electronic Money Institutions, within the scope of the operating permit to be obtained from the Central Bank of Republic of Turkey (“CBRT”).

 

We have established Turkcell Sigorta Aracılık Hizmetleri A.S. (“Guvencell”) as a fully owned subsidiary involved in the insurance agency business in 2018. In partnership with multiple insurance companies, Guvencell is entitled to offer insurance policies not only to Turkcell customers in Turkey but also to the other operators’ customers in the form of device protection insurance, life insurance and critical illnesses insurance. Guvencell has also acted as an agency in Turkcell Group employees’ health insurance. Guvencell is operational with the approval of the Undersecretariat of Treasury - General Directorate of Insurance and must operate in conformity with the relevant rules and regulations.

We are in the test phase of enteringentered the smart device (smartphone, tablet, notebook) operational leasing business as an alternative to providing consumer finance loans for smart devices through one of our existing subsidiaries. If we decidedevices. This is currently offered to go ahead, the corporate segment only. The commercial success of this business would beis largely dependent on our ability to succesfullysuccessfully collect the operational leasing payments, as well as on our capacity to both lease the devices, service the devices through third party partners during the term of the loan, and then sell the devices that have been previously leased and refurbished on commercially viable terms. In particular, we will face the risk that the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency’s (“BRSA”) current regulation imposing a cap on the number of instalmentsinstallments with regard to consumer loans for mobile phones and smart devices might be applied or be deemed to apply to, the device leasing business, which could negatively affect demand and consequently the development of this business. This business will also lead to an increase in our inventory balance coupled with a higher capital expenditure requirement, as we will have to purchase the devices to be leased. If the competition in this business intensifies and we fail to respond rapidly and adequately, this could adversely affect the development of our device leasing business and, consequently, our financial results.requirement.

New investments may not achieve expected returns or returns that are in line with those of our core business in Turkey, which may causeresult in high value erosion. In many of the markets and businesses in which we have invested, may invest or may increase our investment, it may take several years and significant expenditures to achieve desired profitability, if at all. As part of our strategy as a converged player offering multiple telecommunications services, we may consider acquiring fixed operators in certain of the markets in which we operate. Any such acquisition would increase our exposure to the risks associated with these countries and these types of businesses. If we become a minority shareholder in an investment, we might encounter difficulties in protecting our shareholder rights. In addition, if an asset in which we have invested does not provide the expected returns, we may need to make further investment or we may consider disposal at a sale price that may be below carrying value or liquidation.

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Any instability in the political environment and/or downturn in the economy, as well as volatile international markets, and events andin particular as a result of the threat of terrorism,ongoing COVID-19 global outbreak, in Turkey and/or internationally may have an adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

With a substantial portion of our revenues, assets and business derived from and located in Turkey, and denominated in Turkish Lira, adverse developments in the Turkish economy and political environment are likely to have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition. The performance of the Turkish economy may be affected by global, regional and domestic economic and political developments. In particular the COVID-19 global outbreak has introduced additional uncertainty regarding the outlook for Turkey and for our business.

Turkey has, from time to time, experienced volatile political, economic and social conditions. Since 2002, the AKP (the Justice and Development Party) won governing majorities four times during a period in which Turkey’s economy generally enjoyed growth and stability. Turkey held its inaugural presidential election on August 10,in 2014, based on the constitutional changes implemented following the constitutional referendum held on October 21,in 2007. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of the ruling AKP, won the election in the first round. On April 16, 2017, a majority of Turkish voters approved a referendum amending certain articles of the Turkish Constitution to expand the powers of the president to create an executive presidency. Turkey’s political stability has been affected by the coup attempt against the government in power on July 15,in 2016. Following the coup attempt, the Turkish government declared a state of emergency in the country, entitling it to exercise additional powers aimed at restoring stability across the country. In June 2018, Turkey held its first dual parliamentary and presidential elections, and then-President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won in the first round and became the Executive President for the next five years. Following the election, the Turkish Government halted the state of emergency in July 2018.

Turkey has experienced solid economic growth through 2017 and the first half of 2018, following a series of government-initiated measures to ensure financial stability. In August 2018, the Turkish economy experienced currency volatility where the Turkish Lira depreciated sharply due to growing tensions between the US and Turkey over the detained thedetainment of US pastor Andrew Brunson, in addition to the tighter monetary policy expectationstightening of the financial markets needed to decrease currency volatility.monetary policy expectations. During this period, the TRY experienced an important depreciation and inflation reached double digits. The detention of Andrew Brunson also triggered bilateral imposition of sanctions. On August 1, 2018, the United States imposed sanctions against two Turkish Government officials for their roles in the arrest and detentioneconomy experienced further volatility as a result of the Mr. Brunson underU.S. Executive Order 13894 of October 14, 2019 “Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to the Global Magnitsky Act. As retaliation,Situation in Syria” (“Executive Order”) following Turkey’s military operation in Syria and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) adding some Turkish ministers and ministries to its Specially Designated Nationals List (“SDN List”). Although OFAC removed the sanctioned ministries and ministers from the SDN List on October 24, 2019, the Executive Order could potentially at any time be reactivated against Turkey. Also, sanctions stemming from the U.S. legislative branch, notably the Protect Against Conflict by Turkey imposed(PACT) Act and the Promoting American National Security and Preventing the Resurgence of ISIS Act, and the judicial branch, such as the ongoingU.S. v. Halkbank case involving criminal charges against the Turkish state-owned bank Halkbank alleging that it helped Iran evade U.S. sanctions, pose a constant threat to the Turkish political environment and its economy. Draft bills primarily involve sanctions against the Turkish Government’s top management and Turkey’s energy and finance sectors, along with regulations to activate the sanction provisions under the 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. Furthermore, the U.S. officialsNational Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which was approved by President Trump on December 31, 2019, involves sanctions against Turkey and notably bans the basisdelivery of reciprocity. Additionally, on August 10, 2018, U.S. tariffs on steelF-35 fighter planes and aluminum importsimposes sanctions against the TurkStream natural gas pipeline project. Turkey also faces risks relating to EU-based sanctions, such as those stemming from Turkey have been increased to 50% and 20%, respectively. Increasing tensionEU Council Regulation (EU) 2019/1890 of 11 November 2019 concerning restrictive measures in view of Turkey’s drilling activities in the U.S.–Turkey diplomatic relationship caused fluctuationsEastern Mediterranean. These and other sanctions and legislative or judicial actions may individually or in the local market, resultingaggregate adversely affect the Turkish economy and, in turn, result in a depreciation of the TRY against the USD. Turkish regulatory bodies implemented several measures to prevent further deterioration of the TRY and the financial markets. The pastor was released after the trial on October 12, 2018, resulting in a gradual decrease of the tension between the U.S. and Turkey. With the aim of ensuring financial stability and supporting the Turkish Lira, the CBRT increased its policy rate by 625 bps in September 2018 and provided TRY and foreign exchange (FX) liquidity to the banking system. In addition, collateral FX deposit limits for TRY transactions of banks have been raised. To prevent a sudden decrease in economic activity, taxes were cut in several sectors, including automotive, white goods and furniture. The strong monetary policy tightening has led to a very sharp macro rebalancing in the form of a rapidly improving current account balance and slowing inflation. Improving price competitiveness contributing to exports and diminishing domestic demand, with substantial financial tightening, has resulted a sharp improvement in external balances. After all these measurements, Turkish Lira appreciated 20.4% against the U.S. Dollar between August and December 2018. Overall, the monetary policy has been effective with overshooting interest rates, contracting credit and collapsing imports, eventually reversing the upward trend of inflation.

After the financial turmoil in August 2018, the Turkish authorites took a series of measures to ensure financial stability and support the Turkish Lira. The Ministry of Treasury and Finance announced the New Economic Plan (“NEP”) and the year 2019 was announced as a rebalancing period. Although the NEP envisages growth of 2.3% in 2019, such outlook may be affected by a global economic slowdown, increasedgeo-political uncertainties and a weakening in domestic consumption. Exceptional food inflation and TRY depreciation have led to a yearly rise in headline inflation to 20.3% in December 2018, recording the highest level since December 2003. Inflation is expected to decline in 2019. Due to the fact that we enter into fixed term contracts with a large portion of our mobile and fixed voice and data customers, we face difficulties in adjusting our prices to adequately reflect any inflationary pressures, which has and may have an adversematerial negative effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The budget deficit rose

In 2019, policymakers introduced easing through a number of channels in a bid to 2.0%rapidly return the economy to growth. Starting in July, the Central Bank of the GDPRepublic of Turkey (“CBRT”) cut its policy rate by 1200 bps in December 2018,total to 12% by the end of the year. The CBRT also designed a new reserve requirement mechanism

to encourage the growth of banks’ loan books by as much as 15% in real terms. In 2019, primary expenditures have grown by 18.9% y-o-y, compared to a 8.3% rise in tax revenues. As a result, after registering negative y-o-y growth for three consecutive quarters, the Turkish economy saw positive growth in the third and is expectedfourth quarters and, expanded by 0.9% y-o-y in 2019. Inflation eased substantially throughout the year, slowed from 20.35% y-o-y in January to widen as11.84% in December. As a result of a strong easing policy, loan growth increased government spendingfrom -9.7% in January to sustain strong economic activity. Moreover,19.5% in December, the announced restructuring campaign regarding consumer credit card debtsratio of nonperforming loans reached 5.3%, and small & medium company loans, aimed at lowering interest rates via public banks, could expose the banking sector to further risks. Loan growth, which contracted in the fourth quarter of 2018, has been running above zero in the first quarter of 2019, however thenon-performing loan (“NPL”) ratio has continued to rise and it is expected to increase further as a result of the weak economic outlook. The Turkish Government has also announced it will reduce investments in those projects that are not deemed as directly serving the essential needs of the public or adding valueaccording to the economy between 2019-2021. This decision may significantly reduce our business potential onInternational Monetary Fund (“IMF”) definition, the corporate side to do businessheadline budget deficit increased by 5.3% of GDP. Along with the governmentthese leveraged figures, U.S sanctions and deterioration of risk appetite towards Turkey could negatively affect our businessthe economy. Additionally, the Turkish Lira could face massive sell-off, inflation figures and financial condition. Additionally, even though we are not currently experiencing any repercussions, furtherexpectations could spike and international investors’ worries about Turkey’s foreign currency debt obligations may be triggered.

Any deterioration in loans or in the general economic outlook may negatively affect our mobile and consumer finance businesses along with other industries. Geopolitical and domestic political factors such as the military intervention in Syria and therun-up to the March 2019 municipal elections, are other sources of uncertainty and impose further risks on the country’s economy. Also, the international credit rating agencies including Fitch, Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) and Moody’s may cut Turkey’s grade further, and this also could further increase the pressure on the Turkish Lira and interest rates.

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More generally, in our view, among the biggestmajor threats to the global economy including the Turkey economy, in 20192020 are weakeningweak global growth, trade tensions between U.S. and China, global financial tightening, the potential for a significant slowdown in the Chinese economy and European and US political uncertainty. In January 2019,uncertainty, notably in light of the International Monetary Fund (“IMF”) revised its globalupcoming US presidential elections. A number of institutions, such as the IMF, are updating their growth forecast for 2019 from 3.7% to 3.5%, and for 2020 from 3.7% to 3.6%,forecasts downward mainly becauseas a result of the negative effects of tariff increases enacted in the United StatesU.S. and China, the weakening financial market sentiment, and the tightened financial conditions. A number of institutions such as the European Central Bank (“ECB”) and the IMF have published several trade war scenarios, showing that the effects of such measures have a negative impact on global growth. Taking into account global trade tensions, weakening investment expenditure and high levels of debt, a hard landing scenario for China is possible and would have serious implications not only for China, but also for Turkey and the global economy.China. According to the recent indicators and surveys, the Eurozone economy has been slowing from previously high levels, due to weakening domestic demand and higher borrowing costs, elevated sovereign yields in Italy, street protests in France, softening of private consumption, weakeneddue to decreased industrial production following the introduction of revised auto emission standards, subdued foreign demand in Germany as well as the uncertainty surrounding Brexit. The 2019 elections in Eastern Europe may further exacerbate the political tensions in the region. As the largest exporting partner, a slowdown in Germany and the Eurozone presents an important risk to the Turkish economy. The effect of prolonged low energy prices on commodity-exporting countries in the region such as Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran may negatively affect the terms of trade between these countries and Turkey. After the globalsell-off in equities at the end of 2018, the US Federal Reserve (“Fed”) cut its rate hike projections for 2019. Nevertheless, ongoing normalization of Fed and ECB monetary policy,Also, fragile growth outlook in Turkey’s key export destinations and geopolitical risks stemming from instability in Iraq, Syria, Iran, Georgia, Cyprus, Egypt, Tunisia, Israel, Armenia, and Russia, the impact of this on Turkish foreign relations, including with the United States, as well as increasing uncertainty regarding the political outlook in Ukraine and in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) regionsRussia are additional sources of risks for Turkey. Since December 2010, political instability has increased markedly in a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa, such as Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Bahrain and Yemen. As a result of the conflicts in Syria, millions of Syrian refugees have fled to Turkey and more can be expected to cross the Turkish-Syrian border if the unrest in Syria continues or escalates. Any continuation or escalation of political instability or international military intervention in Syria may act as a destabilizing factor for Turkey. The high number of refugees within Turkey’s borders and foreign intelligence agents infiltrating both refugee camps and local communities remain current threats.

Furthermore,The recent global outbreak of the Coronavirus (“COVID-19”), a virus causing potentially deadly respiratory tract infections, has caused and may cause additional slowdown in the global economy, as is evidenced by the ongoing sharp fall in investments, exports and industrial production. On March 27, 2019, the International Monetary Fund officially declared that the global economy has entered recession as a result of the spread of COVID-19. As COVID-19 spreads globally, financial markets are factoring in higher risk in their prices and experiencing historical levels of volatility and selloffs. Turkey has been and will continue to be affected. A series of measures have been announced in Turkey to combat the effects of COVID-19, such as the Central Bank of Turkey’s targeted additional liquidity facilities to banks aimed at securing uninterrupted credit flow to the corporate sector, tax cuts and primary debt and interest payments deferments; however, we cannot predict the impact, if any, of these measures on the Turkish Army is dedicated to fight against terrorist groups inside Turkey, Syria and Northern Iraq, notablyeconomy. Should these measures be ineffective in countering the People’s Congresseffects of Kurdistan (known as the PKK), and also extremist terrorist groups like ISIS in neighboring countries. Turkey’s probable Membic operation against ISIS,YPG/PYD/PKK, can impose higher risksoutbreak on the budget deficit if the operation lasts longer than anticipated. Also, the departure of U.S. troops from Syria is likelyeconomy, customers in our home market and abroad could, namely, experience a significant deterioration in purchasing power, leading to a material negative impact on our revenues and a surge in corporate bankruptcies. In addition, these measures will be costly and will thus add to Turkey’s state debt and may eventually result in additional pressure on the value of the TRY relative to other currencies. Moreover, measures taken by the public and private sectors both in Turkey and abroad in response to COVID-19, including travel restrictions, the closure of stores (including ours), the promotion of social distancing and the adoption of work-from-home by companies and institutions, could have a material impact on the amount and ways our customers use our networks and other products and services and, in turn, our business and our investment requirement. In particular, COVID-19 has resulted in a substantial decrease in international travel, which has had an increased uncertaintyadverse effect on our roaming services (inbound and outbound) and if continued for a long duration, will result in a material adverse effect on our roaming revenues and results of operations. Although we are monitoring the region.potential impact of COVID-19 to our business in Turkey and abroad, its impact on our business and financial condition is unknown at this time.

Slower growth and inflationary pressures as a result of the factors described above may have a negative impact on consumer sentiment, resulting in a decrease in sales which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, geopolitical risks are currently prevailing, primarily on the basis that relations with the USU.S. continue to be fragile on various fronts, and this could potentially lead to volatility in the future. There can be no assurance that the political and more importantly geopolitical situation within Turkey or its neighboring countries will not deteriorate. The rise of protectionism and the threat to globalization is likely to impact political and economic affairs. These, coupled with rising geopolitical risks, might deter politicians from implementing economic programs, may individually or in the aggregate adversely affect the Turkish economy and, in turn, our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Foreign exchange rate risks could affect the Turkish macroeconomic environment and could significantly affect our results of operation and financial position in future periods if hedging tools are not available at commercially reasonable terms.

We are exposed to foreign exchange rate risks because our income, expenses, assets and liabilities are denominated in a number of different currencies, primarily Turkish Lira, U.S. Dollars, Euros, Chinese Renminbi (“CNY”), Ukrainian Hryvnia (“UAH”), and Belarusian Ruble (“BYN”). Fluctuations of Turkish Lira, Ukrainian Hryvnia, Belarusian Rubles,Ruble, and Chinese Renminbi versus U.S. Dollars and Euros, have had and may have an unfavorable impact on us. In particular, a substantial majority of our equipment expenditures is currently, and expected to continue to be, denominated in U.S. Dollars and Euros, while the revenues generated by our activities are denominated largely in local currencies, in particular the Turkish Lira, Ukrainian Hryvnia, Belarusian Ruble and Euro. As of December 31, 2018,2019, our total debt was TRY 20,155.5 million. As20,306 million (including TRY 1,533 million of lease obligations). Consolidated debt breakdown (excluding lease obligations), as of December 31, 2018, the2019, was as follows: Turkcell Turkey’s debt balance of our companies operating in Turkey was at TRY 18,748.615,994 million, of which TRY 9,761.59,096 million ($1,855.5 million as of December 31, 2018)(US$ 1,531 million) was denominated in U.S. DollarsUS$, TRY 5,425 million (EUR 816 million) in EUR, TRY 201 million (CNY 237.2 million) in CNY and the remaining TRY 1,272 million in TRY. Our consumer finance company debt was TRY 1,733 million, of which TRY 1,194 million (US$ 201 million) was denominated in US$, and TRY 7,127.5214 million (EUR 1,182.432 million) in Euro. As of December 31, 2018,EUR with the remaining TRY 325 million in TRY. The debt balance of lifecell LLC (“lifecell”) was TRY 9251,044 million, all denominated in UAH. Meanwhile, Belarusian Telecom had a debt balance of TRY 4.2 million, denominated in BYN.

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In addition, we are exposed to currency mismatches with respect to certain capital expenditures andoff-balance sheet obligations, in particular with our universal service obligations for the installation of infrastructure in uncovered areas of Turkey, a service that we have contracted to provide for an amount in TRY, but which requires expenditures in foreign currencies (primarily in USD, but also Euro and Chinese Renminbi). Also, the financing of infrastructure investments, potential license fee payments and any other potential investment opportunities could lead to an increase in our U.S. dollarDollar and/or Euro debt, further increasing our currency exposure. The effect of the depreciation in TRY is typically reflected in inflation rates in3-6 months on average. According to the research of the CBRT, the exchange rate pass through realization in Turkey is around10-15% and this figure might be well over 20% in an overheated economy. As of the third quarter of 2018 overall exchange rate pass through has increased to approximately 17% and is expected to decrease to10-15% level with the appreciation of the TRY. High exchange rate pass through creates increasing production prices which is eventually reflected in consumer prices. Between 2011 and 2015 additional point impact on inflation was 1.8 when average inflation was 8.2%. See “Item 8. Financial Information” and Note 35 to our audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in “Item 18. Financial Statements” of this annual report on Form20-F. Devaluations that are not matched by adjustments in our tariffs have had, and may continue to have, an adverse effect on our results of operations and our liquidity. See “Item 4B. Business Overview—IIIV. Tariffs”. We are also exposed to currency exchange rates on the prices of the smartphones that we rely on for the promotion of our digital and data services. After the 2008 financial crisis, with the flow of cheap funding, the Turkish economy experienced import driven growth. Therefore consumption patterns have shifted towards foreign currency denominated goods along with raw materials and intermediary goods used in production. Production has been negatively impacted by the price inflation of raw materials and intermediary goods. Depreciation in TRY triggered inflationary pressures which resulted in a deterioration in the purchasing power of consumers. Coupled with slow growth and low purchasing power, consumersconsumer demand has fallen. Turkish Lira depreciation has made smartphones that are procured in hard currencies more expensive for our customers, thus potentially reducing new sales of such devices and curbing the market for the services, which may have a negative impact on our profitability and financial position.

According to the CBRT, the TRY depreciated by 39%12.9% against the U.S. Dollar and 49%10.3% against the Euro in 2018, driven mainly by exacerbated macroeconomic conditions and geopolitical uncertainty as well as international developments such as increased U.S. interest rates, policy normalization signals from the ECB and rate hikes from the Fed and tensions between US and China.2019. As of March 7, 201920, 2020, according to the CBRT, the TRY has depreciated a further 2.25%9.7% against the U.S. Dollar and 0.86%6.1% against the Euro accordingcompared to the CBRT.closing rates on December 31, 2019. Our currency hedging strategy includes derivative transactions and accumulating hard currency by using Turkish Lira cash from our operations. In addition, we have been further diversifying our currency exposure by entering into agreements with our vendors in local currencies, particularly in Chinese Renminbi.

Turkey has recently introduced a series of measures in relation to foreign exchange matters. A Presidential Decree amending the Decree No. 32 on the Protection of the Value of Turkish Currency, enacted on September 13, 2018 (“Presidential Decree”), provides that, except for certain exemptions determined by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance (“Ministry of Finance”), the contract price and all other payment obligations under (i) sale, purchase, and lease agreements (including financial leases) regarding immovable properties and vehicles, (ii) employment, (iii) services, and (iv) construction agreements entered into between Turkish andnon-Turkish natural and legal persons resident in Turkey must be in Turkish Lira. In other words, the Presidential Decree precludes Turkish andnon-Turkish natural and legal persons resident in Turkey from determining, or indexing to, the contract price or other payment obligations with regards to the aforementioned transactions in foreign currencies. Further, a30-day transition period was envisaged by the Presidential Decree for the Turkish andnon-Turkish natural and legal persons resident in Turkey to amend their existing agreements which fall within the scope of the restrictions, such that the contract price and all other payment obligations thereunder must bere-determined in Turkish Lira. The Ministry of Treasury and Finance determined on October 6, 2018 the scope of the restrictions above introduced by the Presidential Decree, by way of setting out the restrictions and exemptions on a contract type basis. On 16 November 2018, the scope of the exemptions was amended with another Communiqué numbered2018-32/52 published in the Official Gazette dated 16 November 2018 and numbered 30597. The main highlights to the exemptions include issuance of capital markets instruments, employment agreements related to work performed abroad, service agreements of which the parties are not Turkish citizens, sales agreements including software produced abroad within the scope of information technologies and license and service agreements including hardware and software produced abroad and financial leasing agreements within the scope of Article 17 and 17/A of Decree No. 32. While none of one of our material agreements has been amended under this legislative change, there can be no assurance that similar measures will not impact our ability to enter into foreign currency agreements.

While we are currently able to hedge our principal TRY exposure to the U.S. Dollar and the Euro on commercially reasonable terms, no assurance can be given that we will continue to be able to do so under all circumstances in the future.future, in particular taking into account the context created by the COVID-19 epidemic, which has had, and is likely to continue to have, a material impact on the volatility of global markets which, in turn, may lead to a material increase in our financing costs. The increase in public debt in Turkey may also result in increased pressure on the value of the TRY. For further information relating to our financing obligations, see—“Reduction in cash generated from operations and increased capital needs may increase our borrowing requirements, which may increase our financing costs and our exposure to the risks associated with borrowing” below. In several of the other countries in which we have businesses, in particular Ukraine and Republic of Belarus (“Belarus”), there are no or few tools to hedge foreign exchange rate risks effectively due to restricted and undeveloped financial markets in these countries. Any significant fluctuations in the value of the TRY relative to other currencies could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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Reduction in cash generated from operations and increased capital needs may increase our borrowing requirements, which may increase our financing costs and our exposure to the risks associated with borrowing.

We continue to experience challenging macroeconomic, regulatory and competitive conditions in our markets that may reduce cash generated from operations, and we may continue to face increased funding needs, in particular to finance our technological expansion and investments. In the previous three years, this included the payment of the Turkish 4.5G license fee, Ukrainian 4.5G license fee and related capital expenditures in Turkey and Ukraine, as well as the establishment ofhaving a consumer finance company in Turkey. Furthermore, in 20172018 and 2018,2019, we paid TRY 31.9 billion and TRY 1.91.0 billion dividend, respectively, and made capital expenditures and loandebt repayments, which significantly reduced our available cash.

Looking ahead, we expect to continue to experience moderate cash outflows in relation to new licenses and networkroll-out, continuing fiber development and potential dividend payments. The ongoing disputes among our shareholders may also have an impact on our liquidity position, to the extent that they may affect dividend payments. In the past, as a result of such disputes, dividends were not paid for several years and then the resulting backlog was eventually paid in a short period of time. Our liquidity position may also be negatively impacted if our shareholders request dividend payments which are higher than our dividend policy. Our working capital requirements have increased in the last three years in particular after our consumer finance company began its operations. The BRSA’s currentexisting regulation imposing a cap on the number of instalments with regard to consumer loans for mobile phones significantly decreased the demand for new loans and thus has reduced our related working capital requirement accordingly. However, working capital requirements could once again increase should the BRSA increase the maximum number of instalments on mobile phone related loans or our entry toshould we enter into the device leasing business for consumers, both of which could drive the demand up considerably. These cash outflows have in the past reduced, and may continue to reduce, our liquidity. Reduced liquidity may lead to an increase in our borrowing requirements and thus our borrowing costs.

Our borrowings may expose us to foreign exchange rate risk, interest rate risk and possibly, to increases in our total interest expense, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition and results of operations.

We enter into derivative transactions and holdkeep our cash in hard currencycurrencies to manage the risk with respect to the Turkish Lira. For the year ended December 31, 2019, as a result of fair value changes in derivative instruments, net derivative assets of TRY 7.6 million are recognized in our consolidated financial statements. However, derivative transactions might have costs and may not fully cover all of our risks.risks, and significant judgment is used by the Company’s management to determine the fair value of these instruments due to the use of an internally-developed model, which includes significant assumptions related to the treasury curves and credit spreads. For a discussion of our critical accounting policies, see “Critical Accounting Policies” in Part III, Item 5- Operating and Financial Review and Prospects. Furthermore, no assurance can be given that we will continue to have access to financing, on terms or be able to conduct derivative transactions, withon terms that are satisfactory to useconomically viable, or at all. In addition, no assurance can be given that unexpected cash outflows will not be required, which could further erode liquidity and increase borrowing requirements.

As of December 31, 2018,2019, our total debt was TRY 20,155.520,305.7 million. TRY 8,590.510,188.5 million of our debt portfolio consisted of financing obligations paying interest at fixed rates. The remainder of our debt portfolio pays interest at floating rates, which has been increasingdecreasing within the last year andbut could expose us to increased costs if rates increase further.increase. In 2015, we arranged a number of financing facilities inwith a principal amount of approximately $2.9 billion (partly in U.S. Dollars and in Euro) for the refinancing needs of the Company and our subsidiaries and to fund infrastructure investments and any other potential investment opportunities, which has significantly increased our indebtedness. Of this financing amount, we issued a10-year Eurobond with an aggregate principal amount of $500 million and utilized $500 million in October 2015, which was followed by a

EUR 1.25 billion, 10 year10-year loan facility from the China Development Bank.Bank (“CDB”). EUR 500 million of this facility was immediately utilized. EUR 195 million, USD 325 million and RMB 251 million were utilized from this facility until its availability period expired in April 2019. Furthermore, in June 2016 we utilized USD 500 million and EUR 445 million under a5-year club loan agreement fromwith five international banks. Repayments of the CDB and club loan facility, on a semi-annual basis, have already started and further, on February 11, 2020, our Company announced the prepayment of the club loan facility. Accordingly, the outstanding two principal repayments of the loan, which are originally due in June 2020 and September 2020 and which in total amount to EUR 60148.4 million in 2017 and USD 140 million, EUR 100 million and RMB 251166.7 million, were utilized in 2018 from the China Development Bank facility. In the last three years, we also borrowed to finance the growing business of our consumer finance company and to finance the working capital requirements of our operations in Ukraine. completed on March 23, 2020.

In April 2018, we issued another10-year Eurobond bond with an aggregate principal amount of $500 million withand a fixed coupon rate of 5.80% per annum.annum in order to finance upcoming debt service. In 2019, we signed a USD 150 million 10-year export finance facility covered by Exportkreditnämnden (EKN) of Sweden in order to finance our procurement from a global vendor, and a EUR 50 million 3-year sustainability linked loan with an international lender in order to refinance existing indebtedness. In March 2020, we signed a EUR 50 million 5-year green loan to be utilized to finance sustainable investments such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, green digital services and green buildings under the internationally recognized Green Loan Principles. In addition, no assurance can be given that unexpected cash outflows will not be required, which could further erode liquidity and increase borrowing requirements.

In February 2020, a law was enacted in Turkey (Law No. 7222 regarding Amending Banking Law and other Laws) which enables investors to act collectively according to changing conditions, and issuers and investors to agree on changing the terms and conditions of debt instruments in accordance with their interests, which may have a negative effect on our consolidated financial condition and results of operations.

As we understand from what we observe in the market, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) plans to phase out LIBOR by the end of 2021 and from then on, the Secured Overnight Funding Rate (SOFR) is expected to replace LIBOR. Furthermore, regulators are also discussing the replacement of EURIBOR, although it is expected to remain in place for another period of 5 years. As of March 20, 2020, we have neither discussed with nor been approached by any financial institution to replace LIBOR and/or EURIBOR with a new reference rate in our existing loan or hedging agreements.

In the last three years, we have also borrowed to finance the business of our consumer finance company and the working capital requirements of our subsidiary in Ukraine. We may continue borrowing to finance our infrastructure investments, consumer finance company (depending on how the market evolves), loan repayments and any other potential investment opportunities. Additionally, on June 19, 2018, we entered into a framework shareholder loan agreement pursuantcontinued to whichmake excess TRY cash inof Turkcell is made available to other group companies located in Turkey as a short termshort-term TRY loanloans at arm’s length basis in line with currentprevailing market conditions.

In 2015, we received investment grade ratings from Moody’s, S&P and Fitch Ratings and sustained theseconditions under the framework shareholder loan agreement signed with respective group companies in 2016 and 2017, although in 2017 Moody’s and S&P changed the outlook on our ratings to negative from stable. In 2018, Moody’s, S&P and Fitch Ratings downgraded our credit rating to non investment grade in accordance with their respective internal practices to reflect their individual decisions in the beginning of the third quarter of 2018 to reflect the downgrade Turkey’s sovereign rating. Fitch and Moody’s both put our company on negative outlook, while S&P changed the outlook to stable from negative bymid-2018. A decrease in our free cash flow, an increase in our net debt position or more generally a change in financial policies and projections, a material increase in investment and acquisition plans or shareholder returns and an increase in corporate governance issues could also result in a further credit rating downgrade. In November 2018, our contract with Moody’s ended. We continue to receive credit rating services from S&P and Fitch Ratings.2018.

Some of our borrowing agreements contain cross default clauses, which could trigger an event of default under such agreements in the event of a default by a Group company under its own borrowing agreements (such default by that Group company being subject to certain thresholds).

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Regulatory decisions and changes in the regulatory environment could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

We are subject to a significant range of legislative and regulatory requirements, both in Turkey and internationally. Compliance with new and existing laws and regulations has had, and is likely to continue to have, a significant impact on the ways in which we do business. This may include but is not limited to the impact on our ability to set our pricing and offer new and existing services, including converged services, on customer use of our services, the way we handle, process and store customer data, the terms of our subscriber contracts, the way we can communicate with customers, including in particular our ability to contact subscribers with our offers, our ability to implement any planned or future network or infrastructure sharing initiatives and our ability to obtain and maintain licenses. Furthermore, the laws, regulations, regulatory orders and licenses under which we operate are subject to interpretation and enforcement by regulators with which we are not always in agreement. Complying with regulations may be costly, and failure to comply may lead to significant penalties, criminal prosecution, adverse publicity and the loss of licenses in the affected line of business or country and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and cause significant reputational and brand damage with customers, investors and regulators. Furthermore, our licenses generally have specified terms and renewal is not assured. For more information on regulation and how it may impact our business, see “Item 4.B. Business Overview—Regulation of the Turkish Telecommunications Industry”.

Pricing is one of the areas in which we are subject to regulation. In the recent past, the ICTA and Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (formerly the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications of Turkey) (the “Turkish Ministry”) regulations and actions relating to our voice, SMS, data and value addedadded/digital services have negatively affected our pricing and our ability to design and launch campaigns and offers. One of these regulations regarding the retail pricing per voice minute has been lifted and the regulatory burden has consequently been significantly reduced. However,The ICTA reintroduced the “mobile retail price capcap” obligations in mobile has2018, from which Turkcell had been reintroducedexempt since 2016. The ICTA adopted a decision, which sets new price caps applicable to fees for activation/ deactivation, name/title change, account takeover, MSISDN change, SIM card change and detailed bill information, effective as of October 1, 2018. Following this decision, new price caps applicable to calls, SMS, international calls and directory assistance service have also been introduced, effective as of January 1, 2019. Turkcell applied for withdrawal of this decision, which was rejected by the ICTA. Turkcell filed a lawsuit for stay of execution and the cancellation of Article 1 of the decision. The case is pending as at March 20, 2020. Further, with the decision taken by the ICTA on April 12, 2018, operators are now subject to new processes related to the reimbursement of the remaining balances to prepaid subscribers whose subscriptions are terminated for various reasons, which may be material depending on the size. ICTA, through a board decision taken at the end of 2018, has imposed obligations on operators to record and to keep up-to-date identity information on their subscribers (both consumer and corporate segments), matching this information with the products/numbers that are being used. ICTA also requires that operators complete missing information on existing subscribers and to terminate these subscriptions if the information is not provided within a given date. Likewise, foreigners are required to register their subscriptions with their “foreign identity number” if they are to use their subscription for more than 90 days, otherwise their subscriptions must also be terminated. These new obligations have resulted in October 2018. a one-time bulk deactivation of subscriptions, especially of the subscriptions of foreigners, impacting our churn rates in the third quarter and particularly in the fourth quarter of 2019. New subscriptions are completed only if the required identity information is given upfront.

In addition, interconnection rates are still set by the ICTA, and, there is a possibility that further regulatory actions may adversely affect our company’sCompany’s wholesale revenues. In addition, the ICTA has determined and may in the future determine that we are an operator with significant market power and as a result impose certain constraints on us, while imposing less stringent ones on other mobile telecommunications operators in the market, both of which may adversely affect our business and financial condition. For more information, see “Item 4.B. Business Overview—Regulation of the Turkish Telecommunications Industry”.

Expectations and standards with regard to privacy and data protection have been increasing both globally and in Turkey. Stricter privacy laws and regulations are being adopted or existing legislation is being more strictly interpreted and enforced by the authorities, which require companies to invest more diligence and effort towards ensuring compliance. While we are primarily subject to Turkish data protection legislation, the European General Data Protection Regulation and other foreign privacy legislation also have the potential to affect our business through some of our subsidiaries established in the EU and other countries, as well as some of our products and services provided to persons in the EU. Breach of such regulation may potentially result in penalties up to a maximum of 4% of global annual turnover or EUR 20,000,000. Ensuring compliance with these various privacy legislations is a longlastinglong-lasting commitment, which requires substantial costs, and it is possible that despite our efforts, governmental authorities or third parties will assert that our business practices fail to comply. Changes in privacy legislation or in interpretation of the existing legislation could have an adverse effect on our business and data processing operations and/or subject us to significant civil and criminal penalties, business disruption or reputational harm.

Furthermore, given that we process personal data, namely of our customers and employees, we are subject to the Law No. 6698 on The Protection of Personal Data and the regulations of the Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority, as well as data protection legislation under the Electronic Communications Law and the ICTA’s data protection regulations. We are further subject to the Capital Markets Board’s Communiqué on Information Systems Management numbered VII-128.9 and Communiqué on Independent Audit of Information Systems numbered III-62.2, which entered into force on January 5, 2018 and introduced new obligations with regards to information systems for certain legal persons. For more information, see “Item 4.B. Business Overview-Regulation of the Turkish Telecommunications Industry”. Should we fail to properly implement and comply with these data protection laws and regulations, we might face administrative fines of up to approximately TRY 1,470,0001,000,000 (this amount is subject to a legal revaluation increase each year) per breach, depending on the nature of the failure(s), as well as criminal sanctions or other regulatory actions by the Personal Data Protection Authority, and face administrative fines up to 3% of yearly net sales of the ICTA-regulated companies in breach. Changes to such data protection laws may impose more stringent requirements for compliance and impose significant penalties for non-compliance. In particular, we are facing increased risks with regard to these laws and regulations as the number of our Paycell customers -inin relation to whom we hold

sensitive data such as credit card information- increases rapidly. Additionally, our Company collects a significant amount of personal data from our digital service products users, such as BiP, fizy, lifebox and TV+, and the scope of this data collection has increased significantly following our recent artificial intelligence implementation aimed at providing personalized content to our customers. If we or those with whom we share information fail to comply with these laws and regulations, our reputation could be damaged, possibly resulting in lost future business. In addition, the cost and operational consequences of responding to breaches and implementing remediation measures could be significant.

The ICTA has introduced new regulations or changes to regulations in a numberMinistry of areas that could affect our business, including the following:

Customer reimbursements are now more highly regulated, which will increase our liabilityTransport and place a higher administrative burden on our company. For example, reimbursements must now take place in under a month (unless another period is set forth by a decision of the ICTA), and we may face penalties should we fail to meet this requirement. Additionally, we will be subject to the obligation to transfer unpaid reimbursements to a universal service fund.

The ICTA has taken decisions in the fiber market that have favored the incumbent Turk Telekom, in particular exempting the fiber market from market analysis (so called “fiber holiday”). The ICTA has not announced its final market analysis for fixed wholesale local and central accesses. The fiber holiday may continue to be in place depending on the ICTA’s final decision.

The ICTA reintroduced the “mobile retail price cap” obligations, from which Turkcell had been exempt since 2016. The ICTA adopted a decision, which sets new price caps applicable to fees for activation/deactivation, name/title change, account takeover, MSISDN change, SIM card change, detailed bill information, effective as of October 1, 2018. Following this decision, new price caps applicable to calls, SMS, international calls and directory assistance service have also been introduced, effective as of January 1, 2019. Turkcell applied for withdrawal of this decision, which was rejected by the ICTA. Turkcell filed a lawsuit for stay of execution and the cancellation of Article 1 of the decision. There is no progress on the case as at March 7, 2019.

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The ICTA has cancelled the deregulation of the SMS/MMS Termination Market. Consequently, the SMS/MMS termination service will continue within the scope of obligations under the Mobile Call Termination Market Analysis. Also, the Mobile Access and Call Origination Market deregulation transition period has been extended until April 12, 2019. Within this period, Turkcell’s Significant Market Power (“SMP”) designation and our obligations under Mobile Access and Call Origination Market will be maintained until the concerned market is deregulated.

The ICTA had extended its “doubleopt-in rule” in 2018, requiring consumers to submit two approvals before purchasing value added services, from gaming and music services to all value added services that are purchased via SMS. This is an obstacle to the purchase by our customers of our services, which may adversely affect our services revenue. The ICTA may further regulate value added services, for example by considering app services as being in the scope of value added services regulations. Currently, it remains unclear whether the rules for value added services are applicable to operator applications. In addition, the administrative sanctions to be applied in the event of failure to comply with the obligations relating to value added services have been extended via the amendment made by the ICTA to the Regulation on Administrative Sanctions.

In accordance with the decision taken by the ICTA on April 12, 2018, operators are now subject to new processes related to the reimbursement of the remaining balances to prepaid subscribers whose subscriptions are terminated for various reasons. For instance, operators must reimburse the balance within 15 days from the termination date, in failure of which:

If the subscriber applies to the operator within two years following the termination of the subscription agreement, the remaining balance must be reimbursed to him/her.

Notwithstanding the above-mentioned right of application, if the userre-subscribes to the same operator within two years following the termination of the subscription agreement, the remaining balance must be deducted from the first invoice.

The new version of the Regulation on Consumer Rights in the Electronic Communications Sector, which came into force in April 2018, mainly preserves the provisions of the former regulation. However, under the new regulation, the first on/off operation in a calendar year must not be charged if the services were suspended/disconnected due tonon-payment within due date.

The ICTA requires an update of Turkcell’s subscription agreements reflecting the new consumer rights regulations. Changes include more strict consent obligations regarding subscription choices and the cancellation of operators’ right to restrict subscriptions of subscribers with unpaid bills for other subscriptions.

An ICTA decision favoring subscribers with special needs, veterans and, widows/widowers and orphans of martyrs came into effect on January 1, 2019, requiring operators to offer their services with a 25% discount. The discount is offered upon proof of identity and the subscriber’s special need; however there is a high risk of fraud and consequently, of a decrease in our profitability. As of March 7, 2019, approximately 18,000 subscribers are registered to benefit from this discount.

The ICTA has put forward more stringent conditions regarding caller line identification and the use of alphanumeric titles, limiting businesses’ choice in titles for their advertising and ultimately threatening the growth of our bulk SMS business.

An increase in the wholesale prices for fixed broadband services provided by Turk Telekom is foreseen, following its request to increase the wholesale prices in 2018. This could affect our retail broadband business; however, this increase has not been approved by the ICTA as of the date of this annual report on Form20-F.

The Turkish MinistryInfrastructure informed the operators on June 7, 2018 that that they primarily have to request from the most prevailing operator in terms of infrastructure in Turkey - Turkey—which is Turk Telekom – Telekom—to perform the excavation work on their behalf. Although Turkcell filed a lawsuit to remove this measure thisno assurance can be given that we will be successful in doing so, This situation mighthas negatively affectaffected our ability to expand our fibrefiber network and may affect our future investments.

Taxation and charges are also areas in which we are subject to specific regulations. We are, for example, subject to a Special Communication Tax (“SCT”), which is set at 7.5% across all product lines, and transceiver and receiver unit surcharge payments are set at 5% of monthly net sales since January 2018. Such taxes have affected, and could continue to adversely affect, consumer demand for products and services and our results of operations.

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We are increasingly involved in providing financial services to our customers. As a result of the establishment of our insurance agency company and our participation finance company (not operational yet) as well as our existing operations in consumer finance, payment ande-money services, we are subject to a variety of banking and finance laws and regulations (the principal regulators include the BRSA, the CBRT and the Insurance Directorate under Undersecretariat of the Treasury), and. Moreover, pursuant to our focus on services such as TV and music, we are subject to broadcasting and copyright laws and regulations. In 2017, Turkcell Enerji, which we fully own indirectly, has obtainedholds an electricity supply license from EMRA for the purposepurposes of electricity energy trading and wholesale and retail electricity sales. This company is subject to laws and regulations governing the electricity market in Turkey. These regulations are different from those that we currently encounter in our core communications business in Turkey and we will need to obtain and develop the expertise required to comply with these laws and regulations, which may be costly. As we enter new businesses, such as the automotive industry, service coupons and meal cards, we will also be exposed to the regulatory regimes and decisions specific to those businesses.

Notably, in February 2020, the Law No. 7222 Amending Banking Law and Certain Other Laws, Capital Markets Law Article No. 103 was amended so that administrative fines imposed by the Capital Markets Board are indexed to public companies’ financial performances instead of yearly updated fixed administrative fines so far. Accordingly, administrative fines are calculated up to a maximum of the greater of 1% of gross sales proceeds or 20% of pre-tax profit, which may have a significant negative impact on our results of operations.

If we, our local partners with whom we enter into cooperation agreements or similar agreements, or one of our key suppliers fail to comply with laws and regulations regarding unethical business practices, including bribery and corruption, and international sanctions, this could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

We are subject to various laws and regulations relating to unethical business practices, including bribery and corruption, and international sanctions. Bribery and anti-corruption laws in effect in many countries prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to public officials for the purpose of obtaining new business or maintaining existing business relationships. Certain anti-corruption laws such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”)FCPA also require the maintenance of proper books and records, and the implementation of controls and procedures in order to ensure that a company’s operations do not involve corrupt payments. Since we operate in several countries, and given that some of our clients, or local partners with whom we enter into cooperation agreements or similar agreements, are government-owned entities and that our projects and agreements often require approvals from public officials, we face the risk that our employees, local partners, consultants or agents may take actions that are in violation of our policies and of anti-corruption laws. In many parts of the world where we currently operate or seek to expand our business, local practices and customs may be inconsistent with our policies, and could violate anti-corruption laws, including the FCPA and European Union regulations, as well as applicable economic sanctions and embargoes. Our employees, local partners or other parties acting on our behalf or with whom we enter into cooperation agreements or similar agreements, or our suppliers, could violate policies and procedures intended to promote compliance with anti-corruption laws or economic sanctions,

regardless of whether we had participated in such acts or had knowledge of such acts at certain levels within our organization. Any of the foregoing could result in criminal prosecution and sanctions, fines penalties, withdrawal of licenses against us, companies in which we invested, and our and their officers and employees and significant damage to our reputation, and negatively affect our competitive advantage and financial position. There can be no assurance that acts of corruption will not occur or be alleged in respect of any of our activities or those of our current or past affiliates.

In particular, one of our key suppliers, Ericsson, has been the subject of corruption allegations and investigations, including in respect of its Turkish operations. Although we have not to our knowledge been implicated, no assurance can be given that these allegations and investigations will not touch our Group. Furthermore, weWe have strong commercial ties to several Chinese vendors from which we have in the past purchased network equipment, and currently have a significant installed base of their equipment, including in the context of the development of our 5G network infrastructure and cloud and IT infrastructure. We also have access to financing from the China Development Bank which facilitates the purchase of Chinese equipment. Should any one of these vendorsthem become subject to U.S. sanctions, or should we or any entity in our supply chain be compelled to terminate a relationship with a vendor as a result of the direct or indirect reexport restrictions implications resulting from an entity being added to the Entity List prohibitions of the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), which would affect our ability to purchase their equipment in the future and require us to find alternative suppliers, or should we be compelled to terminate or suspend our relationships with these vendors for any other reason, namely as a result the ongoing tensions between China and the U.S., this may lead to an increase in our costs or otherwise affect our ability to develop and maintain our increasingly advanced network infrastructure and negatively affect our competitive advantage and financial position.

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We hold interests in several companies that may expose us to various economic, business, political, social, financial, liquidity, regulatory and legal risks and may not provide the benefits that we expect, and our pursuit of acquisition opportunities may increase these risks.

Our investments in subsidiaries and associated companies within Turkey and internationally have and are likely to continue to expose us to economic, political, social, financial, regulatory, currency devaluation and legal risks. These risks have affected and could adversely affect our result of operations and the carrying value of assets in our financial statements.

Through our subsidiaries in Turkey and internationally, we engage in businesses outside of the scope of our core mobile business. These other businesses are subject to risks that are in some respects different from those of our mobile business. We will need to obtain the expertise required to compete and operate in these new businesses, which may be costly. No assurance may be given that we will succeed and that we will not incur losses that could adversely affect our business and financial condition. For example, several of our subsidiaries are providing financial services including, for instance, insurance, providing credit, payment intermediation and bill payment services, which are different from those in our traditional telecommunications activities and increase our exposure to certain risks that are common to both. Providing financing and financial services to our customers exposes us to liquidity and market risk, credit risk, fraud risk and cyber-attack risks, in particular with respect to credit cards and personal information that we process and hold. This includes through the expansion of our mobile payment business, Paycell, in Turkey, Ukraine and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.Cyprus (limited services).

We also have a consumer finance company Turkcell Finansman A.S. (“Financell” or “Turkcell Finansman”), which manages the high working capital requirements and bad debt expenses arising from the high demand in the Turkish market for “bundled” offers featuring both communications services and a communications device, particularly a smartphone. Having commenced operations in 2016, Financell carried loans outstanding at December 31, 20182019, which totaled TRY 4.22.52 billion. While ourOur cost of risk has improved to 3.2% in December 2019 from 1.97% in December 2018 from 2.26% in December 2017,2018; this may increase particularly as the credit portfolio increases, or in the event that our lending criteria fail to preserve the quality of our assets, and/or in the event of economic activity and macroeconomic slowdown in Turkey and in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, where, for the latter, we also offerhave offered consumer financing.financing up until June 1, 2019. The foregoing may lead to losses and eventual tightening of lending criteria, which in turn may cause a reduction of the loan portfolio, which is likely to affect our profitability. Furthermore, the demand for consumer loans might be negatively affected by financial conditions, particularly interest rates and FX rates since most smartphones’ pricing is largely dependent on hard currencies. With regard to Financell’s swap agreements, if the FX rates are volatile and, for example, result in a substantial difference between the rates forecasted by our treasury and the spot rates at maturity, this could result in significant losses and a decrease in revenue and otherwise affect our profitability.

The Turkish financial sector, including banks, financial leasing and factoring companies, payments ande-money institutions and consumer financing companies, is regulated by the BRSA. The BRSA may enact changes in regulations regarding consumer finance activities, which might restrict part of our consumer finance business.

As such, initially on August 15, 2018, and later on February 26, 2019 and most recently on January 14, 2020, restrictions on the number of installments depending on the purpose of the loan have been adopted through an amendmentamendments in the relevant legislation. The maturity of certain type of loans (other than loans to consumers for housing finance and complementary goods and services in relation to home renovation/improvement, the financial leases for homes leased to consumers, other loans for the purpose of purchasing real estate, loans for the purpose of financing education and learning fees and loans for any refinancing of the same) are explicitly determined under the Regulation on the Principles regarding Incorporation and Activities of Financial Leasing, Factoring and Financing Companies. Accordingly, Financell may provide loans of up to sixthree months for mobile phones with a retail price of TRY 3,500 and above and up to twelve months for mobile phones with a retail price of below TRY 3,500, down from twenty-four months on average.average up until mid-2018. This has negatively affected the number of smartphone sales in the Turkish market, which has had and is expected to continue to have a negative effect on the size of the digital services and solutions market. The long term growth prospects of our digital services and solutions businesses depend in part on the continuing expansion of the number of smart phone users in the market. Furthermore, on November 14, 2018, the BRSA has noticed the factoring, leasing and financial institutions via an article, restricting the distribution of dividends for 2018 and dividends earned before 2018 to only to be distributed by prior approval of the BRSA. Furthermore, in February 2019, theFurther to a recent decision, starting from March 19, 2020, a “cultural fund” of 1% over import value shall be paid for imported or manufactured mobile phones which have voice recording qualifications. The President of Turkey was given the authority to increase the Special Consumption Tax rate on mobile phones from 25% to up to 50%. since February 2019. An increase in this tax may negatively impact the number of mobile phones sold in Turkey. We cannot rule out the possibility of further increases in tax rates or new taxes and charges, including on mobile devices, data, and services. These restrictions may include a prohibition on financing of specific goods or services in the future. More generally, the consumer finance sector is rapidly evolving and no assurance can be given that we will be able to adapt to market trends and that new competitors will not emerge. If this were the case, we may not be able to realize the synergies that we expect from our consumer finance business.

Furthermore, our subsidiary Kule Hizmet ve İşletmecilikIsletmecilik A.S. (“Global Tower”) operates a large portfolio of telecommunication towers in several countries. In the event of expiry,non-renewal or termination of certain concessions or licenses of Turkcell, Turkcell may be forced to transfer to ICTA the tower assets it owns where ground lease agreements are executed by Global Tower, which would lead to a loss of revenue and have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

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Turkcell Group has investments in emerging markets including Belarus, Moldova, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and Ukraine and has activities that involve other emerging markets. Legal systems, institutions, commercial practices and economies in emerging markets tend to be relatively underdeveloped and some may also suffer from relatively high rates of fraud and corruption. Were we to be affected by corruption, we could incur significant penalties under applicable anti-corruption legislation, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act as well as reputational harm. Turkcell Group also retains relevant risks with regards to its divested businesses.

In some countries, we hold our investments with another shareholder or local government and in some cases we are anon-controlling shareholder.government. Should there be a disagreement between us and other shareholders, no assurance can be given that we will be able to take the course of action we believe is appropriate. In these cases, we may consider exiting, or alternatively increasing our investment in order to take control, which may be costly. Furthermore, some of the countries in which we have businesses, and the companies and individuals that we come into contact with, may be the target of E.U., U.S. and international sanctions, as has occurred in Crimea. There can be no assurance that political, legal, economic, social or other actions or developments in these countries or involving such companies and individuals will not have an adverse impact on our investments and businesses in these countries. Investors may be reticent to invest in a company doing business in such countries or other countries that may be at risk due to the political instability. These factors could have an adverse effect on the demand for and the price of our shares. In this regard, we have and are likely to continue to experience issues in some of our Turkish and international businesses that adversely affect our Company. Recent issues include the following:

 

Our operations in Ukraine are adversely affected by the ongoing conflict with Russia, political instability,weaknesses of the state institutions, civil unrest and economic problems in that country. Tension with Russia escalated again sincecountry, although, by the Russian coastguard seized three Ukrainian vessels in the Kerch Strait. Following the event, martial law was declared inend of 2019, Ukraine on November 26, 2018 which lasted for 30 days.has been able to keep macroeconomic stability demonstrating GDP growth and decreasing inflation. Due to the ongoing crisis in the Crimea region following its annexation by the Russian Federation, we were eventually obliged to discontinue services there in the fourth quarter of 2014. We completelywrote-off our assets in the Crimea region, while retaining our license and frequency rights. We continue to evaluate our options with respect to the disposal of lifecell’s assets in Crimea and the actions that we may take may raise challenges with respect to compliance with lifecell’s license requirements. Furthermore, the current military and political crisis in the Eastern part (mainly in Donetsk and Luhansk, otherwise referred to as the ATO zone) with Russia remains unresolved and could lead us to evaluate our options in the Eastern region. The ongoing crisis may further adversely affect the Ukrainian economy and our results of operations in Ukraine and/or the value and security of our assets and operations there. We are unable to predict the likely course or duration of these events, or the extent of the adverse impact that they have had and are likely to have on the telecommunications market dynamics and composition, our investment in Ukraine and our operations there. Additionally, presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for March 31, 2019 and October 27, 2019 respectively may cause further uncertainty on both political and economic fronts.

Donetsk and Luhansk, otherwise referred to as the ATO zone) with Russia remains unresolved and could lead us to evaluate our options in the Eastern region. The ongoing crisis may adversely affect the Ukrainian economy and our results of operations in Ukraine and/or the value and security of our assets and operations there. We are unable to predict the likely course or duration of these events, or the extent of the adverse impact that they have had and are likely to have on the telecommunications market dynamics and composition, our investment in Ukraine and our operations there.

 

In Ukraine, the local currency, the Ukrainian Hryvnia (“UAH”), depreciatedappreciated against the U.S. Dollar by 3.2% in 2017 and appreciated by 1.4% in 2018 and by 14.5% in 2019 according to National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). The UAH appreciateddepreciated by 4.4%17.4% against the U.S. Dollar as of March 7, 201920, 2020 as compared to closing rates on December 31, 2018. The National Bank of Ukraine, among other measures, continues2019. Consumer price inflation slowed to impose certain restrictions on the processing of client payments by banks and on the purchase of foreign currency on the inter-bank market. The IMF executive board approved a 14 month 3.9 billion USDstand-by agreement for Ukraine on December 18, 2018. The result of the presidential elections is also deemed critical for the IMF agreement. If Tymoshenko emerges victorious4.1% in 2019, from the election, that scenario might complicate the deal with the IMF. Due to the tight monetary stance of the National Bank of Ukraine, inflation dropped down to 9.8% in 2018, from 13.7% in 2017. The National Bank of Ukraineand this downward trend is expected to maintain its conservative stance onpersist into the first half of 2020. Rapid decline in inflation makes room for steady easing monetary policy by the NBU. The NBU cut its key policy rate by 450 bps from 18% to 13.5% in orderNovember. More aggressive cuts are possible in 2020, if risks are avoided. Inflation is expected to keepshift lower, but still above the inflation in check towards itsNBU’s target of 5%. Ukraine has beenUkraine’s key event risks will be related to the steps necessary to agree a new IMF deal, notably on positive growth territory since 2016,the banking sector. Another uncertainty relates to the talks with Russia regarding gas transit, with the current contract having expired at a ratethe end of 2.5% both in 2016 and 2017. Growth is expected to have stayed in the positive territory in 2018 as well.2019. As of December 31, 2018,2019, our debt balance (excluding lease obligations) related to lifecell was UAH 4.94.2 billion (equivalent to TRY 9251,044 million). lifecell’s foreign currency revenues were 6.5%4.0% of its total revenues and its foreign currency operational expenses were estimated at 14.5%6.0% of its total revenues as of December 31, 2018.2019.

 

Our development strategy in Ukraine in 2015 was marked by our acquisition in 2015 of the 44.96% stake in lifecell that we did not own, with a view to strengtheningstrengthen our regional position, a restructuring of lifecell’s balance sheet and the acquisition of a 3G license at a cost of UAH 3,355 million (equivalent to TRY 376 million as of March 19, 2015) paid in 2015. In MayFurthermore, between 2015 lifecell made paymentand 2018 we paid a total of UAH 350886 million (equivalent to TRY 46 million as of May 8, 2015) and UAH 7 million (equivalent to TRY 1 million as of May 12, 2015) for the first installment of conversion of spectrum from military use.use in three installments. In April 2017, lifecell has made paymentaddition, in 2018, we paid a total of UAH 2991,704 million (equivalent to TRY 40 million as of April 28, 2017) for the second installment anda 4G license. Significant deployment costs were incurred in October 2018, lifecell has made final payment of UAH 230 million (equivalent to TRY 45 million as of October 31, 2018) for the third installment of the conversion.2018. These increases in our investmentinvestments have further increased our country and currency risk exposure.

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The 4G license process was conducted in two phases in the first half of the year 2018. Accordingly, lifecell was awarded with 15 MHz spectrum in the 2600 band and 15 MHz spectrum in the 1800 band on January 31, 2018 and on March 6, 2018, respectively, at a total cost of UAH 1,704 million (equivalent to TRY 346 million as of March 7, 2019). Significant deployment costs were incurred in 2018. Our success in obtaining a 4G license has increased our exposure to Ukraine and there is no assurance that we will monetize this investment.

Additionally, the official process for the redistribution of radio frequencies in the 900 MHz range was completed by Ukraine’s National Telecommunications Authority (“NKRZI”) on March 18, 2020. Accordingly, the frequency band of lifecell in 900 MHz was increased from 3.8 MHz to 5.6 MHz for UAH 121.2 million, effective as from July 1, 2020 for five years. The license fee has been fully paid. This new license will require further investment in Ukraine, increasing our exposure in this market and may consequently negatively affect our profitability.

In another development, there is a possibility that the Mobile Number Portability (“MNP”) may behas been launched in Ukraine inas of May 1, 2019. The implementationDue to the lengthy and cumbersome practice of MNP, may lead toas at March 20, 2020, a high churnnegligible number of subscribers betweenhave changed operators. In some cases, MNP has been more disadvantageous for the third playerWe are in the market.a continuous effort to improve this process; however, we may not be successful in doing so.

Additionally, in the near future, there may be another licence tender in Ukraine, which may increase our costs and consequently negatively affect our profitability in Ukraine. Furthermore, should there be aRecent ownership change in the ownership of any of our competitors;Vodafone Ukraine may change the dynamics in the competitive environment may change to our disadvantage, which may adversely affect our financial and operational performance. Apart from these economic and political risks, our operations in Ukraine could also expose us to operational, competitive, regulatory and legal risks, all of which may prevent us from delivering our strategic targets. These risks have affected and could adversely affect our result of operations.

 

Although theThe Belarusian economy returned to growth in 2017 following two years of recession and is expected to remainremained positive for 2018 by 3.1%. Following a weak start to the economic situation remains fragile.year, Belarus economy accelerated visibly in 2019. GDP growth was reported at 1.4% as of Q3 2019.

The country still remains vulnerable to global shocks which may trigger renewed weakness in the country’s ability to service its external debt and furtherany depreciation of the local currency, BYN, which could in turn lead to a further reduction in the value of our investment in this country. We also believe that there is a risk of an increaseInflation decelerated relatively in inflation in particular as a result of monetary easing2019 by the Central Bank.decreasing to 4.7% from 5.6%. According to the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB) the BYN depreciated against the U.S. Dollar by 0.7% in 2017 and further depreciated9.5% in 2018 and appreciated in 2019 by 9.5%2.6%. The BYN appreciateddepreciated by 1.0%20.8% as of March 7, 201920, 2020 as compared to the closing rate on

December 31, 2018.2019. The recent slowdown in inflation and the dovish shift of global and neighbor (Russia) central banks make space for gradual policy easing in Belarus. The NBRB cut the refinancing rate by 100bps to 9.0% in 2019. The NBRB expects inflation to be at the 5% target at end-2019, and

sees the next year’s environment as dovish / disinflationary given the lower inflation in Russia and globally, as well as the expectation for the economy to be close to its steady state. Devaluation risks still remain, as limited currency reserves, high debt repayments and the current account deficit coupled with the close ties to the Russian economy put the recent BYN stabilization at risk and creates inflationary and devaluation pressure. Belarus has suffered from hyperinflation in the past and may again in the future.

In line with our strategic priority of improving our balance sheet structure, debt of CJSC Belarusian TelecomTelecommunication Network (“Belarusian Telecom”) was restructured in 2015. As part of the restructuring, Belarusian Telecom’s total existing intra-group loans were converted into subordinated loans, provided directly by Turkcell. As of December 31, 2018,2019, Belarusian Telecom’s debt (excluding lease obligations) was BYN 1.70.9 million (equivalent to TRY 4.22.4 million as of December 31, 2018)2019) owed to financial institutions and a EUR 612 millionBYN 1.5 billion (equivalent to TRY 3.7 million4.1 billion as of December 31, 2018)2019) subordinated loan owed to Turkcell. This subordinated loan was converted to the local currency BYN from EUR on April 1, 2019.

 

In Belarus, as the third operator in the market, we face regulatory and operational difficulties and no assurance can be given that the situation will change in our favor in the future. These risks have affected and could adversely affect our reputation and results of operations.

 

A 4GAn IMT spectrum tender mightis expected to be held in 2019 in2020 as the regulatory body of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, where we have a subsidiary called Kibris Mobile Telekomunikasyon Limited.Limited (“Kibris Telekom”), issued the draft rules of the tender for consultations in December 2019. As per the draft tender terms, all currently allocated and the new spectrum will be technology-neutral and the operators will be able to use them for any technology (e.g. 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G), thereby increasing the efficient use of the spectrum and operational flexibility. Such tender may require additional investments, including in fiber, which would in addition require us to obtain permits that we have no certainty of receiving and without which we would have difficulty operating a 4G network profitably.profitably would be difficult to achieve. Also, there may be a tender to privatizerestructure the incumbent telecom operator, TRNC Telecommunications Office, although this has not yet been the subject of an official announcement. We face the risk that we may not be permitted to participate in the tender, and/or that the tender be awarded to one of our main competitors, which would adversely affect our growth and our competitiveness in the region. Further, this tender may include the issuance of a third mobile licence,license, which may increase the competition and adversely affect our results of operations.results. In the near past, there have been political discussions regarding the reunification of Cyprus, which, if resumed, may bring growth opportunities for our subsidiary, but may also lead to risks including unfavorable changes in applicable regulations, an increase in competition, an increase in capex requirements and loss of revenues.

 

We hold a 41.45% stakeTurkcell Foundation of our Company (“Foundation”), established in Fintur, which has operations in Moldova at current, and Telia Company (through Sonera Holding B.V.) holds the remainder. Following inconclusive negotiations regarding the purchase by us of Telia Company’s stake in Fintur and KCell, we decided to sell our Fintur stake and Fintur was classified as

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an asset held for sale in our financial statements and reported as discontinued operations in the fourth quarter of 2016. Accordingly, a binding agreement with respect to the transfer of our shares in Fintur to Sonera Holding B.V. has been signed on December 12, 2018 for a total consideration of EUR 350 million subject to closing adjustments. The transfer of shares is expected to be completed following the obtainment of necessary regulatory approvals. No assurance can be given however that we will successfully close the transaction, or that we will not pursue another course of action. Should there be a disagreement between us and the other shareholder (Telia Company) in the future for any reason whatsoever, no assurance can be given that we will be able to take the course of action that we believe appropriate, including with respect to operational and strategic matters.

In 2018, prior to us selling our stake in Fintur, Fintur sold the shareholdings it owned in three telecommunications companies:

on March 5, 2018, Fintur transferred its shareholding in Azertel Telekomunikasyon Yatirim Dis Ticaret A.S (Azercell) in Azerbaijan to Azerbaijan International Telecom LLC;

on March 20, 2018, Fintur transferred its shareholding in Geocell LLC in Georgia to Silknet JSC of Georgia through its 99.99% subsidiary Gurtel Telekomunikasyon Yatirim ve Dis Ticaret A.S.; and

on December 21, 2018, Fintur’s 51% total shareholding in Kcell JSC in Kazakhstan was transferred to Kazakhtelecom JSC.

In October 2018 we established Turkcell Foundation (“Foundation”), with the intentionin Turkey, intends to bring mainly all charities and donations, namely in respect of technology and education, under one roof on a voluntary basis. The board of directors of the Foundation consists of five members, all of which have been appointed among the high-level executives of Turkcell. The Foundation may be exposed to various Turkish regulatory and legal obligations specific to foundations.

Our international and Turkish subsidiaries may not benefit us in the way we expect for the reasons cited above, as well as other reasons, including general macroeconomic conditions, poor management and legal, regulatory or political obstacles. For many of these subsidiaries, we do not expect to achieve desired levels of profitability in the near ormid-term, and we may be required to record impairments. mid-term. We may also in response to such conditions consider increasing, restructuring or exiting certain of our investments.investments and we may be required to establish new legal entities or engage in new business lines due to our business needs or recently introduced regulations. In addition to the foregoing, the new Turkish Commercial Code and related legislation may require us to provide new capital or other financial support to certain of our controlled subsidiaries, which may divert resources from other needs.

Furthermore, in addition to investing in our international operations, we also engage in business through roaming agreements in a number of countries. In international markets in which duopoly markets exist, such as the United Arab Emirates or the Maldives, operators tend to increase their roaming prices despite the overall trend of declining roaming prices in the world, which could increase our roaming costs. The terms on which we enter into roaming agreements may change over time, adversely affecting our ability to sustain or enter into such agreements on commercially viable terms.

We face risks related to our dependence on network and IT systems and the products and services we provide through third party suppliers as well as our exposure to technological changes in the communications market, including industries where we traditionally do not compete.

We are dependent on certain systems and suppliers for information technology (“IT”) and network technology (“NT”) services, and also carry a significant inventory, and our business continuity is at risk due to our exposure to potential natural disasters, sabotages, regular or severe IT and network failures, human error, security breaches and other cyber security incidents and IT migration risk, any of which could have an adverse effect on our operations, damage our reputation and affect our relationships with our customers and/or our employees and result in a fine under relevant data protection legislation.

We are heavily dependent on IT and NT systems as well as their suppliers of IT and NT services and our IT and NT employees for the continuity of our business and we are continually upgrading and converting our IT and NT systems.business. Although we devote significant resources to the development and improvement of IT and NT and of security, backup and continuity systems, we could still experience IT and networkNT failures and outages due to system deficiencies, human error, natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods, unsuccessful migration to alternative or improved IT and NT systems, or other factors including but not limited to unintentional third party interruptions. Notably, a significant portion of Turkey’s population and most of its economic resources are located in a first-degree earthquake risk zone and Turkey has experienced a large number of earthquakes in recent years, which may result in significant damages to the IT and NT systems our business depends upon. These factors also put at risk the substantial inventory that we hold which, if damaged, could adversely affect business continuity and our results of operations.

Mobile networks are migrating towards internet protocol (“IP”) technology to transport information. These networks open up the possibility forIP-based services. However, once these services are introduced into the IP domain,

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the mobile network may be harmed by potential attacks. The threats on the mobile network can originate from external sources, such as the public internet, or internal sources, such as terminals connected to our mobile network. Despite the systems and infrastructure which we have put in place to address these security concerns, we could encounter successful attacks on our infrastructure, which could have an adverse effect on our operations, damage our reputation and affect our relationships with our customers.

Our IT and NT services are exposed to hacking, sabotage and other cyber security threats, and terrorist or other destructive acts, any of which could have an adverse effect on our operations, damage our reputation and affect our relationships with our customers and/or our customers, incur substantial additional costs and result in a fine under relevant data protection legislation and lawsuits from affected customers.

Our commercial success is heavily dependent upon the security and continuity of our services, and maintaining the security of our customers’, employees’ and suppliers’ personal and financial data, intellectual property, and other confidential and sensitive data is essential to our business. In common with other high-profile businesses which are targeted for cyber-attacks, our networks and systems are constantly exposed to a variety of different cyber threats and we have experienced an increased number of sabotage incidents, as well as attempted cyber-attacks of varying degrees of sophistication by unauthorized parties attempting to obtain access to our computer systems and networks. We believe that no such attacks have succeeded in obtaining access to our critical systems, although in practice such attacks may develop over long periods of time during which they can remain undetected.

Based on our Cyber Defense Center practices, we have experienced many privilege theft and escalation attempts which have been stopped before causing any harm to our services and products. Also, many phishing and malware activities were detected and stopped, notably a global malware attack in October 2018 aimed at several telecommunication companies including Turkcell, which aimed at taking control over our clients and servers. So far, none of these attacks are regarded as material incidents. In June 2017, an incident took place (the Petya attack) which impacted many public entities and companies, including our subsidiary lifecell in Ukraine, resulting in a loss of data (although minimal and not sensitive). A successful hack could disrupt our network and our ability to provide services and/or could result in, for example, unauthorized access to, misuse, loss, or destruction of our data or systems and theft of sensitive or confidential data, including personal information of our employees and customers, and theft of services and/or funds. WeOur data and systems are currently particularly vulnerable to cyber-attacks due to the fact that a significant proportion of our employees work remotely in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. While we are in the process of reviewing the cyber security incident insurance alternatives that are available to us, we currently do not have cybersecurity incidentsuch insurance, and a compromise of our security systems or those of our business associates, that results in the information we hold being accessed by unauthorized persons, could adversely affect our reputation with our customers and other stakeholders, as well as our operations, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and could result in litigation against us or the imposition of penalties. In addition, a breach could require that we expend significant additional resources related to the security of information systems and could disrupt our operations.

Although we closely follow general technological trends in communications and technology, we may be unable to adapt to rapid technological changes in communications and information technology, which could result in higher capital expenditures and a greater possibility of commercial failure.

Rapid technological changes in communications and information technology are redefining the markets in which we operate and the products and services we offer, shortening product life cycles and facilitating the convergence of various segments, including in our core mobile communications businesses. If we fail to anticipate, invest in and implement new technologies with the levels of service and prices that customers demand or to respond effectively to technological changes, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, such new technologies require significant capital expenditures and it is impossible to predict with any certainty whether the technology selected by us will be the most economical, efficient or capable of attracting customer usage, or whether such technologies will be developed according to anticipated schedules, will perform according to expectations or will achieve commercial acceptance. Although we are following general technological trends in communications and technology, there can be no assurance that we will be able to develop new products and services that will enable us to compete efficiently.

We have become active in providing products and services for industries other than telecommunications, many of which are developed and/or maintained by third party providers. Our reliance on these third party providers to help us navigate the regulatory, security and business risks of industries where we traditionally do not compete adversely affects our business.

The operation of our business depends, in part, upon the successful deployment of continually evolving products and services, including for applications in industries other than telecommunications, such as TV, music, energy, mobile financial and payment services, insurance agency services, corporate services such as meal coupons, contactless smart card for fare payment on public transport such as the Istanbul Card, mobile education solutions, authentication solutions, data center services and entertainment and community services. We are reliant upon third party providers to help us navigate risks relating to security, regulations and business in the industries where we do not traditionally compete. Changes in such industries may impair our partners’ business and/or negatively impact the content we are developing, such as for entertainment, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

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We are subject to a variety of risks with respect to our Base Transceiver Stations (“BTSs”) performance.

Spectrum limitations and frequency costs may adversely affect our ability to provide services to our subscribers and the cost to us of providing such services.

Our spectrum licenses have specified terms and are subject to renewal upon a payment of a fee, but renewal is not assured. The loss of, or failure to renew, our licenses could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition. Those licenses have also specified radio spectrum. The spectrum is a continuous range of frequencies within which the waves have certain specific characteristics. The number of subscribers that can be accommodated on a mobile network is constrained by the limited amount of spectrum allocated to the operator of the network and is also affected by subscriber usage patterns and network infrastructure. After the IMT Advanced (known commercially as “4.5G”) auction held on August 26, 2015 in Turkey we have 2x10 MHz of FDD spectrum in 800 MHz band, 2x12.4 MHz of FDD spectrum in 900 MHz band, 2x30 MHz of FDD spectrum in 2100 MHz band, 10 MHz of TDD spectrum in 2100 MHz band, 2x29.8 MHz of FDD spectrum in 1800 MHz band, 2x25 MHz of FDD spectrum in 2600 MHz band and 10 MHz of TDD spectrum in 2600 band. Although the acquired spectrum can potentially be used for the next generation network technology known as 5G, some services that are specific to 5G and our future capacity needs will require us to eventually obtain new spectrum. If we are unable to maintain or obtain licenses for the provision of 5G specific telecommunications services or if our licenses are not renewed or are renewed on less favorable terms, our business and results of operations could be harmed. On the other hand, an earlier than expected 5G spectrum tender by the ICTA with the possibility of excessive prices can result in additional costs and investment, including capital expenditures. If the demand for 5G services fails to materialize at a level in line with the industry assumptions, the return on investment may not meet our expectations. Any of the foregoing factors could affect our profitability and our competitive position.

As we experience growth in our subscriber base and their demand for mobile services and data, grow and as we offer a greater number of services, we will require additional capacity. We may face capacity problems, which may in turn lead to deterioration in our network’s quality and may negatively impact our operational results.

We were awarded a license allowing us to deploy an IMT advanced network (“4.5G”) in Turkey in October 2015. There are certain coverage and local production obligations imposed by the tender. Potential increase in coverage requirements or failure to abide by the requirements of our licenses or applicable regulations may have an adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

We have achieved a major step forward in the development of telecommunications in Turkey with the deployment ofOur 4.5G networks in 2016. Our 4.5Gbuild-out requires has required significant financial investments and there can be no assurance that we will be able to meet all of the 4.5G license terms and conditions. The cost of the 4.5G license as well as the capital expenditure required in connection with our 4.5Gbuild-out is has been significant. Furthermore, the license agreement contains certain terms that may weigh on the profitability of this investment and may have an adverse effect on our 4.5G investment plans in the future. These include terms regarding minimum required use of local equipment and procurement from local small and medium sized enterprises engaged in production in Turkey in meeting infrastructure obligations, an active network sharing obligation for a portion of the population, high coverage obligations for roads and railroads and significant taxes and spectrum usage fees, which will increase as the number of frequencies used increases.fees. With respect to the local procurement requirement, there is not enough research and development, product development and production capacity in the local market to meet the license requirements and thus it has not been possible to comply. We have requested ICTA to waive this requirement initially for 2015-2016, 2016-2017, 2017-2018 and 2017-2018.2019. However, the ICTA has not yet responded to our Company. In addition to the above obligations, we must ensure that our network equipment suppliers employ a certain number of engineers and local researchers in their local R&D centers. Although efforts have been made, we do not believe that compliance has been achieved. No assurance can be given that ICTA will not find us to be in breach of our license as a result of the foregoing. More generally, demand for 4.5G services may also not be at the level we expect, such that the return on investment we make in connection with 4.5G may not meet our expectations. Any of the foregoing, factorswhich could harm our competitive position and our profitability.

In addition, if we fail to obtain additional frequencies in the future at a reasonable cost, the competitive coverage advantage of our Company may be adversely impacted. The cost of obtaining new frequencies has increased significantly in recent years and is expected to continue to increase. This has had and is likely to continue to have an adverse impact on our cost of providing competitive coverage and also on our results of operations.

Consistent with the nature of terminal technology development, traffic on the 2G network is expected to shift to the 3G network and once fully deployed,4.5G networks. Although we aim to migrate our 2G customers to the 3G and 4.5G network. However, terminal penetration isnetworks before the key factorexpiry of our 2G license in providing2023, we might not be successful in doing so, and in such case we would face the expected shift in traffic. Penetration may stay low or our subscribers may choose to stay onrisk of losing the 2G or 3G network for reasons such astraffic and the corresponding revenue should our 2G network’s lower battery power consumption. In addition, coverage will depend on the full deployment of the 4.5G network, comparedlicense extension request to the coverage level of the 2GICTA be denied, which could affect our profitability and 3G networks.our competitive position.

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There are alleged health risks and zoning limitations related to our BTS which may adversely affect our ability to provide services at certain areas. The fiber business is also affected by local limitations.

We are aware of allegations that there may be health risks associated with the effects of electromagnetic signals from BTS and from mobile handsets. While we believe that there is currently no substantiated link between exposure to electromagnetic signals at the level transmitted by our BTS and mobile handsets and long term damage to health, the actual or perceived health risks of mobile communications devices could adversely affect us through a reduction in subscribers, reduced usage per subscriber, increased difficulty in the leasing and acquisition of site locations for base stations and exposure to potential liability. Furthermore, we may not be able to obtain insurance with respect to such liability on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

In recent years, legal proceedings have been brought against mobile operators seeking the removal of base station sites for health reasons. In addition, the Turkish Supreme Court overruled the decisions of some local courts, finding that a base station in question could have negative effects on human health over the long term. If the number of those cases increases or if new regulations were to result, these could have a material adverse effect on our operations and financial results. Such legal proceedings may make it more difficult for us to establish and maintain such sites. Furthermore, from time to time, there are conflicting and confusing reports in the media about the health effects of BTS. These reports have even caused local residents in certain regions to form large protests in strong objection to the BTS sites. Such obstacles have made it increasingly difficult to build new BTS sites and maintain our existing sites. The ICTA has issued an updated regulation which further tightened electromagnetic field limits. This may negatively impact network quality and increase our capital expenditures.

There are zoning limitations related to our BTS that require operators to obtain construction permits and certificates, which may be costly and may have an adverse effect on our operating results. Zoning law in Turkey

requires mobile operators to obtain certifications for all existing and new BTS, which may result in significant compliance costs and/or closing of BTS for which certification cannot be obtained, negatively impacting our financial condition. An exception to this requirement for base stations was rescinded by a court decision. As a result of this situation, some municipalities take actions to suspend the construction of BTS or order their demolition. The amendments made in the Planned Areas Zoning Regulation has been in effect since October 1, 2017. The necessitycame into force on July 25, 2019. With the related amendments, rooftop cellular systems and tower installations were separated. Towers and reinforced concrete station installations are excluded from the scope of obtainingthe license exemption. On the contrary, a building permission certificate and a construction permits document, which islicense will not possible in practice, has been abolished by the new regulation.be required for rooftop BTS. However, there are certain ridge limitations for rooftop BTS. Also, there remains some uncertainty regarding the provisions on building aesthetics and silhouette, permits of the flat owners and the project implementation. Any difficulty in maintaining or building BTS due to health concerns and our inability to obtain the required permission and certificates, may negatively impact the quality of our network, including our ability to expand and upgrade it, and affect our operational performance.

In 2012, metropolitan municipalities were authorized to consider the requirements of city and building aesthetics and electronic communication services when certifying BTS sites. Municipalities regulate the choice of operators’ BTS locations, and if we do not have, or are unable to obtain, a site selection certificate in our preferred location, we may havebe compelled to move our BTS to another less desirable location. In addition, the Site Selection Certificate Regulation entered into force in January 2018, according to which the site selection certificate and fee was set at TRY 2,400 (TRY 2,970 for the year 2019), applicable only to BTS sites established after December 2012. This fee is updated on a yearly basis and is set at TRY 3,640 for the year 2020. Such regulation is likely to lead to additional operational costs, and the certificate processes for implementation of sites may delay the permit process.

Our fiber business must excavate to lay new cables and repair existing cables, and there is an obligation to get permission for excavations from authorized municipalities or institutions. In some areas, excavations may have to be stopped due to the high cost of tariffs requested from municipalities. Our investment plans may be affected due to excavations being banned during certain seasons within the administrative boundaries of municipalities. Also, since June 2018 operators primarily have to request from the most prevailing operator in terms of infrastructure in Turkey - Turkey—Turk Telekom – Telekom—to perform the excavation work on their behalf, which might negatively affect our ability to expand our fibrefiber network and our future investments (see —(see—Regulatory decisions and changes in the regulatory environment could adversely affect our business and financial condition). In some cases, we could face the risk that, although we get the approval of the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure institutions subordinate to the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure do not recognize these approvals and do not give permission to excavate. In addition, a new law in force has increased the number of metropolitan municipalities and in some cases, the size of their territory was increased, which may have the effect of increasing our coverage obligations and the number of BTS required to meet them.such obligations. Furthermore, right of way conflicts with major municipalities to establish fiber optics infrastructure may affect our ability to provide services and to maintain operational excellence. Related regulatory actions in the future are likely to increase our costs and affect results of operations, in many cases, adversely.

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We are dependent on a small number of suppliers for network equipment, information systems and handsets and for the provision of data and services. We also rely on a small number of distributors. The failure of any of our counterparty such as suppliers or distributors may have an adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

Like all telecommunications network operators, weWe purchase our communications network equipment from a limited number of major suppliers. Our business is dependent on a small number of critical suppliers in areas such as network infrastructure, information systems and handsets and distribution. Further, we have worked with only two distributors in Turkey since 2015, which creates concentration risk. Any financial difficulty or failure of any of our suppliers and/ or our distributors in terms of timing and quality may adversely affect our business and financial condition. There can be no assurance that we will be ableSuch suppliers and distributors could fail to obtainprovide equipment from one or more alternative suppliersservice on a timely basis inas a result of a disruption to the eventglobal supply chain due to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic. If such failures occur, we may be unable to provide products and services as and when requested by our customers, or we may be unable to continue to maintain or upgrade our networks. Because of the cost and time lag that any currentcan be associated with transitioning from one supplier for any reason, including thatto another, our business could be substantially disrupted if we were required to, or chose to, replace the technological requirements forproducts or services of one or more major suppliers with products or services from another source, especially if the replacement became necessary on short notice. Any such disruption could increase our increasingly advanced infrastructure are too complex, is unable or unwilling to satisfycosts, decrease our demands. operating efficiencies and have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

Our competitive position could also be adversely affected if our suppliers fall behind technological developments compared to the suppliers of our competitors. Adverse economic conditions have negatively affected and may continue to affect our domestic and international suppliers, leading to a contraction in their

business, which in turn may lead to a decrease in the quality of the services that they render to us and adversely affect timely delivery of such services, thereby negatively impacting our business and operations. In particular, if prices at which we purchase products from our domestic and international suppliers increase, namely as a result of currency depreciation and inflation —bothinflation—both in Turkey and internationally—, we need to pass on all or a large portion of these additional costs to our customers to be able to maintain our margins. However, we may be unable to increase the selling price of products or services to fully or partially offset the price increases by our suppliers (some of which have considerable negotiating power), particularly if our main competitors choose not to implement such price increases. In addition, our existing license agreements or new regulations may require us to purchase network equipment from specified suppliers or meet certain specifications regarding our existing suppliers. Equipment from these suppliers may not always be compatible with our existing equipment or the supplier may fail to integrate it, and our employees may not be familiar with the technical specifications and maintenance requirements of equipment from these suppliers. Furthermore, if our suppliers fail to meet the requirements, we may end up violating the terms of our license agreements. These factors could also have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

Turkcell’s complex ownership structure and ongoing disagreements among our main shareholders have adversely impacted in the past and may impact decision-making on important matters in the future. These ongoing disputes may lead to further regulatory or legal actions, and affect the ownership and control of our company.Company.

Our principal shareholder is Turkcell Holding A.S., which holds 51% of Turkcell’s shares as of March 7, 2019,20, 2020, based on the Company’s share book. Sonera Holding BV sold 13.07% of our shares to the market in two tranches (May 10 and September 21, 2017) which led to an increase of 48.95% in our publicly held shares.

Turkcell Holding A.S. is 52.91% owned by Cukurova Telecom Holdings Limited and 47.09% by Telia Finland Ojy. Cukurova Telecom Holdings Limited is 51% owned by Cukurova Finance International Limited and 49% by Alfa Telecom Turkey Limited. According to public filings (a Schedule 13D filed in November 2009), Alfa and Telia Company entered into an agreement regarding a possible consolidation of their holdings in Turkcell into a new company. In a Schedule 13D filed on December 16, 2014, Alfa has deleted references to this agreement.

Cukurova and Alfa are involved in a long-running dispute regarding, in summary, amounts due by Cukurova to Alfa and Alfa’s claim to take ownership of Cukurova’s indirect 13.8% interest in our Company in settlement of such amounts. In 2014, as a result of a court decision, Cukurova paid Alfa $1.6 billion to release this claim. Cukurova has been provided loan financing amounting to $1.6 billion by the Turkish state-owned Ziraat Bank for which an indirect 13.8% interest in our Company has been provided as collateral. According to the latest publicly available information, Alfa and Cukurova remain in a stalemate over a right given to Alfa to buy Cukurova’s stake and rights of Cukurova to either buy Alfa’s stake or sell its own stake to Alfa. This dispute and other disputes have effectively blocked shareholder decision-making on important corporate matters, and could have an adverse effect on the ability of our management to execute business decisions and take other actions. We cannot predict how the resolution of this dispute will affect our Company, whether other disputes will be resolved and whether our shareholders will be able to achieve agreement on matters regarding the operation of our Company.

The shareholding structure and the ongoing disputes have adversely affected our companyCompany in a number of ways and present a number of risks, including in particular:

 

Our Articles of Association contain quorum and majority requirements, at various levels, for shareholder meetings and decisions. Failure to achieve a quorum or the required majority vote can block decisions that require shareholder approval. Prior to our shareholders’ meeting held in 2015, we have had difficulty convening shareholder meetings and numerous items submitted to our shareholders have not been approved, including the distribution of dividends, the approval of our dividend policy, the election of independent board members, the release of directors for actions taken and the approval of financial statements. In 2012, 2013 and 2014, due to lack of quorum, the annual general assemblies could not convene on time. A general assembly was eventually convened on March 26, 2015. The annual general assembly meeting for 2016 and 2017 convened on May 25, 2017 and March 29, 2018; respectively, but in both instances did not approve all items submitted to it. It was decided at the annual general assembly meeting for 2017 that three members of the Board of Directors appointed as per the decision of the Capital Markets Board (“CMB”) shall be dismissed and three new candidates proposed by Turkcell Holding A.S., our majority shareholder, shall be appointed in their place.

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including the distribution of dividends, the approval of our dividend policy, the election of independent board members, the release of directors for actions taken and the approval of financial statements. In 2012, 2013 and 2014, due to lack of quorum, the annual general assemblies could not convene on time. A general assembly was eventually convened on March 26, 2015. The annual general assembly meeting for 2016 and 2017 convened on May 25, 2017 and March 29, 2018; respectively, but in both instances did not approve all items submitted to it. It was decided at the annual general assembly meeting for 2017 that three members of the Board of Directors appointed as per the decision of the Capital Markets Board (“CMB”) shall be dismissed and three new candidates proposed by Turkcell Holding A.S., our majority shareholder, shall be appointed in their place. Our Board of Directors is yet to call the Annual General Assembly Meeting of our Company for 2018.

A number of corporate governance requirements were enacted under Turkish regulations by the Capital Markets Board with mandatory effect from June 30, 2012.

We were unable to comply with some of these requirements because of a lack of consensus among our main shareholders, including a requirement thatone-third of our Board members and that all of our Audit Committee members be “independent”.

Under the Capital Markets Law, the CMB has the power to take action against the Company, our Board members and our main shareholders in respect of the various governance issues that have arisen or to amend the Articles of Association without general assembly approval. Under such powers, starting from March 2013, the CMB had directly appointed all of the currentour independent Board members of our Board during 2013.so far. The CMB appointed members’ terms of office will last until new appointments are made in accordance with applicable legislation, which may as in the past include by CMB appointment.

An “Investor Compensation Center” (“ICC”) was formed in 2013 by Mr. Ahmet Akca, Mr. Atilla Koc and Mr. Mehmet Hilmi Guler continued to serve as independent Board Members as per the CMB under the 2013letter of Capital Markets Law. UnderBoard dated March 8, 2019, and were subsequently replaced by Nail Olpak, Afif Demirkiran, and Tahsin Yazar as per the Capital Markets Law that deals with the duties and responsibilities of theresolution issued by CMB it is stipulated that the ICC may use the rights vested on the general assembly in public companies whose ordinary general meetings of two consecutive financial years could not be made within statutory deadlines and whose board members have been nominated partly or wholly by the CMB. The Regulation on the Investor Compensation Center was published in the Official Gazette with no further details on how this right shall be exercised by the ICC. The form and scope of such actions are not clearly defined and we are not aware of any precedents, thus were we to find ourselves in this situation in the future, we may not be able to predict what actions the ICC might eventually take, if any.dated March 5, 2020.

No assurance may be given regarding the impact of past or future CMB actions, future ICCInvestor Compensation Center actions, or any future legal actions against our Company, on the overall company strategy, convening of our general assembly or the distribution of dividends.

Compliance with our home country governance rules is an important element of our compliance with the listing requirements of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”). Failure to comply with such rules could jeopardize the continued listing and trading of our ADRs on the NYSE.

For so long as our main shareholders are in dispute and/or unable to achieve consensus, we are likely to continue to experience difficulties obtaining corporate decisions, including with respect to the matters discussed above, and we may have difficulty obtaining decisions regarding our business and operations. This situation may also lead to further regulatory and legal actions being taken in respect of our Company, the nature and effects of which we cannot predict. Ongoing disputes among the shareholders may affect the ownership and control of our shares, the demand for and price of our shares and our ability to manage our business, and no assurance can be given that the interests of these shareholders will be aligned with those of our other shareholders.

We are involved in various claims and legal actions arising in connection with our business, which could have a material effect on our financial condition.

We are subject to investigations and regular audits by governmental authorities in Turkey, including the Competition Board, the ICTA, tax authorities and certain other parties, and governmental authorities in other countries in which we have operations. We are currently involved in various claims and legal actions with such authorities. We set aside provisions on anas-needed basis with regard to our ongoing disputes in line with applicable accounting standards. However, no assurance can be given that the provisions we set aside will be sufficient to cover any actual losses under these matters, or that new disputes will not arise under which we would face additional liabilities and reputational risk. For a more detailed discussion of disputes that we presently believe to be significant, see “Item 8. Financial Information” and Note 3738 to our audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in “Item 18. Financial Statements” of this annual report on Form20-F.

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We face a risk of tax audits and claims in many different areas that are subject to taxation, such as corporate tax, value added taxes and others. Such audits and claims have led to significant tax assessments and penalties in the past and may again in the future. In addition, changes in tax laws andnon-tax regulations may lead to the growth of our tax burden and may, as a result, materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. Disputes related to taxation have been particularly significant and major penalties have resulted.

Current tax and other disputes include the following:

 

We have had ongoing disputes regarding the application of the Turkish Special Communication Tax (“SCT”) to prepaid card TL/package sales made via our sales channels over numerous years. In accordance with the Law no.6736No. 6736 the Company filed applications for the restructuring of penalties and interest on the Special Communication Tax regarding the disputes on the tax amount for the years 2008-2012 in November 2016. The tax office accepted the restructuring application for the years 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012, and we paid the restructured amount and settled the disputes in November 2016. On the other hand, the tax office rejected the application for the restructuring of SCT regarding the dispute on the tax amount for the year 2011. The Company also filed a case for the cancellation of aforementioned rejection act of Tax Office for the year 2011. The case is pending as well as the cases regarding the cancellation of the SCT assessment for the year 2011.

aforementioned rejection act of Tax Office for the year 2011. The hearing was held and it is expected that the court will grant a decision. In the cases regarding the cancellation of the SCT assessment for the year 2011, Council of State accepted our appeal and decided to reverse the first instance court decision in favor of the Company, on the ground that; in the case filed for the cancellation of the rejection act regarding our Company’s request to restructure the cases filed for the year 2011, the court decided in favor of the Company (decision has not been notified to the Company yet) and since the mentioned case will affect these cases, finalization of the respective decision should be waited.

In accordance with the Law no.7143,No.7143, in August 2018, the Company filed applications for the restructuring of penalties and interest on the SCT regarding the disputes on the tax amount for the years 2013 and 2014. In August 2018, the tax office accepted the restructuring application for the years 2013 and 2014, and Company paid the restructured amount and settled the disputes by October 2018.

However, ourIn addition, tax investigation reports for the years 2015 and 2016 were delivered to us. Tax Authority imposed tax assessments; (i) TRY 85.13 million in total, comprising TRY 34.05 million in principal and TRY 51.08 million penalty in relation to SCT for 2015 and (ii) TRY 61.7 million in total, comprising TRY 24.69 million in principal and TRY 37.04 million penalty in relation to SCT for 2016.We have concurrently applied for settlement. The successful settlement meeting was held in December 2019 and the assessment has been closed officially following settlement. Our Company remains under investigation on the same matter for the years 2015, 2016 andyear 2017. Although the Ministry of Finance has addressed this issue through Communiqués enacted on January 1, 2018 for the periods after December 31, 2017, we may be subject to penalties or litigation with the tax authorities for the years 2015, 2016 andyear 2017.

Following a limited tax investigation at our Company with respect to Value Added Tax (“VAT”) and SCT pertaining to financial years 2015 and 2016, we were informed by the Large Taxpayers Office that no issues were identified for 2015. However, the Large Taxpayers Office made an additional request with respect to the taxation of applications included in some of the bundled offers and packages offered to our customers for financial year 2016 and imposed a tax assessment of TRY247.8TRY 247.8 million in total, comprising TRY53.8TRY 53.8 million in principal and TRY80.7TRY 80.7 million penalty in relation to SCT, and TRY45.3TRY 45.3 million in principal and TRY68.0TRY 68.0 million penalty in relation to VAT. A settlement request related to this assessment has been sent to the Revenue Administration for the period of 2016 in December 2018, and accordingly, a successful settlement meeting was held on December 9, 2018. Depending on26, 2019 and the outcomeassessment has been closed officially following settlement.As a result of the settlement, we may decidea single amount of TRY 199 million was settled (including the late payment interest) in relation to: (i) SCT assessment related to take this matterprepaid card TL/package sales made via our sales channels for the years 2015-2016 and (ii) VAT and SCT assessment related to court.the taxation of applications included in some of the bundled offers and packages offered to customers for the year 2016. The settled amount has been paid within the legal term and assessments were closed.

 

Under our licenses (2G and 3G) and Authorization Certificate (4.5G) as part of our license, we pay a monthly treasury share equal to 15% of our gross revenue subject to some exemptions. We are currently subject to ongoing audits in this are, forin relation to the periods through 2017,2019, and the Turkish Treasury may change its opinionsviews based on its interpretations of treasury share calculations. Therefore, unanticipated treasury share liabilities and fines may also be levied. We have also had several long running disputes with the Turkish Treasury regarding claims for payments of additional treasury share and allegations of deficient treasury share and contribution share payments and penalties imposed within the context of our 2G and 3G Concession Agreements.

We also have been involved in several disputes regarding administrative fines imposed by the ICTA, warnings established by ICTA, and ICTA’s additional radio utilization and usage fee requests made after ICTA’s investigations on number of subscribers and radio utilization and usage fees regarding the years 2004 to 2014.

Under the Law No. 7061, we have settled the related Treasury share and ICTA disputes described above, and increased the tax base within the scope of Law in order to restructure treasury share, contribution share to the universal service fund, contribution share payment and administrative fees for the periods for which examination is ongoing or has not been yet initiated. The settlement amount including interest on installments is TRY 600.8 which was paid out in 2018. No assurance can be given that further disputes will not arise with regard to the year 2018 and future years.

Based on the Laws stated above, all the installments have been paid and processes have been completed. In this regard, we have closed the possibilities with regard to investigations upon treasury share, universal service contribution and ICTA as of January 01, 2018.

 

According to Serial Nr. 7061 Law, as of January 1, 2018, Treasury Share investigations will be made by the Ministry of Finance. Investigations are held by the Ministry of Finance for the first time and there is no assessment for the year 2018 and period of January to September 2018.2019. An investigation related to the last three monthsOctober—November of 20182019 was initiated on February 7, 2019.

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The Company is also under investigation for (i) the year 2017 with regard to SCT and for (ii) the year 2018 with regard to SCT, Corporate Income Tax and VAT.2, 2020.

 

The Company ManagementCompany’s management decided to apply for VAT and corporate income tax base increase mechanism for 2017 in accordance with Law Serial No. 7143; accordingly, there will be no tax assessment for the applications related to VAT and CIT but the Company may remain subject to tax assessment for other taxes payable by it.

 

The Company is also under investigation for (i) the year 2017 with regard to SCT and (ii) the year 2018 with regard to SCT, Corporate Income Tax and VAT.

Operators must pay license and annual utilization fees for the wireless equipment to ICTA. Before January 1, 2018, the fee amount was calculated with respect to the amount per unit of wireless equipment (TRx) and as of January 1, 2018 the fee is calculated as 5% of monthly net sales amount. We argue that the content services are provided without any infrastructure requirements, and therefore, that they should not be considered as mobile electronic communication services. Accordingly, for the January 2018 TRx payment, a lawsuit has been filed and for the months thereafter, no TRx fees were

calculated over content services. The Court accepted the case in favor of the Company. The ICTA appealed the decision before the Regional Administrative Court, which rejected the appeal request. In October 2019, additional TRx amounts relating to content services were requested from the Company by ICTA. Based on management’s opinion in accordance with the relevant legislation of ICTA, TRY 128.4 million was paid in November 2019, for 2018 and 2019 fiscal years and legal actions has been taken for 2018. Case is pending.

Under the Ministry of Trade (formerly Ministry of Customs and Trade)Trade’s investigation with regard to value added services, subscription contracts and device campaigns, we received an administrative fine amounting to TRY 116.2 million. We filed a lawsuit for the stay of execution and cancellation of the penalty. After filingpenalty, which led to the lawsuit,withdrawal of the administrative penalty decision was withdrawn and the related audit reopened. The Court decided that there is no need to grant a decision regarding the withdrawal of the administrative fine. The case is in appeal progress. OnCouncil of State granted a final decision and approved the other hand, as a result of the investigation the Ministry of Trade decided to impose an administrative fine amounting to TRY 138 million against the Company. The Company filed a lawsuit for the stay of execution and cancellation of the administrative fine. The case is pending.First Instance Court decision. No assurance can be given that significant penalties will not again be imposed and that further disputes will not arise.

As a result of the investigation, the Ministry of Trade decided to impose an administrative fine amounting to TRY 138.2 million against the Company. The Company filed a lawsuit for the cancellation of the administrative fine. The Court accepted the case in favor of the Company and cancelled the administrative fine. Istanbul Governorship appealed the decision. The Company replied the appeal request in due time. The case is pending.

Administrative fines and refunds were requested in the investigation conducted by ICTA to determine whether the Company complies with the «Procedures and Principles for Protection of Consumer Rights in the execution of Value Added Electronic Communication Services» regulation. Prior to the final decision taken by the Board within the scope of the investigation ICTA has decided: (i) to give 5 months to prove the operators’ claims that “it should not be concluded that all subscribers subject to violation are getting services without their will” (ii) to meet the consumer refund complaints regarding the services provided with the same purchasing method during this period and (iii) to submit the detailed report on these actions within a month following the 5 month process. Should our defenses are not accepted, a significant fine can be imposed and refunds may be required as a result of the examination.

Due to some subscriber complaints, data doubling campaigns are examined by the ICTA in terms of the appropriateness of the campaigns and whether there is an increase in the fees of contracted campaigns. Administrative fines and refunds were requested regarding the data doubling campaigns. Should our defenses not be accepted, a significant fine can be imposed and refunds may be required as a result of the examination.

 

Administrative fines were requested in the context of the ICTA investigation related to some reporting errors (both for 3G and 4.5G) and the failure to fulfill the obligations regarding the minimum required use of local equipment and procurement from local small andmedium-sized enterprises for the 2013-20162013—2016 and 2016—2017 periods under the 4.5G licencelicense terms. Furthermore, an additional fine may be requested in the investigation carried out by the ICTA for the following reporting period, on the same grounds.

 

The Turkish Competition Board has, for several years, alleged that we have abused our dominant position in the Turkish mobile market through our exclusive practices directed at our dealers. While there is no ongoing investigation of Turkcell regarding such allegations, this and similar actions may have financial consequences and hinder our ability to respond to the competition.

For a more detailed discussion of our disputes that we presently believe to be significant, see Note 3738 to our audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in “Item 18. Financial Statements” of this annual report on Form20-F.

Although we maintain and regularly review our internal control over financial reporting, there are inherent limitations on the effectiveness of our controls, particularly as our Company grows and enters into new businesses.

We maintain and regularly review internal control over our financial reporting. However, internal control over financial reporting has inherent limitations and there is no assurance that a system of internal control over financial reporting, including one determined to be effective, will prevent or detect all misstatements on a timely basis. A control system, no matter how well-designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance regarding financial statement preparation and presentation. This risk is exacerbated by our rapid growth into new activities, which creates additional challenges in identifying risks and designing and implementing systems to control them. Furthermore, we operate in a decentralized structure in which most compliance functions are managed at the level of our operating companies rather than at the parent company level, which can further complicate the process of identifying risks and designing and implementing systems.

Our systems may not always allow us to detect and prevent fraud or other misconduct by our employees, representatives, agents, suppliers, dealers or other third parties. We may be exposed to fraud or other misconduct committed by our employees, representatives, agents, suppliers, dealers or other third parties that could subject us to litigation, financial losses and sanctions imposed by governmental authorities, as well as affect our reputation. Such misconduct could include misappropriating funds, conducting transactions that are outside of authorized limits, engaging in misrepresentation or fraudulent, deceptive or otherwise improper activities, including in return for any type of benefits or gains or otherwise not complying with applicable laws or our internal policies and procedures.

Our latest review as of December 31, 2018,2019, similar to last year, has revealed certain deficiencies in our controls, although none that we believe constitutes a “material weakness”. Our controls have, in the past, suffered from deficiencies and no assurance can be given that others will not emerge in the future. A failure to detect or correct deficiencies and weaknesses in a timely manner could have an adverse effect on the accuracy of our financial reporting and on our operations and may also cause financial losses.

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Our business consolidated financial results and/or operational performance could be adversely affected unless we retain our key personnel, our partners and their employees.

Our performance depends, to a significant extent, on the abilities and continued service of our key personnel. Competition for qualified telecommunications and technology personnel in Turkey and elsewhere is intense, in particular in the area of cyber-security. In addition, we depend on our dealers, distributors and their employees for the growth and maintenance of our customer base. The loss of the services or loyalty of key personnel could adversely affect our business and financial condition and could lead to breaches of confidentiality, particularly if a number of such persons were to join a competitor.

Muhterem Kaan Terzioglu resigned from his position as Chief Executive Officer Furthermore, should a significant number of our Company, effective March 15, 2019. Murat Erkan, our Company’s Executive Vice President of Sales, is now serving as acting Chief Executive Officer. Our future success will be dependent upon the ability to identify and engage a suitable candidate within a reasonable time period and, thereafter, the ability of the new Chief Executive Officer to effectively transition into this role. Our new Chief Executive Officer could make organizational changes, including changes to our management team and may make changes to our Company’s structure and business strategy. These changes could adversely affect the successemployees, or certain members of our businesskey personnel, be unavailable due to measures (e.g., quarantine, confinment, etc.) implemented in the context of COVID-19 or other pandemics, or should we suffer the loss of such employees as a result of COVID-19 or other pandemics, this may have a material adverse effect on our operations, including customer service, sales, and the deployment, operation and maintenance of our ability to compete effectively, which could impact our revenues, operations, and results of operations.networks.

Our ADS price may be volatile, and purchasers of ADSs could incur substantial losses.

The market price of our ADSs may be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations, in particular due to the fact that trading in the ADSs will take place in different currencies (U.S. dollars on the NYSE and Turkish liras on the Borsa Istanbul), and mostly at different times (resulting from different time zones, different trading days and different public holidays in the United States and Turkey), resulting in the trading prices of these securities differing on these two markets. Securities markets worldwide experience significant price and volume fluctuations. In particular, the long-term effects to the global securities markets of epidemics and other public health crises, such as the on-going COVID-19 crisis, are difficult to assess or predict, and may include a further decline and volatility in the market prices of our ADSs. This market volatility, as well as general economic, market or political conditions, could reduce the market price of our ADSs in spite of our operating performance. In addition, our operating results could be below the expectations of public market analysts and investors due to a number of potential factors, including changes in our quarterly operating results or dividends, additions or departures of key management personnel, failure to meet analysts’ earnings estimates, publication of negative research reports about our industry, failure of securities analysts to cover our shares or changes in financial estimates by analysts, litigation and government investigations, changes or proposed changes in laws or regulations or differing interpretations or enforcement thereof affecting our business, adverse market reaction to any indebtedness we may incur or securities we may issue in the future, changes in market valuations of similar companies or speculation in the press or investment community, announcements by our competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, dispositions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments, adverse publicity about the industry we operate in or individual scandals. Consequently, in response to these events, the market price of our ADSs could decrease significantly, and purchasers of ADSs could incur substantial losses.

 

ITEM 4.

INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY

4.A History and Development of the Company

Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. (“Turkcell”), a joint stock company organized and existing under the laws of the Republic of Turkey, was formed in 1993 and commenced operations in 1994. Our principal shareholder is Turkcell Holding A.S., which holds 51.00% of Turkcell’s shares based on the Company’s share book. Based on

publicly-available information, we believe that Turkcell Holding A.S. is 52.91% owned by Cukurova Telecom Holdings Limited and 47.09% by Telia Sonera Finland Oyj. Based on publicly-available information, we believe that Cukurova Telecom Holdings Limited is 51% owned by Cukurova Finance International Limited and 49% by Alfa Telecom Turkey Limited.

The address of our principal office is Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S., Turkcell Kucukyali Plaza, Aydinevler Mahallesi Inonu Caddesi No:20 Kucukyali Ofispark, Maltepe, Istanbul, Turkey. Our telephone number is +90 (212) 313 10 00. Our website address is www.turkcell.com.tr. In July 2000, we completed our initial public offering with the listing of our ordinary shares on the Borsa Istanbul and our ADSs on NYSE.

We operate under a25-year GSM license granted in April 1998, a20-year 3G license granted in April 2009 and a13-year 4.5G authorization certificate granted in April 2016.October 2015.

Our GSM license was granted in April 1998. Under our license, we pay the Undersecretariat of the Treasury (the “Turkish Treasury”) a monthly treasury share equal to 15% of our gross revenue. Of such fee, 10% is paid to the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure for a universal service fund. We also operate under interconnection agreements with other operators that allow us to connect our networks with those operators to enable the transmission of calls to and from our GSM system.

In early 2009, we were granted a20-year type Aa 3G license, which provides the widest frequency band and we signed the related 3G license agreement on April 30, 2009. The 3G license agreement has similar provisions to the aforementioned 2G license agreement.

In 2013, we won an auction held by the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure related to universal service, which requires installing sufficient infrastructure to uncovered areas with a population of less than 500 and the operation of the service in these

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areas for three years. This contract was renewedextended through December 31, 20182019 and the extension contained new requirements to provide mobile broadband services and to operate the new and existing networks together. RecentlyThe Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure extended the contract was extended again withunder the same conditions through December 31, 2019June 30, 2020, and is preparing a new auction for the operation of the universal service beyond June 30, 2020.

In the 4.5G auction held on August 26, 2015, we were awarded a total frequency band of technology agnostic 172.4 MHz, the largest amount of spectrum of any operator, for EUR 1,623.5 million (excluding VAT and interest payable on the installments).operator. We commenced offering 4.5G services from April 1, 2016. The 4.5G license is effective for 13 years until April 30, 2029. The total fee of EUR 1,623.5 million (excluding VAT and interest payable on the installments) was paid in four installments, where the last installment amounting TRY 1,535 million (originally EUR 413.8 million, converted by the buying exchange rate on January 2, 2017 announced by CBRT) was paid in April 2017.

Turkcell has a total frequency bandwidth of 234.4 MHz, which corresponds to 43% of total spectrum available to the mobile operators in Turkey. The large spectrum assets, including the wide frequency bands on 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz, along with a strong network deployment, have enabled us to provide the fastest 4.5G speeds over 1 Gbps through carrier aggregation combinations and availability of advanced user devices supporting new features. In this scope, in April 2018, we showcased 1.2 Gbps peak speed in our live network with a commercial smartphone, aiming to provide our customers with the highest peak speeds in the world provided by the latest technological advancements. According to the GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association) report dated February 2019, Turkcell supports up to 1.2 Gbps speeds on its network which makes it one of the fastest mobile operators in the world. Thisand this allows customers to get better network experience and access mobile services at speeds comparable to fiber broadband.

Following the 4.5G launch, Turkcell focused on providing innovative and pioneering digital services; which differentiates its offerings from the competition. We develop and manage digital services and solutions to address the diverse needs of both consumers and corporate customers, thereby enriching their lives. Thus, Turkcell defines itself as

We have a digital operator.

In 2018, we hadstrong track record of profitable operations with total revenues of TRY 21,292.525,137.1 million, Adjusted EBITDA of TRY 10,426.4 million and we reported net income of TRY 2,021.13,246.5 million (excludingnon-controlling interest). For interests) for the year ended December 31, 2018, we spent TRY 7,643.0 million on2019. We have achieved these results while continuing to invest in our network to support our strategy of offering quality services and innovative solutions, with capital expenditures includingnon-operational items, 3G license fee payment in Ukraine andtotaling TRY 7,224.7 million for the impact of IFRS16 standard on lease contracts, compared to TRY 4,087.4 million and TRY 3,494.4 million in 2017 and 2016, respectively. Capital expenditures in 2017 and 2016 related mainly to our 4.5G license fee payment, and the GSM and fixed-line network investments of the Company, Superonline and lifecell in Ukraine.year 2019.

Our subscriber base has grown substantially since we began operations in 1994.At year-end 1994, we had 63,500 subscribers.Bysubscribers, and by year-end 2018,2019 that number had grown to 48.946.7 million for the Group.

In addition to our operations in Turkey, we have various international operations. For more information, see “Item 4.B. Business Overview—International and Domestic Subsidiaries”.

4.B Business Overview

Since 2016,Over the past 25 years, Turkcell has played a central role in the development of the telecom industry in Turkey, first as a traditional mobile operator, then as a converged telecom operator, and finally as the digital operator. Over recent years, we have strived to pioneer the provision of digital services in the telecom industry and have retained our position as the telecom market leader in Turkey on the back of our service quality, value proposition and in line with this strategic vision we provide a wide range of cutting edge digital services over our leading network, on top of offeringhigh-end mobile and fixed voice and data services as a converged operator. We have now become a “digital operator”, while maintaining our strong position in the market due to our customer-oriented approach as well as our ability to quickly provide diverse solutions to meet our customers’ communication and digital needs throughout the day.

distribution network. We have shifted to an organizational structure with the aim of increasing efficiency and simplifying our business processes, as well as strengthening our position as a provider of converged communications, digital services, digital business solutions and digitaltechfin services. We have integrated our marketing efforts and sales channel; developed an internal company performance monitoring platform and have established customer services as a key focus area.

We have differentiated our network through its quality and speed of service and havebuilt on extensive spectrum rights covering 43% of the total spectrum available to mobile operators, and with an extensive 3G coverage and the broadest 4.5G license of any operator in terms of spectrum allocation.network coverage. We have also focused on building out an advanced fiber network to support our mobile and fixed offerings, (includingincluding broadband and television), throughtelevision. We have our 43.3 thousand kmown fiber network in Turkey as of December 31, 2018. We arethat is currently capable of delivering our fiber internet service to 6.44 million households in 28 cities with our own infrastructure and through partnership engagements.offering 10 Gbps— a first for Europe.

We had 48.946.7 million subscribers in Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and Germany as of December 31, 2018.2019. In Turkey, we had 36.735.7 million total mobile, fixed and IPTV subscribers as at the same date.

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Our business is divided into two main reportable segments: Turkcell Turkey and Turkcell International.

 

  

Turkcell Turkey.Turkey. Our Turkish telecommunications business represents the largest share of our business, accounting for 85.8%85.5% of our revenues and 85.7%84.3% of our Adjusted EBITDA in the year ended December 31, 2018.2019. During the first half of 2015 we realigned our strategy in Turkey to focus on developing innovative and integrated telecommunications solutions for consumer, corporate and wholesale customers in Turkey by leveraging our leading brand, extensive customer base, technological capabilities and strong distribution channels. We have invested in what we believe to be the most advanced mobile and fiber networks in Turkey and have the broadest 4.5G spectrum in Turkey, which we believe provides us with a competitive advantage by allowing us to provide high quality and high speed data service to our customers, as well as providing digital services on top. Revenues from data and services and solutions have been growing rapidly, with an aggregate growth of 18.2% in the year ended December 31, 2018.

 

  

Turkcell International.International. Turkcell International accounted for 6.8%8.0% of our revenues in the year ended December 31, 2018.2019. We have telecommunications operations in a number of emerging market geographies that we believe are complementary to our operations in Turkey and the potential to export our business model. These geographies include Ukraine (which accounted for 4.3%5.3% of our revenues in the year ended December 31, 2018)2019), Belarus (which accounted for 1.4%1.5% of our revenues in the year ended December 31, 2018)2019) and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (which accounted for 0.8% of our revenues in the year ended December 31, 2018)2019) and Germany.

 

  

All other segments.segments. Mainly comprised of our consumer financing services, information and entertainment services in Turkey and call center revenues. This segment accounted for 9.1%8.8% of our revenues in the year ended December 31, 2018,2019, of which 1.7%2.3% is attributable to intersegment eliminations.

We have a strong track record of profitable operations with total revenues for 2018 of TRY 21,292.525,137.1 million, Adjusted EBITDA in 2018 of TRY 8,788.010,426.4 million and net income in 2018 of TRY 2,021.13,246.5 million (excludingnon-controlling interests). for the year 2019. We have achieved these results while continuing to invest in our network to support our strategy of offering quality service and innovative solutions, with capital expenditures for 2018 of TRY 7,643.0 million.7,224.7 million for the year 2019.

We are the only company listed on both the NYSE and the Borsa Istanbul, and had a market capitalization of TRY 2730.4 billion as of December 31, 2018,2019, making us the sixthseventh most valuable publicly traded company in Turkey at that time.

I. Industry

a.Overview

GSM, one of the digital standards for mobile communications, was developed in 1987 to facilitate the unification and integration of mobile communications worldwide.

Since Turkcell was founded in 1994, mobile technology has evolved from GSM (2G) to UMTS/HSPA+ (3G) toLTE/LTE-Advanced (4G/4.5G), and recently to 5G, providing new capabilities and extensive improvements in customer experience. 2G was originally intended to carry voice, with some limited data and messaging capabilities, whereas the focus in 3G shifted more to data, along with simultaneous voice and data capability. 4G has brought fullyIP-based architecture where everything is considered data. Turkcell currently has all of these technologies in its mobile networks to serve customers who use and depend on them based on their subscription profiles and terminal types. With theThe advent of 4G/4.5G technologies it has become possible to introduce moreenabled the introduction of increasingly sophisticated services utilizingfeaturing lower latency and higher data speeds.speeds, and capability to provide a variety of enriched services beyond mobile broadband, especially for vertical markets such as health, smart cities, transportation, agriculture, education and entertainment. Turkcell currently offers 2G, 3G and 4.5G technologies. Currently, 5G is not commercially available in Turkey, however we are preparing to ensure that we will be ready for 5G. For example, we have demonstrated our 5G FWA capability in a millimeter wave band (28GHz), which was the first 5G live network test in Turkey.

Our Company has also branched out in to the development of fixed line networks, including fiber-optics connecting directly to the home, creating afiber-to-the-home (“FTTH”) network. In order to fill the gap in the areas where fiber cannot be provided, feasibly deployed, or that are constrained by ADSL service, an alternative fixed wireless access (“FWA”) solution is also offered.

b.The Turkish Telecommunications Market

We believe that the Turkish telecommunications market has growth potential due to favorable demographics, including a relatively young population and lower penetration levels compared to Western Europe and other developed markets.

There were 83.2 million people living in Turkey as of December 31, 2019. According to a TUIK announcement, the estimated median age of the Turkish population is 32, which is lower than elsewhere in Western Europe, and the majority of the population lives in urban areas. There were 82 million people living in Turkey as of December 31, 2018.

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There are currently three major operators in the telecommunications sector in Turkey, Turkcell Turkey, Vodafone Telekomunikasyon A.S. (“Vodafone”) and Turk Telekomunikasyon A.S. (“Turk Telekom” and together with its mobile segment (formerlyTurk Telekom Mobil (“TT Mobil”, formerly known as Avea) and TTNET, or “Turk Telekom Group”). In 2018,2019, the total revenue of the Turkish mobile and fixed markets was TRY 49.357.3 billion compared to TRY 42.649.2 billion in 2017,2018, according to the operators’ announcements (for the calculation of total market revenues,non-group call centers and financial services revenues are added to Turkcell Turkey’s reported revenue and Turk Telekom’s construction revenue is excluded).

Vodafone entered the Turkish mobile market by acquiring Telsim on May 24, 2006 from the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (“SDIF”).Fund. In December 2018, Ojer Telekomunikasyon A.S.‘s shares in Turk Telekom Group is(representing 55% owned byof the company) were transferred to a special purpose vehicle, Levent Yapilandirma Yonetimi A.S., and on September 2019, a financial adviser was mandated for the sale of those shares.

II. Strategy

Over the past 25 years, Turkcell has played a central role in the development of the telecom industry in Turkey. This has been achieved as a result of our core competencies, which include excellent customer relations, high quality infrastructure, market-leading technology as well as a skilled work force. In the next three years, we will strive to continue the profitable growth of the Group by leveraging our competencies and focusing on three key strategic areas, in addition to growing in our core telecom services: digital services, digital business solutions, and techfin services.

The key part of our strategy is growth of our core telecom operations. Our vast home market offers the potential for further growth of our customer base which we intend to increase by focusing on the postpaid segment, while also increasing the revenues generated from these subscribers. We believe the fixed broadband market also offers significant growth potential through fiber and FWA products, which we will pursue accordingly. Furthermore, we aim to maximize the potential of our digital channels both in terms of subscriber acquisitions and device sales. Our core competencies, which are stated above, will prove instrumental in further growth of our key strategic focus areas.

Turkcell began its digital transformation in April 2015, with the vision of becoming a “digital operator”a provider of the full set of digital experiences for its customers and a leader in the digitization of the economy in countries where it operates.

Almost four years on, we now define ourselves Our unique portfolio of digital services are made available to our customers through our market-leading telecom capabilities, which set us apart from global over-the-top (“OTT”) players. Our services in various areas such as TV, music, publishing and communication have played a “digital operator”. Having reached 169 million digital apps and services downloads as of the end of 2018, we aim to become a global digital leader with 1 billion apps and services downloads globallymajor role in the coming three years (driven in part by the expanstionimprovement of our ARPU and churn levels. We are now focusing on monetizing these services, to additional geographies, including through partnership arrangements). Referring to the total number of minutes inparticularly on their revenue generation on a day, we seek to create value and customer engagement for each and every one of the 1,440 minutes. In short, our strategy is to fulfill the term “Digital Operator 1440” and to expand this digital model globally with operator partnerships. This strategy is also abbreviated as “DO 1440” as a reference to Turkcell Group’s execution-focused approach.

This strategy has allowed us to expand customer engagement from traditional communications to a wide range of digital activities including, among others, search and browsing, entertainment and information,IP-based communication, personal storage, productivity apps in areas as diverse as agriculture, transportation and digital management. This is enabledstandalone basis. Already offered by our significant mobile and fixed network capabilities, which provide the seamless connectivity required for the penetration ofinternational subsidiaries, our digital services.

We also help enable the digitalization ofservices are set for expansion in new markets through commercial partnerships, mainly with other players in the business ecosystem of the countries where we operate. We have turned our credentials management capabilities into a digital service, adopting GSMA (The GSMAssociation)-led “Mobile Connect” technology as “Fast Login” – a safe, secure and seamless identity authentication gateway to numerous websites and mobile apps for both Turkcell andnon-Turkcell customers. We have expanded in fintech through our subsidiary Paycell, providing seamless digital and digitally-supported payment opportunities to customers – both online and in the physical space. Together, Fast Login and Paycell form oure-commerce platform, through which we support content and service owners, adding digital customer care, cybersecurity and data center/cloud services where necessary. Our strategy is focused on developing these capabilities further and expanding them to more customers as we contribute to the value creation in the digital economy.

Approximately,two-thirds of our mobile customers use at least one Turkcell digital app in addition to voice and data services. Similarly, nearly every one out of two fiber customers use our IPTV services. Increasing the percentage of multiplay remains a core part of our strategy, as we continue to see greater customer engagement, higher ARPU and lower churn among adopters of our digital services.

In September 2017, our confidence in the relevance of our digital operator model had resulted in the launch of a brand based entirely on data and digital services: Lifecell. Lifecell marked another first in our digital operator strategy through its offers that seek to meet all communication and digital needs through mobile data and digital services. Our customers can make calls via BiP, listen to music via fizy, enjoy viewing through TV+, and search through Yaani with a dedicated data quota. In 2018, in line with our policy of making our business model open to all players of the digital ecosystem, we launched “Lifecell Mix” which curates apps and services from other providers with a dedicated internet quota, enabling greater choice for theend-user. As of the end of 2018, Lifecell subscribers had reached 2.5 million.telco operators.

We continue to support our digital operator model with investments in industries that have synergies with our digital business. OurWe have established a digital business solutions company that provides tailor-made, end-to-end information & technology (ICT) solutions —connectivity, hardware, cloud services, security services, IT integration and solutions using AI, Internet of Things (“IoT”) and Big Data—for enterprise customers particularly in the healthcare, energy, public and transportation sectors by leveraging our ability to combine telecom and IT services and thereby adding value in the course of their digital transformation.

We also focus on techfin services, namely through our digital payment services platform, Paycell, which has established key vertical business lines including mobile wallet, carrier billing, utility payments, money transfer, QR code payment and POS services. Going forward, Paycell will focus on scaling its products, targeting both consumers and over 1.6 million merchants. We are committed to capitalizing on this well-established payment platform. In addition, our consumer finance company, Financell, – which is Turkey’s largest issuer in terms of the number of credit lines extended – continues to enableenables users to accesspurchase smart devices, most notably smartphones and tablets. Our energy company Turkcell Enerji focuses on renewable energy and uninterrupted power solutions. Our involvement in strategic projects in Turkey – city hospitals, domestic cars, connectivity in major infrastructure projects including the new Istanbul airport – leverage our joint capabilities in network technologies, big data analytics, digital interface development and, increasingly, machine-learning.We expand theknow-how generated in Turkey internationally to our subsidiaries in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Belarus and Ukraine. Furthermore, in early 2018, we established Lifecell Ventures, which facilitatesoperator-to-operator partnerships globally, taking Turkcell’s digital products and services,know-how and business practices to other operators that seek to transform their business into digital models.devices.

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III. Customer Segmentation and Services

a.Customer Segmentation

In Turkey, as atof December 31, 2018,2019, we had a total of 36.735.7 million subscribers including 33.732.7 million mobile subscribers, 2.42.3 million fixed broadband subscribers and 613.4719.7 thousand IPTV subscribers. As at December 31, 2018, we had 3.4 million total TV users, including OTT TV only customers.

With our digital operator vision and as part of our increased focus on customers, we take a number of actions designed to increase customer base and loyalty, and such loyalty actions are designed in line with the targeted segments’ lifestyles, needs, priorities, and expectations.

The aims of the segmentation are to:

 

attract new customers;

increase the loyalty of existing Turkcell customers;

 

with the support of Turkcell digital services, create value for changing needs of customers.customers with the support of digital services;

 

ensure behavioral and emotional brand loyalty; and

 

ensure a seamless series of positive brand experience throughout all customer touch points; andpoints.

attract new customers.

On a broader scale, Turkcell Turkey divides its customers into three main categories:

Consumer Category

In the consumer category, we manage our mobile customers either under the mass segment or under one of our two largesub-segments, youth and premium. In addition, a micro segmented approach has been applied throughout the year, meaning that each customer is matched with offers that best suit their needs and expectations. In line with our goal of being a digital operator and enlarging our customer base, we seek to create value forprovide numerous offers and campaigns enriched with our customers by bundling Turkcell digital services, in accordance with market dynamics and customer demand, such as BiP, fizy, Upcall, TV+, YaaniDergilik and lifebox in multiplay propositions.

Our digital brand “Lifecell” embraces the opportunity of by delivering our own OTT services with a tariff model that is focused on digital services, thus encouraging its customers to explore every aspect of communication and entertainment on the internet. Lifecell’s motto:All is possible with internet, all you need is Lifecell.lifebox.

Fixed consumerbroadband customers are consolidated under a single segment (residential) and managed under the consumer category along with mobile consumers. By positioning the residential segment under the consumer category, we aim to enhance convergence between mobile and fixed businesses. Under the residential segment, we have our fiber internet customers, who use our own fiber infrastructure, and our DSL and cable customers, to whom Turkcell is a reseller.

Corporate Category

The corporate category for our mobile and fixed customers comprises our Smallsmall and Medium Businessmedium business customers and as well as our Enterpriseenterprise customers. We provide differentiated mobile and fixed communication offers for each of these customer types, as well as campaigns groups. Additionally, in 2019 we renewed our portfolio of corporate products

andco-branded activities services with selected companies from other sectors to create added value for targeted segments.a new vision of accompanying our corporate clients through every stage of their digital transformation process through our system integration, digital business infrastructure, digital business applications, managed services, cloud services, Internet of Things products & solution management and Big Data & analytics services. For this purpose, we transformed and relaunched our subsidiary, Turkcell Satis ve Dijital Is Servisleri A.S. (“Turkcell Satis”) in January 2019.

Wholesale Category

Our wholesale category focuses on managing wholesale voice, data and roaming services with the national licensed operators, international operators and network-centric business owners such as data centers and content providers.

For roaming services, the wholesale category strives to achieve the best international coverage for customers to have continuous communication wherever they travel and to enable all visitors to enjoy the service quality of Turkcell.

For wholesale data and voice services, our main strategy is to become the regional junction point in an increasingly digitally hyper-connected world, and while promoting our infrastructure in the international market, we are focusingfocused on growing as a preferred wholesale partner of local operators in the domestic market as well.

b.Services

We provide high quality mobile and fixed voice, data, TV and digital services to our subscribers throughout Turkey. We provide a range of traditional telecommunication and digital services, toenabling our customers enabling them to call, search, stream music and watch videos and roam abroad.videos. Our mobile subscribers can choose between our postpaid and

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prepaid services. Currently, postpaid subscribers sign a subscription contract and receive monthly bills for services. Prepaid subscribers must purchase a starter pack, which consists of a simcardSIM card with 3GB of monthly data and a balance of TRY 35, or monthly usage allowance with 1000750 minutes, 250 SMS and 6 GB25GB of data, together with aone-time 3GB20GB additional data quota while thefor their every TRY 34 or more top-up (TRY refill) cards or usage allowance (package refill) cards (both physical and digital) can be purchasedup to 3 times in amounts ranging from TRY 30 to TRY 180.120 days following the opening of the lines. As of December 31, 2018,2019, we had 12.4 million prepaid subscribers and 20.4 million postpaid subscribers, compared to 14.9 million prepaid subscribers and 18.8 million postpaid subscribers compared to approximately 15.6 million prepaid subscribers and 18.5 million postpaid subscribers as of December 31, 2017.2018.

We provide a range of fixed services in Turkey including voice, broadband and digital servicesIPTV to consumers and a wider range of services to our corporate customers includingfrom cloud services andto traffic carrying. We provide these services through a combination of our own fiber infrastructure, through partnership engagementssharing agreements and leased copper ADSL lines. As such, we offer fixed broadband services through the cable infrastructure of Turksat, the government-owned provider of cable and wireless broadcasting, high-speed internet services, and direct to home broadcasting services in Turkey. Starting in September 2018, our contracts with our customersfixed broadband tariffs are valid for a period of 12 months,.12-month commitment (down from 24 months), and we continue to have some customers on 24-month commitments. As of December 31, 2018,2019, we had approximately 2.42.3 million fixed linebroadband customers of which approximately1.5 million were fiber customers, 719.1 thousand were ADSL customers and 49 thousand were cable customers, compared to 2.3 million fixed broadband customers of which 1.4 million were fiber and 905.6 thousand were ADSL customers.customers as of December 31, 2018.

(i) Voice Services

Voice services are one ofamong the key services that we provide to our customers. Voice services consist of high qualityhigh-quality mobile communication services on a prepaid and postpaid basis and fixed voice services for consumers and corporate customers.

(ii) Broadband

Our broadband services consist of mobile broadband, fiber to the home/building and ADSL Docsis, cable, LTE and LTE.fixed wireless broadband services over our mobile network.

We launched our LTE (4.5G) network simultaneouslyOur capability to offer 4.5G in 81 city centerscities in Turkey on April 1, 2016.

The launch of 4.5G has providedresulted in increased network abilities and data speeds. We believe that 4.54.5G services coupled with the wider availability of technological products has contributed to a more connected life for our customers, resulting in an increase in overall internet usage.

Smartphones, which combine the features of a mobile phone with those of other popular digital mobile devices (e.g. personal digital assistants, media players, GPS navigation, digital camera) and have an open operating system (e.g. iOS, Android, Windows Mobile,)Mobile) allowing access to the internet and running a variety of

third-party and owned software applications, are an important component of the growth of our mobile broadband and digital services businesses. Smartphone penetration on our network reached 74%76% by the end of 2018,2019, up from a 72%74% penetration at the end of 2017. To increase penetration2018. This growth resulted mainly from non-smartphone customers shifting to smartphones as a result of our 4.5G services, we launchthe various campaigns promoting 4.5G enabled smartphone campaigns throughout the year.smartphones. As of December 31, 2018,2019, the number of subscribers who have signed up for 4.5G on our network have increased to 31 million, up from 30 million as of December 31, 2017.was 30.7 million. This represents 91%94% 4.5G subscriber penetration of our mobile customers in Turkey. With the increase of 4.5G penetration, average mobile data usage reached 7.4 GB per month in 2019, vs. 5.2 GB per month in 2018, while average mobile data usage of 4.5G users reached 9.1 GB per month in 2019, vs. 6.8 GB per month in 2018. The table below shows the number of smartphones inon our network and smartphone penetration for the periods indicated:

 

  2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018   2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 

Number of smartphones in our network(millions)

   9.6  12.7  16.1  19.2  22.1  22.4 

Number of smartphones on our network (millions)

   22.0  22.4  22.1  19.2  16.1 

Number of 4.5G compatible smartphones in our network (millions)

   19.2  18.0  15.7  11.3   —   

Penetration(1)

   30 40 52 64 72 74   76 74 72 64 52

 

(1)

Smartphone penetration is calculated as the ending number of smartphone subscribers (excluding smartphone subscribers with deactivated status) divided by the ending number of Turkcell mobile voice subscribers (excluding Turkcell subscribers with deactivated status). Since the national launch of 4.5G in April 2016, the share of 4.5G enabled smartphones on our network increased to 80% (corresponding to 18.0 million), at the end of 2018, up from 15.7 million at the end of 2017.

A wide variety of data offers are made available as part of our voice and terminal bundled campaigns, where terminals are sold by dealers, to increase LTE available device penetration, create a unique terminal experience and enhance the mobile broadband internet experience. Since February 2014, sellingthe sale of smartphones through credit cards with installment plans has been banned in Turkey. Turkcell initiated Turkcell Finansman A.S. (“Financell”), which enablesFinancell in 2016 to offer its customers consumer loans in their purchase of smart devices. As a macroeconomic prudential measure, the BRSA has introduced a limit to buy devices with installment plans, to whom Financell providesthe number of installments for consumer loans, starting from September 2018. As of up to 12 months. SmartphonesJanuary 2020, smartphones and tablets with a retail price at or above TRY 3,500 and tablets can be offered with a maximumsix-month three-month installment plan, whereas this can go upthe maximum installments is increased to 12 months for smartphonesthose with a retail price of up to TRY 3,500.

Distributors, dealers, Financell and Turkcell offer joint campaigns to the subscribers, which may include the sale of devices by the dealer and a communication service to be provided by us. In addition, we are selling handsets ourselves as a principal. A variety of devices are offered through these campaigns, such as smartphones, LTE available modems and

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tablets and some complimentarycomplementary products such as accessorizes, game consoles, headsets and virtual reality sets. ThroughoutSince 2018, we deliveredare delivering attractive joint campaigns with models of brands in high demand such as Samsung, Apple, Huawei and some local handset manufacturers such as Vestel and General Mobile. We have also offered Turkcell-branded T series smartphones and a tablet with Android operating systems since 2010. We believe this contributes to increased smartphone penetration and data usage and further builds customer loyalty by offering a technologically advanced product at a competitive price. We launched the latest version of ourT-series smartphone, the T80 in July 2017 and our first 4.5G enabledT-series tablet was launched in April 2016. Both devices have sold more than 100 thousand units in Turkey. In 2019 and onwards, device leasing, which will be the first such leasing opportunity in the Turkish market for retail customers, will be another solution for us to facilitate the sale of smartphones and otherLTE-enabled devices.

When we sell goods or services as a principal, income and payments to suppliers are reported on a gross basis in revenue and operating costs, respectively. If we sell goods or services as an agent, revenue and payments to suppliers are recorded in revenue on a net basis, representing the margin earned.

We offer fixed broadband internet packages to our residential customers. We also offer internet, voice and TV bundles, where we benefit from the use of our own fiber. The ratio of customers using multiplay with TV services reached 53.3% as of December 31, 2019, from 48.6% a year ago. We need the incumbent’s network to provide services outside our own fiber infrastructure, and in these circumstances we differentiate our offering with our unique brand and our excellent customer services.service. Therefore, outside of our own fiber infrastructure we are only able to offer double-play packages with broadband and voice to our customers. We do not offer IPTV service on DSL because our TV technology is IP basedIP-based and has a multicast structure, and for technical reasons DSL infrastructure cannot support this kindtype of service. We emphasize our “no hidden prices” value proposition with our broadband products by not charging our customers for activation, modem or installation services separately, and by offering high-speed fiber broadband at attractive prices.

In addition to the internet, voice and TV bundles, our residential broadband customers are offered the fixed broadband and fiber device bundled campaigns, where significant discounts on specific models of smartphones, tablets and modems are offered to customers with 12 or 24 month internet service contracts with our Company.

We also serve our customers with Wireless to the Homeour FWA service “SUPERBOX”called “Superbox”, which offers wireless high-speed internet access for customers and primarily preferred by those who do not haveare at locations with no fiber connectivity.infrastructure. Superbox is the first and the widest FWA service in Turkey. The required equipment is included in the subscription plan and uses the LTE Advanced network as a backhaul to provide internet connectivityconnectivity. As of December 31, 2019, we reached 323 thousand Superbox customers in customers’ premises.Turkey, from 33 thousand customers a year ago.

(iii) Digital Services and Solutions

Over the course of the past threefour years, Turkcell has invested in buildingdeveloping its own digital appsapplications and services, reaching 169 million downloads worldwide. Today, our portfolio covers our communication platform BiP thatservices. Turkcell has a broad rangelarge portfolio of features, our music platform fizy, TV platform TV+, local search engine Yaani, secure login service Fast Login, the digital payments company Paycell, and our digital magazine platform Dergilik (which is in the process of being renamed Okudo) among others. We are investing in Turkey’s data infrastructure withstate-of-the-art data centers which host local, regional and global players. We contribute to the digital integration of various vertical industries from health to transportation.

Since the beginning of this year, we are also focusing on taking this model abroad in cooperation with other trusted telecom operators and digital players in other countries.

After the 4.5G launch and due to our digital services strategy, one of our main targets is to increase mobile and fixed multi-play customers. “Mobile triple play” refers to mobile customers who use voice, data and at least one of our strategic digital services, and as of December 31, 2018, our mobile triple play ratio reached 66.7%, up from 55.8% a year ago. As of December 31, 2018, mobile triple play revenue share in mobile revenue increased to 82%, from 73% a year ago. On the fixed side, the “multi-play with TV” ratio refers to those customers who use our fixed residential services and our IPTV service. As of December 31, 2018, the multi-play with TV ratio increased to 48.6%, from 44.4% year over year.

Digital Services

Turkcell seeks to differentiate itself by providing innovative and pioneering solutions in collaboration with its strong solution providers and various partnerships.

Turkcell is focused on developing and managing digital services and solutions to address the diverse needs of both consumers and corporate customers, thereby enriching their lives all around the world. These services are designed around enhancing the communication experience of our customers via better call management and messaging services, enriching their “on the go” experience by using digital technologies, especially in the areas of information and entertainment (i.e. television, communication, education, music and sports) enabling our customers to access information according to their needs and providinge-commerce services such as secure login and mobile payment services.

Turkcell has numerous activein-house developed mobile applications which can be downloaded from app markets (App Store, Play Store, etc.)and are available foron both iOS and Android platforms. These applications areall-access, as they are

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available for any user regardless of their choice of mobile operator. Some of these digital services are owned and managed through Lifecell Ventures, a 100% subsidiary of Turkcell incorporated in the Netherlands. Nearly allAll of these apps are created and sustained by ourin-house mobile application development team comprised of approximatelymore than 1,200 engineers dedicatedengineers.

Turkcell seeks to developingdifferentiate itself by providing innovative and sustaining superiorpioneering solutions in collaboration with its strong solution providers and various partnerships. We are also focused on marketing our digital services experience.portfolio to trusted telecom operators around the world.

Among others, below are the strategic digital services on which we focus our efforts (in no particular order):

 

  

BiP is an Integratedintegrated IP-based communication and life platform;

 

TV+ enables subscribers to watch live television channels andon-demand video content on their mobile devices and through the IPTV platform;

TV+ enables subscribers to watch live television channels and on-demand video content on their mobile devices and through the IPTV platform;

 

  

fizy is a digital music platform to stream and download music, listen to radio and watch video and live concerts;

 

  

lifebox is a personal cloud service that facilitates data storage;

 

  

Dergilik(currently beingre-branded as “Okudo”) is a digital publishing platform which enables access to popular local and international magazines and newspapers published in Turkey;newspapers;

 

  

Yaani is a search engine application, e-mail platform and browser, designed to understand the unique syntax of Turkish;the Turkish language and allows users to browse, search the internet, and e-mail safely and quickly;

 

  

Paycell is the single platform that offers various payment services;

My Account(re-branded as “Digital Operator”)Digital Operator is an application for our customers to track their bills and usage, change their account settings and make transactions and purchases;

 

  

Goals on Your Mobile (Goller Cepte) allows fans to play games, follow their team and be updated on a wide variety of categories such as gamematch scores and player transfers;

 

  

Turkcell Academy provides digital learning contents and services in various categories such as technology, innovation, personal development, marketing, leadership and certificate programs;categories;

 

  

UpCall is a call management service, whichavailable only to Turkcell subscribers can use;in Turkey and KKTCell subscribers in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus; it enables users to identify the caller, ID, reach unknown numbers and block spam calls.calls;

 

  

Kopilot connects cars to smartphones and enables real-time monitoring of metrics on the vehicle’s performance and driving experience.experience; and

 

  

Supercam ensures the safety of the home and workplace through communication with internal and external cameras.

We regularly monitor the performance of our digital services portfolio through KPIs, including the number of downloads, three-month active users (number of unique users who, in the lastpast three months, have logged ininto the app at least once) and other KPIs that are relevant to each individual service.

IntegratedIP-Based Communication Platform (BiP)BiP

BiP was downloaded 33.4 million times in 192 countries as of December 31, 2018. The application supports eleven languages. As of December 31, 2018, BiP has 11.5 million3-month active users. In 2018, 148 million messages were sent daily on average.

The most important features of BiP includes:is an integrated IP-based communication platform with the following key features:

 

Instant messaging, sending photos, videos, audios and documents;

 

Group messaging, with multiple people, instant translation ability;disappearing messages in the pre-defined time;

 

Integrating two numbers under BiP;Instant translation;

 

Discover section on business, contests, weatherCommunicating with non-BiP users via SMS and many more;network call;

 

Money transfers;Entertaining content: Creating and sharing internet memes, a wide range of emoji;

 

High quality VoIP, video call, group video call up to 10 people;

 

Entertaining content: Creating and sharing internet memes, a wide range of emojis;Integrating two numbers under BiP;

 

Disappearing messages inVirtual number service which enables customers to have a mobile number without a SIM card and make/receive calls through thepre-defined time; application;

 

Communicating“Discover” section on business, contests, weather and many more;

Money transfer;

Ability to share location withnon-BiP users via SMS and network call; contacts, and

 

Sharing location.Emergency communication feature.

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The BiP Discover section offers a connected life experience as a marketplace that consists of various entertainment and information services. This section offers two waytwo-way communication between users and services. BiP Discover serves more thanover 200 different services—services, including top Turkish banks, TV Shows,shows, celebrities, content providers and customer services—services, with around 50 million followers.

In 2018, 2019, we invested in BiP’s infrastructure to enable Multicloud Architecture, through which operators can build their own digital communication platform, thereby safely storing their communication data in their country as well as customizing their app by changing the brand, app logo and providing their local services. Moreover, all app users (BiP or its customized apps working on this multicloud infrastructure) can seamlessly communicate between each other.

BiP also started to offer a gaming section which had seen 4.8was downloaded 41.6 million unique visitors.times in 192 countries with 11.1 million three-month active users as of December 31, 2019. In 2019, 274 million messages were sent daily on average.

TV+

Turkcell’s multi-screen TV platform TV+, launched in October 2014, delivers an enhanced television viewing experience to its subscribers anywhere, any time with more than 150 channels. Its unique features as compared to other platforms include the abilities to pause and rewind live streams, record to cloud and the capability to switch between four screens. As of December 31, 2018 TV+ reached 3.4 million subscribers, 613.4 thousand of which were IPTV users. Customers who have downloaded TV+ reached 10.8 million. TV+ offers the Ultra HD supported 4K content box and 4K content on IPTV platform. Within the scope of the strategy consisting of appearing on every screen,With a view to increase TV+ penetration, we have also deployed TV+ also on Apple TV, Android TV, and Smart TV applications. As of December 31, 2019 TV+ reached 4.1 million subscribers, 719.7 thousand of which were IPTV users. TV+ was downloaded 15.4 million times to date.

fizy

Turkcell’s digital music service fizy enables its users, through the application and the web version, to access a number ofmore than 35 million songs, videos, live concerts and radio channels with high quality sound onfor a monthly subscription fee with “standard” and “premium” options that also includes data available for this service free of charge. Usersservice. Premium users can discover newstream music with the “Weekly Discovery List” feature,on fizy without any ad interruptions, and have the flexibility to listen to their favorite songs offline. The application offers personalization through enhanced-AI technology. As of December 31, 20182019, fizy was downloaded 20.325.9 million times and had 3.23.5 million3-month three-month active users. In 2018, 30 concerts were broadcasted liveUsers listen to nine million songs per day on fizy and watched by 1.2 million users.average. Fizy is also available in Ukraine, Germany, Belarus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

lifebox

Turkcell’s personal cloud service, lifebox, is the first local storagecloud-storage service in Turkey and globally provides allTurkey. It enables users the abilityworldwide to store their photos, documents, contacts, and videos in one secure, convenient and personal space with auto syncingsync abilities, and to share them easily. Everyonelifebox also offers a phone book synchronizing feature. Each user who downloads and logs into the lifebox application is given a 5GB of storage space free of charge. In 2018,2019, lifebox began to offer also a phone book synchronizing feature.the PhotoPick feature, which uses AI to suggest the best photo for Instagram. As of December 31, 20182019, lifebox was downloaded 9.613.4 million times and has 2.6had 3.3 million3-month three-month active users, with 4143.5 files uploads per user per day on average.

Dergilik

Our digital publishing app, Dergilik, gives users access to more than 1,500 popular magazines, including international ones, and more than 50 newspapers published in Turkey. Dergilik is offered in two main subscription options: standard subscription with limited access to the content and premium subscription with full access. All magazines and newspapers available on Dergilik canare also be downloaded and read on a monthly subscription fee.available for download. The Dergilik serviceapplication is enhanced with auto-download as well as favorite pages and magazines features. Dergilik users can also reach

websites of magazines and newspapers free of data charge. As at the end of December 2018,2019, Dergilik was downloaded by 9.613.7 million customers and reached 12.5had 3 million3-month three-month active users. Starting from the third quarter of 2019, our reporting of three-month active users includingexcludes those users who utilized the zero-rating benefit of Dergilik magazines and newspapers via browser. Dergilik is in the process of being renamed as “Okudo” which is expected to be completed in 2019.

Yaani

Yaani is Turkey’sa search engine and browser, providing a fast, secure and stable browsing experience, combined with a unique set of features through the Yaani Browser.browser. Yaani is available for both iOS and Android devices, and is also through its website.available as a browser. Yaani was created based on Turkey’s specific user patterns and can access local content first, making each search relevant. With Yaani, Turkcell adds Turkey tothereby increasing the listrelevancy of countries to have their own search engines.the searches. Yaani was downloaded 7.29.7 million times and has 3had 3.7 million3-month three-month active users byas of December 31, 2018.

Paycell

Paycell is2019. YaaniMail was launched in December 2019, as an all-access, cross-platform email service, offering a techfin platfom providing digital payments and core financial solutions such ase-money and direct carrier billing. Paycell offers quick and easy payment services to around 5.2 million customers through following Paycell products and services. Paycell App was downloaded 2.6 million by the end of 2018. Paycell Direct Carrier Billing isuser-friendly email experience with a convenient way to pay for digital contents; Prepaid Card is the easiest way to make daily payments for unbanked and banked customers; Payment Gateway & Wallet (Card on File) solution has millions of users and cards for payment services; and Bill Payment services cover more than 300 institutions.seamless design.

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Goals on Your Mobile (Goller Cepte)

Goals on Your Mobile is a sports application designed for the four top soccer clubs’ and live score fans. It provides instant super league goal videos, VAR (Video Assistant Referee) videos, free mobile sports games, betting analysis and the latest sports news. The appapplication was downloaded 8.312.0 million times and has 1.6had 4 million active users as of December 31, 2018. The service has a new simple and more user-friendly UX (user experience) since the last quarter of 2018.2019.

Turkcell Academy

Turkcell launched the Turkcell Academy service in 2014. Enriched with Turkcell’s technology and trainingknow-how and content partnerships with topleading institutions worldwide, Turkcell Academy provides an access to a digital and innovative world.world of knowledge. Turkcell believes that accessible knowledge with mobility will offerfacilitate equal opportunities in education and empower people.its users.

Turkcell Academy offers services for both consumers and corporates. As the consumer service,for consumers, Turkcell Academy has a website and a mobile application that provide digital learning contentscontent and services in various categories such as technology, innovation, personal development, marketing, leadership and certificate programs.

Regarding the corporate service, the Learning Management System (LMS)(“LMS”) of Turkcell Academy enables users to easily prepare trainings, courses, exams and questionnaires. User management on the LMS iseasy-to-use and the platform also allows detailed training-tracking and reporting. Besides these advantages of Turkcell Academy LMS as a training tool;Further, it is also a highly developed evaluation tool withdue to its capabilities of simultaneously reporting the responses.

Turkcell Academy mobile application was downloaded 2.8 million times by the end of 2018.

My Account (Digital Operator)Digital Operator

One of our priorities as Turkcell is to drive customer loyalty through the digital platform. Within the scope of this strategy, we have invested in our digital self-service channels. The primary channel is our mobile application called “My Account”“Digital Operator” with which we provide our customers the ability to track their bills, usage and settings and execute transactions and purchases. Our engagement activities combined with these offerings brought over 37.3Digital Operator had 48.6 million downloads and 19.221.2 million3-month three-month active users in 2018. 2019.

In 2019, we continued to use the fourth quarter of 2018, My Account users generated 27% more ARPU compared tonon-users. Our customer satisfaction and effort scores also indicate that we offer a simple and user friendly experience and make our customers’ lives easier with this service. In 2018, we also used My AccountDigital Operator app as the platform to offer a well-appreciatedsuccessful marketing campaign called “Shake & Win”, which has delivered 378 million1.3 billion gifts to date, where 34%most of these gifts grantedwere in the form of data, minutes or trial subscriptions to customers weredigital services such as TV+, fizy, Dergilik, lifebox, BiP and Paycell. This hasWe also launched Turkcell Gift Pool, a loyalty and gamification hub within the app where users can browse and claim gifts, rewards and privileges. Since its launch in October 2019, 12 million customers visited Turkcell Gift Pool over 100 million times. These have become a substantive medium for Turkcell subscribers to meet withdiscover and experience our digital services. My Account is renamed as Digital Operator in the fourth quarter of 2018.

UpCall

UpCall is an application enriching and facilitating our customers’ calling experience with its different features.features offered through our capabilities as a telecommunication operator. When a call is received from a number that is not saved in the user’s phonebook, the callercaller’s ID can be seen on the screen while the phone rings.is displayed. The UpCall application also hasoffers a smart search feature that enables the access to the number of an unknown person or place through number query with name; the access to the identity of the owner of an unknown number; as well asnumber based on the initiationTurkish National Telephone Directory. Further, the application is capable of initiating a group call with a single click. The application also click;

offers its users the opportunity to add a topic, picture or a sticker to their calls.the calls; enables a “do not disturb mode”, and proposes a set of ring tones for users who want to inform callers that they are currently not able to answer the call. As of December 31, 2018,2019, UpCall was downloaded 5.68.4 million times.

KoPilotKopilot

The Kopilot device, along with its application, was launched in July 2018 with the aim of making cars smarter. It connects cars to smartphones and enables real-time monitoring of metrics on the vehicle’s performance and the driving experience. Kopilot device and app track performance of vehicles, health, activity and location,experience, providing helpful information on driving behavior and preventative maintenance and car issues.maintenance.

Supercam

The Supercam device, along with its application, was launched in June 2018 to ensure the safety of the home and the workplace with our internal and external cameras. Supercam provideworkplace. This closed-circuit camera system, provides a heightened experience to a growing number of users through its intelligent features.

Digital Society Solutions

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Turkcell is not only focused on services that increases ARPU levels but also eager to use its digital and technical competencies to create value for society, help disadvantaged groups to obtain equal social inclusion and create a better future. This focus resulted in several digital society solutions, includingHello Hope, My Dream Companion, Whiz Kids, DQ, My Sign Language and My Gem Inside.


Hello Hope is a mobile application which aims at facilitating the lives of Syrian refugees in Turkey, and was launched as a corporate social responsibility project in September 2016. Previously recognized by the GSMA for best use of mobile technology in humanitarian and emergency situations, “Hello Hope” received another award from the World Summit for Information Society (WSIS), led by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the UN body for the telecommunications industry in 2017. Additionally, “Hello Hope” was selected among globally inspirational projects by the UNESCO-Pearson Initiative for Literacy and by mEducation Alliance.

TheWhiz Kids project was initiated in 2016 under the auspices of the Ministry of National Education, and is aimed in particular at underprivileged children in rural areas of Turkey who show exceptional talent to realize their potential through the education of new technologies. Within the scope of the project, Turkcell first established technology laboratories for technological productivity; where students are introduced to robotic coding, 3D printers, robots and software equipment as well as Maths, Space Science, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence. Turkcell also created theWhiz Kidsmobile application in 2019.

TheDQ mobile application, launched in January 2019, is a project initiated by DQ Institute, aimed at improving children’s technical, cognitive, meta-cognitive, and socio-emotional competencies that are grounded in universal moral values and enable individuals to face the challenges and harness the opportunities related to digital services.

TheMy Dream Companion (“MDC”) application enables the visually impaired to access information in a fast and easy manner, and provides them more active and independent social life. Users can access thousands of daily news items, columns, audio books, trainings and magazines. MDC’s indoor navigation technology provides the visually impaired with and access to detailed information with regard to the stores they are passing by in shopping malls, and directs them to the appropriate store. Transportation technology of the application provides accessible transportation experience. Moreover, MDC provides audio description over a mobile application -a world first- without requiring any extra equipment or software.

My Sign Language is a mobile application that seeks to improve communication between hearing impaired people and people who do not know sign language. Written or spoken words/expressions can be instantly translated into video by the 3D Sign Language translator. It includes the most comprehensive Digital Sign Language dictionary with more than 3,500 words.

My Gem Insideis a mobile application offered fully free of charge to everyone in Turkey, that supports the cognitive, emotional and behavioral development of children with autism, and their development through inclusive education.

Arikovani (‘Beehive’ in Turkish) is a crowdfunding platform that helps entrepreneurs obtain funds needed to execute their technology or innovation-oriented projects. The main objectives of Arikovani are to increase Turkey’s domestic technology production and raise social awareness around technology production. By the end of 2019, 73 projects had raised over TRY 5.6 million with individual backers and corporate companies. Turkcell supports every project at the “crowd funding” stage and encourages other corporates to support these projects.

Digital Identity Management Services

Fast Login is a secure universal login solution which allows users to securely access a wide array of digital services and websites using their mobile phone or e-mail account for authentication. It is powered by GSMA under the Mobile Connect name and was launched in December 2015. Simply by matching the user to their mobile phone, Fast Login allows them to login to websites and applications quickly without the need to remember passwords and usernames. Fast Login is integrated to 60 Turkcell and 26 non-Turkcell applications with new technology upgrades. In 2019, Fast Login, having reached 23.2 million registered users, was used 490 million times with its easy, fast and secure mobile authentication service.

Mobile Signature, launched in February 2007, enables mobile subscribers to sign electronic documents and transactions with a legally-binding digital signature using SIM cards. Mobile Signature users can easily verify their personal identity in a digital environment and complete transactions remotely.

One Time Password is widely used by service providers as a secondary factor for authentication of transactions. The service allows service providers to send a single-use password via SMS to their end users in order to ensure transaction security. It is commonly used for online banking processes and login transactions.

(iv) Digital Business Services and Solutions

We have drawn up a completely new business model to offer vertical solutions in transportation, finance, healthcare, education, logistics, production, retail, energy and in similar fields with the aim of meeting needs of all industries. Moreover, added value services will be developed based on advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and big data while alternative financing models will be offered as part of this new business model. We provide end-to-end digital solutions to private sector companies and public institutions. Thus, we contribute to Turkey’s growing digital economy offering value propositions which enable enterprises to increase their revenues.

Digital Business Infrastructure

Turkcell aims to increase the efficiency of companies through its digital business infrastructure solutions such as Domain, DNS, Web Hosting and Database services.

Turkcell has two managed Wi-Fi solutions. Smart Places &Wi-Fi provides Wi-Fi Hotspot services to small businesses with certain core features that include the storing of Wi-Fi records, all-access carrier, consumer analytics and customer-oriented marketing. Enterprise Wi-Fi provides customizable Wi-Fi hotspot services for enterprises. It is fully compliant with data privacy regulations and is equipped with online advertising features, Wi-Fi analytics and access-logs storing capabilities.

Turkcell Single Office service enables companies to switch their on-premise PBX hardware to a cloud-based unified communication service. This service is fully managed and operated by Turkcell teams, and customers are provided with IP phones and flexible payment models.

Managed Security Services is provided to corporate customers for their cyber-security needs and includes DDOS protection, managed firewall services, penetration and vulnerability services, threat intel services and a managed security operation center.

SD-WAN (software-defined networking in a wide area network) Services, launched at the beginning of 2019, provides tools for enterprise customers to minimize the time allocated for network management and to strengthen branch security. With SD-WAN technology, Turkcell enables cloud-based network services such as firewall, security and routing for enterprise customers. SD-WAN also provides multi-tenant architecture, bonding detailed monitoring, and app-based traffic engineering features.

Digital Business Applications

Business Applications gives corporate customers a competitive advantage by providing non-core industrial solutions. Fleet management, employee tracking, push-to-talk services, cloud-based SaaS products, digital invoicing solutions, and new generation cash register solutions are available to streamline customer processes and provide operational efficiency through new revenue streaming channels, better customer reach and experience.

With the rise of the enterprise applications market as well as improvements in mobile internet, cloud services and mobile devices, businesses have been undergoing a strategically important process of digital and mobile transformation. Turkcell continues to be a strategic business partner to companies in all industries for transformation projects that aim to render all processes manageable via mobile devices anytime and anywhere.

Managed Services – End to End Solutions

We offer our end to end digital solutions that we implement in our corporate business sector. In these projects, we analyze the needs of our customers from every sector and provide tailored solutions to our customers’ individual needs—we have implemented close to 1,000 projects to date. With our project management team, we implement network, security and system management, application management, end-user support, data center services, digital transformation, IoT, mobile applications, mobile user support and many other solutions and services in accordance with the business processes of our customers.

Cloud Services

Turkcell offers a wide range of cloud solutions for its corporate customers. These services range from co-location solutions to infrastructure (next generation virtual server, virtual data center), backup, disaster recovery and security services. In 2019, Turkcell managed over 8,000 virtual servers and protected more than 5 Petabyte of data for its corporate customers. As of December 31, 2019, our datacenters are based across eight locations in Turkey on approximately 33,500 sqm. of total data center white space area.

In addition to traditional data centers located in Dudullu, Kartal, Davutpasa, Yenibosna and Sogutozu, with a total white space area, refers to the area where IT equipment are placed, of approximately 15 thousand sqm., we built our first new generation data center in Gebze in 2016, which has an area of 33 thousand sqm. with 10 thousand sqm. of white space and 30 MVA power capacity, thereby meeting the highest corporate standards. In 2018, we invested in our Izmir data center which has 2,350 sqm. white space. In late 2019, we built a new third generation data center in Ankara, the largest in Turkey with its 12 thousand sqm of white space area.

Turkcell offers cloud-based applications from its data centers. Apart from the basic hosting and e-mail solutions, Turkcell offers cloud-based productivity applications, such as e-company, which enable corporate customers to manage their financial processes with already integrated accounting, e-invoice, e-ledger and e-archive invoice products.

We have integrated all of our cloud services on the website, www.turkcellbulut.com. Through this platform, users may configure their infrastructure and software services within minutes and manage them through a self-service portal. Users can use the latest technologies providing business continuity over Turkcell Cloud without undertaking investment costs.

IoT Products & Solution Management

Since 2009, Turkcell has focused on its M2M/Machine-to-Machine (“M2M”) and IoT business, whose principal markets in Turkey are car telematics, team tracking, fleet management, POS terminals, security alarms, smart metering, mobile health management, smart agriculture, smart energy and sales force automation applications. Turkcell launched Turkey’s first M2M Platform in March 2012. With the M2M Platform, customers can manage their devices more effectively. As of December 31, 2018,2019, the number of M2M subscribers increased to 2.42.6 million compared to 2.32.4 million as of December 31, 2017.2018.

In addition to the M2M Platform, Turkcell launched its IoT Platform in November 2019, which enables enterprises to transform ordinary devices into connected devices and data into actionable information. It gives them control of their IoT solutions, providing them with the visibility and intelligence required to transform how they do business. An online dashboard of tools and data feeds, Turkcell IoT Platform is a one-stop IoT platform for device management, data collection, data visualization, application development and runtime analytics. Turkcell IoT Platform runs on turkcellbulut.com, which is a fully automated cloud platform. It offers true multi-tenancy, scalability & high availability and security.

Turkcell will continue to pioneer this business line with the release of services on upcoming new technologies such as consumer/corporate IoT and NB-IoT (NarrowBand-Internet of Things). Turkcell aims to become a product factory and launch newend-to-end solutions on specific IoT verticals.verticals in the upcoming periods.

Smart Transportation & Energy

Smart transportation, a key internet of thingsIoT vertical for Smart Places & Business Applications, refers to the integrated application of smart technologies and management strategies in mobility systems, which includes B2C/B2B vehicle tracking, connected car solutions and fleet management.

Smart Manufacturing & Energy Within the Turkcell Kopilot product family, Turkcell DBS enables firms to track their fleet on maps, access critical reports about their fleet and encourage their drivers to drive safely through a single, user-friendly platform.

Turkcell designs industry 4.0 and energy solutions that increase the productivity of enterprises in the field of intelligent production and integrated energy solutions. Turkcell provides solutions to create smart factories and has explored various needs and solutions in the overall energy market. We have been offeringoffer smart energy solutions through partnerships since 2015 to help corporates monitor their energy consumption and increase their efficiency. Since 2017, Turkcell and Siemens have been working onhas recently launched a new smart energy service targeting corporates in the market. In 2018, a demo version was successful; the commercial launch of the service is expected in 2019.named ‘Turkcell Enerjim’, which targets corporate customers.

Smart Cities & EnvironmentEnvironmental Solutions

Smart Citiescities and Environmentalenvironmental solutions aimsaim to digitally facilitate the lives of citizens and help government institutions deal with challenges raised by urbanization and operate more efficiently. Turkcell aims to expand its role on the smart city value chain through its solutions for transportation, energy, environment, security management, etc. with its strong business partner ecosystem.

Turkcell also continues to support farmers by investing in the field of digital agriculture and livestock. In 2018,2019, more than seventythirty thousand farmers were able to growgrew their crops more efficiently with the help of Turkcell SMS information services, including village-based daily weather forecasts and right cultivation method recommendations.

Turkcell Filiz, launched in late November 2018, is a mobile application and used with the soil-weather IoT station. It provides instant data regarding the fieldfields and aims to increase the productivity of the growerfarmers by helpingassisting them with their irrigation and spraying decisions according to soil and weather conditions.

Smart BuildingsEar Tagprovides real-time monitoring and analysis of farm animals in order to enable farmers detect and prevent livestock health issues.

Turkcell plans to launch smart home and building solutions to provide comfort and security for its customers’ living and working areas.

Business Applications & Society Solutions

Business Applications provides corporate customers with a competitive advantage by providingnon-core industrial solutions. Fleet management, employee tracking,push-to-talk services, cloud based Saas products, digital invoicing solutions, and new generation cash register solutions are available to streamline customer processes and provide operational efficiency through new revenue streaming channels, better customer reach and experience.

With the rise of the enterprise applications market as well as improvements in mobile internet, cloud services and mobile devices, businesses have been undergoing a strategically important process of digital and mobile transformation. Turkcell continues to be a strategic business partner to companies in all industries for transformation projects that aim to render all processes manageable via mobile devices anytime and anywhere.

e-Company is a platform which digitally transforms companies’ accounting and transaction processes. This platform, with more than a thousand customers, helps companies save paper, cartridge and storage space costs.

Big Data & Analytics Services

In addition, to using data analysis for internal purposes, to refine and improve its offering to customers, Turkcell also offers analyticanalytics services to companies to help them understand the sector dynamics with sector based analysis, getdynamics. These services also enable companies to

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know obtain information on their customer base by providing demographic and behavioral analysis or competitor analysis to help them support their marketing strategy withthrough data. Companies could also benefit from Turkcell’s user based data through cloud as an input to their business analytics processes or also get predictive services with Turkcell AI capabilities through cloud to help them reduce churn ratio, create a customer credit risk, target the right customer for the right offer or find the right people to advertise for new customer acquisition.

Turkcell Insights as a Service (Business Insights)

Turkcell relaunchedre-designed its B2B insight services in 20182019 to create an end to end solution for B2B customer market research needs. Turkcell provides a comprehensive market research or performance report to several sectors on brand’sbrands’ and competitors’ customer profile, branch visits, crowdedness, and purchasing behavior, etc. This serves as an innovative and data-based alternative forto traditional market research. Also, base station signals are used for location analytics and mobility index projects to create data-based decision makingdecision-making process for transportation and public sectors, or help companies boost their outdoor marketing activities by enabling them to find the best locations that match their brand.

Turkcell Analytics as a Service (Business Analytics)

Turkcell has developed unique solutions to enrich customer offerings by analyzing the behavioral data of Turkcell users. These services help customers improve their analytics models such as credit risk scoring, fraud scoring, digital customer scoring and customer segmentations.

Location Based Services

Corporate customers can monitor and manage their sales forces and fleets with Ekip Mobil (“Team Mobile”). Team Mobile is a management console that allows customers to view their field teams/vehicles on a map, define alarms for specific regions and create direct communication channels to the field. Team Mobile can be used on any mobile device and comes at a minimal investment cost for the companies.

Digital Society Solutions

Turkcell is eager to use its digital and technical competencies to create value for society, help disadvantaged groups to obtain equal social inclusion and create a better future. This focus resulted in several digital society solutions, includingHello Hope,My Dream Companion andMy Sign Language.

Hello Hope is a mobile application which aims at facilitating the lives of Syrian refugees in Turkey, launched as a corporate social responsibility project in September 2016. Previously recognized by the GSMA for best use of mobile technology in humanitarian and emergency situations, “Hello Hope” received another award from the World Summit for Information Society (WSIS), led by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the UN body for the telecommunications industry in 2017. Additionally, “Hello Hope” was selected among globally inspirational projects by the UNESCO-Pearson Initiative for Literacy. The mobile app reached almost 1 million downloads as of the end of 2018.

My Dream Companion (MDC) application enables visually disabled individuals to access information in a fast and easy manner, and provides them more active and independent social life. Users can access thousands of daily news, columns, audio books, trainings and magazines. MDC’s indoor navigation technology provides visually disabled people with and access to detailed information with regard to the stores they are passing by in shopping malls, and directs them to the appropriate store. Transportation technology of the application provides accessible transportation experiences for visually disabled people. Moreover, MDC provides audio description over a mobile application-a world first- without requiring any extra equipment or software.

My Sign Language is a mobile application that seeks to improve communication between hearing impaired people and people who do not know sign language. Written or spoken words/expressions can be instantly translated into video by the 3D Sign Language translator. It includes the most comprehensive Digital Sign Language dictionary with more than 3,500 words. As at the end of 2018, the application was downloaded 100 thousand times.

Arikovani

Arikovani (means ‘Beehive’ in Turkish) is a crowdfunding platform that helps entrepreneurs obtain funds needed to execute their technology or innovation-oriented projects through small to large support from the public. The main objectives of Arikovani are to increase Turkey’s domestic technology production and to raise social awareness around technology production. By the end of 2018, 34 projects raised more than TRY 4.6 million with individual backers and corporate companies. Turkcell supports every project at the “crowd funding” stage and encourages other corporates to support these projects.

Digital Business Infrastructure

Turkcell aims to contribute to increasing companies’ efficiency through its digital business infastructure solutions such as Domain, DNS, Web Hosting and Database services.

Turkcell Smart WiFi provides Wifi Hotspot services for businesses with some core features that include the storing of wifi records, all access carrier, consumer analytics and customer-oriented marketing.

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Turkcell Smart Fax service enables corporate customers to send and receive faxes digitally from anywhere.

Digital Messaging Services enables companies to expand and reach their customers through their messages.

Rich Content Messages is a digital Messaging Service that enhances the customer’s ability to send visual messages by reaching their customers at the right place and at the right time through our location-based SMS services. This service has helped our customers to create fast and efficient solutions for their marketing needs.

SMS Donation Services enables institutions and organizations to collect donations more conveniently.

Digital Identity Management Services

Fast Login is a secure universal login solution which allows consumers to securely access a wide array of digital services and websites using their mobile phone account for authentication. It is powered by GSMA under the Mobile Connect name and was launched in December 2015. Simply by matching the user to their mobile phone, Fast Login allows them to login to websites and applications quickly without the need to remember passwords and usernames.

Mobile Signature, launched in February 2007, enables mobile subscribers to sign electronic documents and transactions with a legally-binding digital signature using GSM SIM cards. Mobile Signature users can easily verify their personal identity in a digital environment and complete transactions remotely.

One Time Password is widely used by corporate customers fortwo-factor authentication controls in the context of transactions. The service allows users to send asingle-use password via SMS to consumers when providing transaction authentication. It is widely used for online banking processes and login transactions.

Cloud Services

Turkcell offers a wide range of cloud solutions for its corporate customers. These services range fromco-location solutions to infrastructure (next generation virtual server, virtual data center), backup, disaster recovery and security services. In 2018, Turkcell managed over 5,000 virtual servers and protected more than 5 Petabyte of data for its corporate customers. As of December 31 2018, our datacenters are based across eight locations in Turkey on approximately 59,000 square meters of total data center indoor space.

In 2016, to meet Turkey’s digital data management need, we built the nation’s largest Tier 3 Designed data center in Gebze, which has a closed area of 33 thousand square meters with 10 thousand square meters of white space, 30 MVA power capacity meeting the highest standards. In 2018, we have invested in Izmir data center that has a 14,500 square meters in total space.

We have integrated all of our cloud services onwww.turkcellbulut.com. Through this platform, users may configure their infrastructure and software services within minutes and manage them through a self-service portal. Users can use the latest technologies providing business continuity over Turkcell Cloud without undertaking investment costs.

Turkcell offers cloud based applications from its data centers. Apart from the basic hosting ande-mail solutions, Turkcell offers cloud based (aaS) productivity applications such ase-company which enable corporate customers to manage their financial processes with already integrated accounting,e-invoice,e-ledger ande-archive invoice products.

Management of Hospital Information Systems

We have started the digital hospital eraare involved in Turkey by launching “City Hospitals” projects in cooperation with Ronesans Health Investment (four city hospitals) and Akfen (one city hospital). Five City Hospitalscity hospitals currently operate through “Management of Hospital Information Systems” built by Turkcell. Further, we have reached an agreement for two new city hospitals which will be in service in 2020. Through these agreements, we have strengthened our leading position in the public-private partnership market in terms of both the number of beds and the number of hospitals.

Partner Ecosystem and Vendors

We expectfocus on creating prospects for hardware and system integration projects through Partner Ecosystem. Our wide network of these business partners enables our services to complete another contract in 2019.

Turkcell Securee-Commerce platform

As the usageachieve sales targets. Moreover, we have also entered into special partnering agreements with global IT vendors to provide a wide range of digital services increases, our customers tend to need a secure authentication and payment system for the products and services they access online. Responding to this need, we have established ane-commerce model (Turkcell Securee-Commerce platform) in order to complement our own digital services, and to provide solutions for our corporate partners in the Turkish electronic commerce market. Internet users can securely login to digital services with our Fast Login. Further, users can shop online and use easy and safe payment methods provided by Paycell.customers.

See “Item 3.D. Risk Factors” for a discussion of the regulatory changes affecting our digital services & solutions.

(v) Techfin Services

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Turkcell focuses on techfin services through our digital payment services platform, Paycell, and our consumer finance company, Financell.


The vision of Paycell is to be an enabler on financial inclusion with the combination of technology and financial services. Paycell was established to provide techfin services including mobile wallet, direct carrier billing, inter-city subway/bus card uploads (Istanbul-Card), utility payments, money transfers, prepaid cards (physical and virtual), QR code payments and POS solutions. We are committed to capitalizing on this well-established payment platform by leveraging our technological know-how as well as our advanced infrastructure. Paycell’s aim with end-to-end payment solutions is to bring the merchants and the consumers together, by offering ease-of-use, new technology and tangible benefits to the consumers while facilitating further revenue generation for the merchants through payment and CRM solutions. For its customers, Paycell, through the Paycell mobile application, offers quick and easy payments via QR code, easy money transfers, loyalty advantages and cross-promotions, which position Paycell as a “Super App”. In the fragmented techfin market in Turkey, where competition is focused on providing solutions in particular verticals, Paycell differentiates and stands out with its strong positioning enabled by its wide portfolio of services as well as its access to its parent Turkcell’s deep technology expertise, large customer base and sales channel. Meanwhile, Paycell’s core value proposition for merchants is the ability to know their customers better, offer targeted deals and offer a quick and easy method of payment which, at the same time, accumulates customer data for the merchant. Paycell also offers online payment infrastructure systems in order to increase its foothold both in online and offline commerce.

Moreover, regulatory environment, which have become more supportive following the introduction of recent legislations mainly on mobile POS usage, open banking, and e-money, also has the potential to positively impact techfin activities.

Our consumer finance company, Financell serves to meet the financial needs of individual and corporate customers for their technology products. Furthermore, Turkcell Sigorta Aracilik Hizmetleri A.S. (“Turkcell Sigorta”), established in 2018, is specialized in the field of tech insurance, where technology and insurance meet.

(iv)(vi) Wholesale

(i) International Roaming

Our coverage extends to many countries around the world through our roaming agreements. As of December 31, 2018,2019, we believe we have further enhanced our position as a leading mobile operator of international roaming services in Turkey by expanding our partnership in 211208 destinations throughout the world, pursuant to commercial roaming agreements with 592581 operators.

Since July 2002, we have provided

We provide roaming services for prepaid subscribers of foreign mobile operators visiting Turkey. We were the first operator to provide such a service in Turkey. This service, called Passive Customized Applications for Mobile Network Enhanced Logic (“passive CAMEL”), can only be enabled if both operators have installed the passive CAMEL system on their networks.Turkey since July 2002. As of December 31, 2018,2019, we offered prepaid roaming to the prepaid subscribers of 372380 operators from 167168 destinations.

Since October 2004, we have offered We offer roaming services for Turkcell prepaid subscribers traveling abroad. This service, called Active Customized Applications for Mobile Network Enhanced Logic (“active CAMEL”), can only be enabled if both operators have installed the active CAMEL system on their networks.abroad since October 2004. As of December 31, 2018,2019, we offered prepaid roaming to Turkcell prepaid subscribers through 421427 operators in 182186 destinations.

Since We also offer GPRS roaming since October 2002, we have offered GPRS roaming.2002. As of December 31, 2018,2019, we made it possible for our subscribers to access the internet and reach their email accounts while passingprovided GPRS service through 199201 destinations serviced our 495by 504 GPRS roaming partners.

As of December 31, 2018,2019, our subscribers can send SMS to more than 724 mobile operators located in 209 destinations, including North America and China. With a view to balancing international SMS traffic, we have 61 International SMS Interworking Agreements in place.

destinations. Since December 2005, our subscribers have beenare able to send and receive MMS to and from subscribers of foreign operators. As of December 31, 2018,2019, our subscribers were able to send MMS to 390 mobile operators in 142 destinations.

On July 30, 2009, we became the first operator in Turkey to launch 3G roaming services in many different locations around the world. As of December 31, 2018,2019, our subscribers enjoyed high speed3G mobile internet connections with 430437 operators in 186190 destinations.

On January 20, 2015, we launched LTE roaming services for our subscribers inat many different locations around the world. As of December 31, 2018,2019, our subscribers experienced LTE roaming services with 216236 operators in 115124 destinations.

On April 1, 2016, we launched LTE roaming services for visitor subscribersvisitors from many different countries. As of December 31, 2018,2019, subscribers of 197203 operators from 96103 different locations experienced LTE roaming services on the Turkcell network.

We have entered into direct international roaming agreements with GSM operators around the world, including in Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Libya and Syria. These arrangements have been entered into in the ordinary course of business and onarm’s-length terms that we believe to be in line with industry standards. Under the roaming arrangements in the listed countries, our net revenues for roaming on our Turkish network totaled less than TRY 79.4 million in 20182019 while our net expense for our subscribers roaming on the networks of operators in the listed countries was less than TRY 3.13.5 million. In terms of revenue generation, we do not believe that our roaming arrangements with operators in Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Libya and Syria are material. For additional details regarding our international roaming agreements with Syria, please refer to “Item 4.B Disclosure Pursuant to Section 219 of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (ITRA)”.

(ii) Wholesale Voice

Turkcell and Superonline Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. (“Turkcell Superonline”) together supply wholesale voice service by establishing interconnection agreements with fixed line and mobile operators and international carriers.

As of December 31, 2018,2019, Turkcell Superonline had interconnection agreements with more than eightyover 50 national and international carriers. Turkcell has interconnection agreements with Turk Telekom, Vodafone, Avea (mobile section of Turk Telekom)TT Mobil and other Fixed Telephony Service Operators and via these agreements, parties connect their networks to enable the transmission of calls to and from their mobile communications system. As of December 31, 2018,2019, Turkcell had interconnection agreements with more than 75over 40 fixed line and mobile operators and carriers.

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For Turkcell, current interconnection rates are based on the ICTA’s decision on Mobile Termination Rates (“MTRs”) and Fixed Termination Rates (“FTRs”). ICTA designated Turkcell as an operator having significant market power in the mobile access and call origination markets. Due to this designation, Turkcell is obliged to provide access and call origination service to MVNOs and directory service providers. As of December 31, 2018,2019, Turkcell had agreements with 11 Directory Service Providers. Commercial negotiations in view of reaching agreements with MVNOs are ongoing. For more information, see “Item 4.B. Business Overview—Regulation of the Turkish Telecommunications Industry”.

(iii) Wholesale Data

Our vision on wholesale data is to become a preferred regional player in a digitally hyper-connected world. To do this, we have developed a robust infrastructure which includes 11 border crossings from Turkey to other jurisdictions. Five border crossings are towards Europe where we offer various options to connect with important European cities through protected and completely separate routes. Six of the border crossings are towards the East, where we offer capacity services to the Caucasus and Caspian region as well to the Middle East.

In accordance with our strategy, Turkcell Superonline is also establishing and executing a domestic wholesale business strategy to provide wholesale products such as bit stream access via its FTTx fiber coverage, infrastructure services, backbone transmission, Ethernet, IP transit capacities, cyber security and VPN services to operators, service providers and data center companies in the domestic market in Turkey.

Turkcell Superonline is leading the localization strategy for Turkey’s data and internet traffic by developing partnerships with national operators, internet exchange platforms,Tier-1 operators, global/local content and cloud service providers to enable direct access to all networks and also commercializing internet traffic.

Turkcell Superonline which aims to transform the Silk Road into the Fiber Road, and has been taking important steps to develop Istanbul as the world’s newest internet base due to its geostrategic location. Accordingly, the company provides a bridge between east and west, which supplies a continuous connection with partnerships with theTier-1 operators and strategic partners between Asia, the Middle East and Europe, such as RCN. Today, we provideTurkcell Superonline provides telecom services to more than 100 international operators includingTier-1 companies. As of December 31, 2018,2019, we have the capacity to carry 7more than 8 Tbps of international traffic.

IV. Tariffs

Our charges for voice, data and digital services consist mainly of bundles and also monthly fees, usage prices, and volume discount schemes and options under various tariff schemes.

We have various segmented tariff plans for mobile that target specific subscriber groups (postpaid or prepaid, corporate or consumer). A majority of our customers chooseall-inclusive packages which include minutes to Turkcell, intra-company calls (for the corporate segment) and all national calls, data and mostsome of our digital services.

“Comfort Packages” is a new payment plan structure launched in 2019 through which subscribers enter into a postpaid subscription contract under which monthly renewal is not mandatory and where add-on packages may be purchased via top-up packages. With Comfort Packages, our aim is to attract new subscribers and also, switch prepaid subscribers to the postpaid payment model.

Turkcell’s fixed offers are based on speed and quota. The tariffs are designed upon the composition of theby taking different needs of different customers.customer segments into consideration. Turkcell’s own fiber infrastructure letsenables fiber offers with high speedspeeds of up to 1000 Mbps, usually bundled with our TV products.product. In 2018, Turkcell also begun to offer a tariff for a speed of 10,000 Mbps. Turkcell’s ADSL service offers speeds up to 8 Mbps and hasalso come as bundled with voice bundled tariffs.service. Since 2016, VDSL is offered to our customers using DSL products, with higher speeds of up to 100 Mbps. Cable offers speeds up to 24 Mbps. Our FWA product Superbox offers speeds up to 375 Mbps.

Turkcell’s strategy is focused on providing high quality service and creating value with an innovative approach rather than competing on prices. Accordingly, Turkcell aims to offer the best network quality to its customers, and also to be a leader in digital services. Better user experience and differentiated offers provide Turkcell with the flexibility to price its tariffs based on cost and investments and to apply an inflationary pricing policy.

In the new communication landscape, our Lifecell brand in Turkey is focused on the creation of customer value through tariff models by positioning digital services as its main core. Digital services constitute a significant part of Lifecell’s value proposition as tariffs have unlimited BiP to BiP minutes, music subscription and streaming with the music app fizy, TV subscription and video streaming data with TV+ along with personal cloud lifebox ande-magazine app Dergilik. Lifecell launched a new tariff structure in July 2018 where customers can create their packages by choosing their own applications from apre-defined list. Leveraging the same approach, in late 2018, Lifecell launched “Hadi”add-on packages through which customers can purchase hourly, daily and weekly data quota to watch videos or to share through social media without being limited by the data quota of their main tariff.

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(i) Consumer Tariffs and Loyalty Programs

We mainly offer bundled packages including voice, data, SMS and various digital services. We focus on providing a leading mobile experience in Turkey, and in order to meet customer needs in different segments (such as youth) we offer a large portfolio of tariffs. OurData quotas have become the key selling point in our tariffs which are becoming more data based and enriched with our digital servicesservices.

We regularly selected cities, based on our market share, where we can deliver incremental growth, and deploy special tariff plans and campaigns to increase customer acquisition.

Our aim is to provide offers that are tailored to the individual needs of our customers, considering their location, tenure, and risk score. As a result of such efforts, in order2019 we increased upsell (i.e., customers that have been upgraded to meet customer demand.a higher paid tariff) and we observe the positive reflections on ARPU growth.

We have various tarifftariffs bundled with smart device campaigns offered jointly by our dealer channel in whichchannel. Such tariffs include voice minutes, SMS and data and digital services can be bundled with smart devices, which are expectedand with these, we aim to lead tofacilitate a higher mobile broadband and digital services usage.

Consumers need reliable, consistent and uninterrupted internet connectivity both for mobile and fixed networks. At Turkcell, we focus on providing the best customer experience in all channels supported by competitive offers and an extensive network. In 2018, we have continued providing the best service and fastest speed with 4.5G offers in mobile. With Lifecell tariffs, we offer digital values instead of traditional telecommunication services (i.e. minutes or SMS). The voice and video calls and instant messaging needs of our customers are met via BiP. Customers can listen to music on fizy, watch movies on TV+, read magazines and newspapers on Dergilik, store their data on lifebox application, search through Yaani with unlimited data and also obtain 24/7 customer service support via BiP. BiP serves as the main communication channel between Lifecell tariff and its subscribers where Lifecell provides customer services, new campaigns and retention activities via the BiP channel. We continue to pioneer with new tariff structures through our Lifecell brand.

In fixed broadband products (fiber, DSL and DSLCable internet), we have various tariffs for different internet speeds and quota. We offer 15 Mbps to 1000 Mbps internet speed for fiber internet, which we serve through our own infrastructure. In 2018, we have launched our fiber internet offer with 10 Gbps speeds, which is currently not offered only by our competitorsCompany in Turkey. Starting in 2018, our fixed broadband tariffs are validgenerally for a12-month commitment (down from24-months) while we continue to have customers on24-month commitments. InStarting late 2018, in line with regulatory developments, we have removed the fair usage quota from our fixed broadband tariffs, offering a constant speed experience forto our customers. Furthermore, we have started to offer services to our customers through the Vodafone and Turksat infrastructure as part of our mutual infrastructure sharing agreements.

We also offer IPTV service, namely TV+, bundled only with our fiber internet service on our fiber infrastructure and in 2018, we continued marketing our TV+ bundled offers.infrastructure. Our fixed voice service is bundled with our fixed broadband service. WeFurther, we also have tablet and desk phone campaigns in which the terminals are offered jointly by dealers, bundled with Turkcell Superonline fixed data products.

For customers without fiber connectivity, we launched a wireless high-speed internet access service called Superbox. The required equipment is included in the subscription plan and uses our 4.5G network.

Turkcell intends to provide advantageous price schemes to consumer and corporate customers when abroad. With a customer-oriented focus, Turkcell offers alternatives to its subscribers with high- andlow-roaming usage. All Turkcell postpaid customers can enjoy “Roam Like Home” offer, enabling them to use their domestic tariff while abroad by paying a certain daily fee.

We have three applications called Platinum, GNC, and SIMTurkcell Bizce (formerly SIM) which serve as platforms for our loyalty programs.

Platinum is an application for both consumer and corporate subscribers with the Platinum tariff. ThePlatinum tariffs include rich package content and are for those customers with a certain minimum ARPU level. Further, the Platinum app provides privileges and gifts such as plane tickets, or free cinema tickets, free books, attractiveco-branding offers, car park services at several shopping malls and more. Our digital services such as TV+ and lifebox are bundled with Platinum tariffs.

GNC is an application for the youth segment for both Turkcell subscribers andnon-Turkcell users. The GNC app gives free internet two times a week through gamification. The “GNC App”GNC app also providesco-branding offers, and numerous opportunities for education and career opportunities via Turkcell Academy. For a broader service for this segment, Turkcell WiFi hotspots provide high-speed internet in 61 university campuses. As part of this service, mobile connect technology provides all students, regardless of their respective operator, one GB of free internet on campus, while those who prefer Turkcell postpaid packages receive ten GB of free internet monthly. In 2019, Turkcell WiFi was used by more than 100 thousand users.

SIM is, the first digital platform in Turkey that is specific to women for both Turkcell subscribers andnon-Turkcell users. SIM provides information users, has been rebranded as“Turkcell Bizce” in March 2020. This is the women platform that women generally need in their daily lives from a single source.supports equal opportunity, personal development and economic engagement for women. The usage of SIMTurkcell Bizce is data free, enabling a better customer experience. Its users can access numerous special offers and discounts from different brands.experience with new app design.

Further,In addition, we have been conducting a marketing campaign called “Shake & Win”, which can be deemed a loyalty program. The campaign is available through our online self-service channel My Accountcalled “Digital Operator” (application) and extends various gifts including free one monthone-month subscriptions to some of our digital services, free daily or weekly data quota. Also, we provide special gifts to our loyal customers who have beenTurkcell customers for over ten years and Platinum customers.

Further, in 2019, we launched a new loyalty program in the form of a marketing campaign via gamification called #youdoit. The campaign is available through a channel on BiP and announces a new task on a digital service every week. Customers who accomplish their weekly tasks are entitled to weekly data packages. This campaign has also contributed 4.9 million new users to our digital services to date, and will be used as a valuable loyalty platform for our digital services going forward.

We have also launched an interactive campaign called “Surprise Point” where customers join through BiP app and visit certain locations to receive similar gifts as in the case of Shake & Win campaign. These campaigns have not only have helped to increase data usage, but also enabled our subscribers to become familiar with our digital services. These campaignsThey have also contributed to customer retention by increasing their loyalty.

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(ii) Corporate Tariffs and Loyalty Programs

We focus on meeting the specific needs of varying corporate customer segments with tailored offers coupled with the best network and service experience. We offer a variety ofvarious bundle packages including voice, data, SMS, companyon-net and/or flat minutes and digital services and solutionsservices. As we strive to meet our corporate customers’ communication needs. We also offer various campaignsbecome corporates’ technology partner in which voice, SMS and data packages can be bundled with different terminals. In addition, we provide various mobile data packages in order to meet different customer needs. These packages include shared data packages,URL-based packages, VINNWi-Fi offers and tablet bundled campaigns.

In addition to mobile tariffs,their digital transformation journey, we also addressprovide a wide range of integrated solutions for them through our subsidiary, Turkcell Digital Business Solutions. These services include cloud services, security solutions, systems integration, consulting, innovation projects for the business fields of the future; such as data analytics, the Internet of Things, M2M Communication, Industry 4.0, and Artificial Intelligence.

One of our key focus is to provide solutions to our corporate customers different telecommunication needs with our total telecom solutions provider approach. Accordingly, we provide products such as VOIP, MPLS/VPN, data center, cloud,the best internet experience in both fixed and mobile and fixed bundle offers to our customers from a single source. Our corporate customers benefit fromconnectivity. Through Turkcell Superonline’s independent fiber backbone as well as the services provided through our data centers located in Kocaeli, Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir on a total of white area of 20 thousand square meters, includingco-location, cloud and security services.

For corporate customers, Turkcell Superonline provides internet services over its fiber-optic infrastructure with the latest transport technology and DSL infrastructure of the incumbent fixed operator. We have “fixed internet” offers and “fixedoperator, we deliver fixed internet and VoIP” bundle offers. We have various tariffs for different internet speeds and quotas. services.

We also offer fixed internet and exclusive tablet or smartphone bundles jointlyaim to increase revenue and customer loyalty.

We have a program called “Win at Work” forreduce the operating costs of our corporate customers.customers by offering attractive co-branding offers for their main cost items. For example, the Win at Work the first loyalty program focused on the B2B segment, offers several advantages tohelps companies meet their basic company needs such as courier services, car leasing and translation at special discounted rates. Further, launched in 2019, our corporate customers. With this program, Turkcell’s corporate customers get discounts in several areas. Also, this program is the first corporate converged loyalty program, providing discounts for both corporate fixed customers and corporate mobile customers. Our corporate customers can also benefit from the advantages of the My Account app as well as the “Shake & Win” campaign.advantageous smartphone leasing plans aim at reducing their smart device procurement costs.

(iii) Wholesale Tariffs

In 2018,2019, ensuring the necessary wholesale roaming cost basis to be ablehas enabled us to support the new roaming consumer and corporate tariffs and propositions “Roam Like Home” was one of the main focuses of the Wholesale Roaming Agreements.

Based on Turkcell’s roaming agreements, Turkcell hosts subscribers of foreign operators on its network. When a subscriber of a foreign operator makes a call using Turkcell’s network, that subscriber’s operator pays us our inter-operator tariff (“IOT”) for the specific call type. IOTinter-operator tariff is a wholesale tariff applied between mobile operators with roaming agreements.

Interconnection rates in Turkey are based on the ICTA’s decision on the interconnection tariffs for Turkcell, Vodafone, Avea,TT Mobil, Turk Telekom and Fixed Telephony Service Operators.fixed telephony service operators.

With respect to data sales, Turkcell intends to provide competitive prices to promote Istanbul as a regional hub for peering and IP transit services and international capacities, as well as to support the domestic wholesale market through its robust network with feasible commercial conditions.

V. Churn

MobileThe mobile churn rate is the percentage of disconnected subscribers calculated by dividing the total number of subscriber disconnections during a period by the average number of subscribers for the same period. For these purposes, we define “average number of subscribers” as the number of subscribers at the beginning of the period plus one half of the total number of gross subscribers acquired during the period. Churn refers to subscribers that are both voluntarily and involuntarily disconnected from our network. Under our disconnection process, postpaid subscribers who do not pay their bills are disconnected and included in churn upon the commencement of a legal process to disconnect them, which commences approximately 180 days from the due date of the unpaid bill. Pending disconnection,non-paying subscribers are suspended from service (but are still considered subscribers) and receive a suspension warning, which in some cases results in payment and reinstatement of service. Prepaid subscribers who do not provide the necessary payment for a period of 270 days are disconnected (this was changed in 2010 from 210 days). Under our churn policy, prepaid subscribers are disconnected from the system if they do nottop-up above TRY10 during a twelve monthtwelve-month period.

In the fourth quarter of 2015, 379 thousand subscriptions, and in the first quarter of 2016, 196 thousand subscriptions which were nottopped-up within the stipulated period were disconnected. In the first quarter of 2017, our mobile churn policy was extended from the regulatory minimum in Turkey of 9 months to 12 months, except with regard to prepaid customers who last topped up before March of each year, which will be disconnected byyear-end at the latest. Prior periods have not been restated to reflect the change in churn policy. The mobile churn rate for 2017 disclosed in this document have been positively impacted by this change, in part due to the fact that we have been successful in reactivating certain subscriptions during the additional 3 monththree-month extension. We believe that following this revision, the seasonality effect in churn rate, which is caused by periodic subscriber acquisition, has been reduced to a great extent.

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Starting In this regard, we have deactivated 580 thousand inactive prepaid customers in 2019-end. Additionally, ICTA, through a board decision taken at the end of 2018, has imposed obligations on operators to record and to keep up-to-date identity information on their subscribers (both consumer and corporate segments and including the fixed segment), matching this information with the products/numbers that are being used. The decision also requires that operators complete missing information on existing subscribers and to terminate these subscriptions if the information is not provided within a given date. Likewise, foreigners are required to register their subscriptions with their “foreign identity number” if they are to use their subscription for more than 90 days, otherwise their subscriptions are also terminated after another period of 90 days during which they can only receive calls. These new obligations have resulted in a one-time bulk deactivation of subscriptions, especially of the subscriptions foreigners, impacting our churn rates in the third quarter and particularly in fourth quarter of 2018, we changed2019. In the presentationthird and fourth quarter of churn figures2019, a total of 1.9 million mobile subscriber lines were disconnected as a result of this regulatory change. New subscriptions are made if and only if the required identity information is given upfront. We will monitor subscriptions accordingly and terminate if necessary (in cases of death, deportation, etc.). Such deactivations are expected to demonstrate average monthly churn figures which we believe correspondscontinue in the upcoming quarters but the impact is be expected to market practice. Accordingly, in 2018,significantly lower.

In 2019, the average monthly mobile churn rate increased to 2.7% from 2.1% from 1.9% in 2017 primarily due to2018. Excluding the price increases throughoutimpact of the year mainly to reflect higher inflation.

We have what we believe toaforementioned regulatory change, this rate would be an adequate allowance for doubtful receivables in our Consolidated Financial Statements fornon-payments and disconnections amounting to TRY 938.5 million and TRY 778.4 million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.2.3%.

The churn rate for the fixed broadband products is calculated in the same way as the churn rate for the mobile products (except in fixed broadband, customers that change infrastructure from fiber to DSLDSL/Cable or vice versa counted in churn rate). Fixed broadband subscribers who do not pay their bills are disconnectedsubscribers’ connection speed is decreased to 128kbps in15-6210-90 days according to the financial risk segmentssegment of the customers.customers in case they do not pay their bills (changed in 2019 from 15-62 days). The legal process commences approximately 104in 45-110 days from the due date of the unpaid bill.bill (changed in 2019 from 104 days). The average monthly fixed churn rate was flat withincreased from 2.1% in 2019 compared to 1.8% in 2018. This rate also includes the minor effect of ICTA’s new aforementioned regulatory decision.

Starting in the third quarter of 2018, comparedwe changed the presentation of churn figures to the same leveldemonstrate average monthly churn figures which we believe corresponds to market practice.

We have what we believe to be an adequate allowance for doubtful receivables in 2017.our Consolidated Financial Statements for non-payments and disconnections amounting to TRY 795.8 million and TRY 938.5 million as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

VI. Seasonality

The Turkish mobile communications market is affected by seasonal peaks and troughs. Historically, the effects of seasonality on mobile communications usage has positively influenced our results in the second and third quarters of the fiscal year and negatively influenced our results in the first and fourth quarters of the fiscal year. These seasonality effects have been less significant as we typically launch market campaigns to address the change in demand levels. Local and religious holidays in Turkey generally affect our operational results positively through higher consumption.

The Turkish fixed broadband market is also affected by seasonal peaks and troughs. Historically, the effects of seasonality on fixed broadband usage have negatively influenced our results in the third quarter of the fiscal year. This is mainly due to summer holidays when both usage and acquisition numbers decrease and churn increases due to residents moving.

VII. Mobile and Fixed Network

a.Coverage

Statements regarding our 2G coverage are based on the ICTA’s specifications as well as the TUIK’s announcements regarding the population, and statements regarding our 3G coverage are based on the ICTA’s 3G coverage calculation specifications issued on April 25, 2015. Statements regarding 4.5G coverage and performance are based on our own calculations, pending publication of ICTA specifications.

Our mobile communications network is designed to provide high-quality coverage to the majority of Turkey’s population throughout the areas in which they live, work and travel. Coverage also includes a substantial part of the Mediterranean and Aegean coastline. We enhanced coverage inlow-populated areas (populations of less than 1,000 people) as well. In terms of 2G, we have significantly exceeded the minimum coverage requirements of our license.

We have also expanded our mobile communications network to add capacity to existing service areas and to offer service to new areas. In addition, in 2018, within the scope of the Turkish Ministry’sMinistry of Transport and Infrastructure’s Rural Coverage Project as part of universal services which we started in August 2013, about one thousand 4.5G base stations covering 1,623 villages with populations of less than 500 were installed. As per the universal service obligation, the network infrastructure serving these areas has to be shared by all operators. People living in these villages are currently served by LTE services (in addition to 2G) in a similar service quality provided in the urban areas. The daily lives of the 250 thousand people in these villages have been improved thanks to enhanced mobile communication and high-speed mobile internet services. ULAK’sULAK (local network vendor producing 4.5G base stations)’s 4.5G radio equipment was used markedly, corresponding to about half of total deployments.

We commercially launched 3G simultaneously in 81 provinces and major cities in Turkey in July 2009. As a result of the amendment to the Law for Metropolitan Municipalities, the number of metropolitan municipalities increased and the borders of some municipalities were extended. After this amendment, the ICTA increased our coverage obligations, defined in our concession agreement by its decision, based on this amendment. We filed a lawsuit for a stay of execution and the cancellation of this aforementioned decision. The Council of State granted a motion for the stay of execution of ICTA’s aforementioned decision. The ICTA objected to this decision. The objection was also rejected in favor of Turkcell. The hearing was held on November 27, 2018 and it is expected that the court will grant a decision in 2019.

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Benefiting from higher-quality communications provided by the widest spectrum in 3G, Turkcell will continue to offer seamless communications services to its customers with what we believe to be the most extensive coverage amongst its competitors.

In 2018,2019, we have continued to develop and improve the coverage and capacity of our network. In urban areas, we increased both coverage and capacity by placing network infrastructure in commercial sites such as shopping malls, business complexes and entertainment centers. We have been using 3G and 4.5G Small Cells (such as Femto, pico and micro) to enhance our coverage and capacity where necessary. Additionally, 3G and 4.5G repeaters have been used to extend the network coverage without adding new sites.

At theIMT-Advanced (“4.5G”) tender held on August 26, 2015, Turkcell acquired large amounts of FDD spectrum: 2x10 MHz from the 800 MHz, an additional 2x1.4 MHz from the 900 MHz, 2x29.8 MHz from the 1800 MHz, additional 2x10 MHz from the 2100 MHz and 2x25 MHz from the 2600 MHz frequency bands. And for TDD frequencies, 1x10 MHz from the 2100 MHz and 1x10 MHz from the 2600 MHz bands were also acquired. All frequency bands are technology-neutral and can be used for any technology, providing efficiency and flexibility for spectrum usage in the network. We currently use the 900 MHz band for 2G and 3G, the 2100 MHz band for 3G and 4.5G, and the 800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz bands for 4.5G.

Our fixed communications network is designed to provide high capacity and high-quality service to consumer and corporate customers. Moreover, we believe that it is very well designed and implemented to provide capacity to our mobile network. Our fixed network has capabilitiesthe capability to carry large volumes of data and internet traffic in the countryin-country, and is also connected to national and international telecom operators.

As of December 31, 20182019 our own fiber network reached 43,30046,035 kilometers and connects 79 of 81all cities inacross Turkey. In 21 cities we have fiber to the home (“FTTH”) network and homepass, which meanshome pass, whereby the number of premises that are connected to our fiber network has reached nearly 3.43.6 million. Through partnership engagements in 2018,2019, we have become capable of delivering our fiber and cable (hybrid-fiber coaxial) internet service to 6.446.7 million households in 28 cities. We also provide enterpriseWi-Fi services.

In the fixed access network we have two main network structures called fiber to the building (“FTTB”) and FTTH. In FTTB network, we are installing switches to access our subscribers. In FTTH networks, we are installing Gigabit Passive Optical Network (“GPON”) and10-Gigabit-capable symmetric passive optical network(“XGS-PON”) equipment which is the latest access network technology for residential and business subscribers. These network structures enable Turkcell to offer triple play services (High speed internet, TV, Voice over IP). The fixed access network also provides bandwidth requirement for mobile sites with Metro Ethernet services. In addition to our current network expansion, Turkcell has started using Turksat cable infrastructure to provide high speed internet service to new customers.

b.Quality of Service

The ICTA published a “Regulation on Quality of Service in the Electronic Communications Sector” on September 12, 2010, effective as of December 31, 2011 (see “Item 4.B. Business Overview—Regulation of the Turkish Telecommunications Industry” for further details). The Turkcell network is currently above the standards set by the statement by ICTA.ICTA statement. Typically, “Call Drop” was one of the major Quality of Service figures that we focused on during 2018.2019.

Dropped calls are calls that are terminated involuntarily and are measured by using the ratio of total dropped calls during all day. Using such industry standardstandards for dropped calls, our dropped call rate for our 2G&3G network has further decreased below 0.29% in 2018.2019.

The rate of service quality is being enhanced continuously due to extensive network optimization and investments in our 2G and 3G network to improve the quality and capacity of the network. According to the statistics gathered from the vendors, Turkcell has one of the best 2G and 3G dropped call rates compared to other networks around the world. As Turkcell has built one of the most robust LTE networks globally, in terms of VoLTEVOLTE performance, Turkcell has already obtained a low drop rate in VoLTE,VOLTE, which is below 0.26%.

We have been offloading voice and data traffic by utilizing small cells in the network for an improved customer experience. For this purpose,Together with Turkcell Superonline, we have also implemented Wi-Fi offload integrated with the Turkcell 3G and 4.5G networks to further enhance the customer experience. Additionally, we are using a variety of solutions such as the Special Distributed Antenna Solutions (especially for major stadiums) indoor active systems that simplify deployment and streamline capacity/coverage expansions, and outdoor products to optimize the coverage and capacity of our Radio Access Network. Together with Turkcell Superonline, we have also implementedWi-Fi offload integrated with the Turkcell 3G and 4.5G networks to further enhance the customer experience.

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Turkcell received the first ISO 9001 certificate in 1999. Since then, independent firms have been auditing Turkcell’s management system annually and have been novatingrenewing the certificate every three years within the scope of International Mobile Communications Design, Installation, Operation, Sales and After Sales Services. The most recent certificate was received on November 4, 2016 and revisedDecember 3, 2019 based on ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Standards on September 14, 2018.Standards. This certificate will be valid until November 29, 2019.December 3, 2022. In addition, Turkcell received the ISO/IEC20000-1:2005 IT Service Management System Certificate in January 2011. As the first telecommunications company to receive the ISO20000-1:2005 certificate in Turkey, Turkcell has promoted the adoption of an integrated process approach to effectively deliver managed services to meet business requirements. Turkcell and Superonline still maintain ISO 20000 certificates (ISO 20000-1:2011).

On the fixed network side, we monitor traffic utilization in our access network continuously to prevent any saturation and upgrade the capacity as soon as possible. Turkcell modifies and redesigns the network topology to meet the future requirements which allows us to improve our quality of service performance.

The optical transmission network relying on Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (“DWDM”) systems with Automatically Switching Optical Network (“ASON”), and Optical Transport Network (“OTN”) and traditional Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (“SDH”) using protection mechanisms benefitbenefits from alternative fiber routes wherever available. This increases the capabilities ofre-routing in the event of service interruption. Thus, the delivered point to point services provides an availability experience up to 99.999% availability figures;; a quality level of quality defining the transmission network as an upper level “carrier-class” network.

c.Network Evolution

(i) Radio Network

We launched the LTE Advanced network (also known as 4.5G in Turkey) on April 1, 2016. We deployed 4.5G in all 81 provinces, including all counties. We also upgraded ourin-building systems (such as those in venues and shopping malls) so as to enhance the 4.5G user experience of our customers indoors.

With the 172.4 MHz spectrum acquired in the 2015 auction, Turkcell spectrum holdings reached 234.4 MHz, corresponding to 43% of total spectrum assets acquired by theavailable to mobile operators in Turkey. Leveraging the advantage of our large spectrum assets and significant network infrastructure investments, our 4.5G network evolved from peak speeds of 375 Mbps to 1.2 Gbps. Currently, Turkcell’s 4.5G network supports LTE Advanced Pro technology, providinghigh-end features like 4x4 MIMO, 256QAM,3-4-5 Carrier Aggregation, Narrow Band IoT(NB-IoT), eMTC and LAA. In the future, as technology and its ecosystem evolve to new heights, we expect to introduce new capabilities to keepsustain our technology leadership, enhance customer experience and enable new services.

We upgraded our network in 32 provinces by modernizing our 2G and 3G network, attaining higher capacity, better customer experience and up to 35% energy efficiency. This modernization has also enabled us to utilize our spectrum assets more efficiently and helped speed up our spectrum refarming efforts in 900 MHz and 2100 MHz bands. Byon-airing more UMTS 900 carriers, we have enhanced our 3G coverage further to provide deep indoor and better rural coverage.

For voice services, Voice over LTE (VoLTE) has been supported from day one to provide voice services over our 4.5G network. We activated EVS (Enhanced Voice Services) on our VoLTE voice service to further enhance the voice quality and thus became one of the few mobile operators in the world supporting thishigh-end feature. The applicable regulations mandate that our 2G network remains active until 2023; however most of our voice traffic is already carried by our 3G network, which has enabled us to gradually make our 2G network leaner without affecting our customers. With a larger terminal support base, we expect that voice services will be migrated to the 4.5G network from legacy 3G/2G networks.

In order to provide a solution for VPN over the wireless technologies like 4.5G, we have announced the Mobile VPN offer to our corporate customers. With this solution, corporates are able to connect to the internet cloud over a wireless interface using 4.5G technology, without sacrificing their service quality requirements. This is a fast and flexible solution for connections between their branch offices and headquarters.

We provide a “Wireless to the Home” service called SUPERBOX, which offers wireless high-speed internet access for customers without fiber connectivity. The required equipment is included in the subscription plan and uses LTE Advanced network as a backhaul to provide internet connectivity in customers’ premises. As part of 5G preparations, we have demonstrated 5G FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) capability in millimeter wave band, which was the first 5G live network test in Turkey.

Through our ongoing investment in LTE Advanced infrastructure, we became the first operator in Turkey to supportNB-IoT, which is required for new generation innovative applications on LTE Advanced networks. Use of this

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technology is now available on request across our whole LTE footprint and enables machines to communicate faster and more effectively. Furthermore, through ourCat-M network support which enables fleet management, asset tracking and smart metering, and which is presently supported by few operators in the world, we are able to provide higher data transfer throughput and have more mobility for machine to machine communications. With regard to international recognition in 2018, we won two technology awards for our accomplishments in RAN technology, namely for our ‘Connected Parking’ project from IoT World Europe (Best End to End IoT Solution Award) and ‘Smart Irrigation’ project from Telecoms World Middle East (Innovation Award).

For real-life scenarios in which the terrestrial network may be down or unable to provide the required coverage, we have developed a technology called ‘Dronecell’ which provides 4.5G coverage from the air with the help of a micro base station installed on a drone. This solution can be useful when communications in the areas are affected by natural disasters, or when temporary coverage in some other areas are necessary.

Offering a unique experience to our customers with our strong 4.5G infrastructure, we continue our efforts to prepare our network for 5G. We have tested thoroughly the Massive MIMO technology (both for frequency division duplex (“FDD”) and time division duplex (“TDD”)), which can be deployed to meet capacity demand in dense areas. These collective activities help to maximize spectral efficiency, further enhancing network capacity and improving overall user experience. We believe that Turkcell has a significant competitive advantage with its Massive MIMO, in addition to having the widest spectrum in Turkey.

While we have been investing into new technologies, we also have been upgrading our 3G/2G networks to improve the user experience of our customers who continue to be served by the legacy networks. By conducting modernization projects, we have achieved an energy efficiency improvement up to 35% on our 3G/2G networks. The modernization also enables us to use multiple technologies (LTE, UMTS and GSM) in a mixed mode configuration in the same hardware units located at the sites, providing smaller footprints and cost reduction as we repurpose existing spectrum for newer technologies along with other benefits. It is also important to note that since the traffic volumes on the 3G network are still on the rise, we have been using newly acquired 2x10 MHz spectrum on 2100 MHz band as 5th and 6th carriers for additional capacity.

Regarding our 3G and 2G networks, we have supported up to 63.3 Mbps speeds using3C-HSDPA (3 Carrier High Speed Downlink Packet Access) technology for downloads and 11.5 Mbps usingDC-HSUPA (Dual Carrier High Speed Uplink Packet Access) technology for uploads in our 3G network since early 2015. These technologies globally had their first commercial network activations by Turkcell. For GSM, although shrinking in traffic load and capacity, up to 300 Kbps download speeds are supported with EDGE technology for users having legacy terminals or in rural areas whereGSM-only coverage exists.technologies.

Although the 900 MHz band is still being primarily used for GSM900, we have been rolling out UMTS900 to provide a much stronger 3G coverage layer for voice calls redirected from the 4.5G network via thea technique called CS Fallback (CSFB), for deep indoor and improved rural coverage. This has been possible by somewith certain previous projects such as Thin Layer Project for GSM 900, by which we have extracted enough spectral capacity to partiallyre-farm the 900 MHz band for UMTS. As the next step, we have started deploying second UMTS900 carrier, which leads to a more efficient utilization of 900 MHz band and generate additional capacity. As we migrate 3G traffic to 900 MHz, we obtain a capacity boost in the 2100 MHz band, which allows us to repurpose it gradually for LTE. In this regard, we have started deploying LTE in the 2100 MHz band, previously used by 3G only, to use itfor more efficientlyefficient usage with LTE2100, enlargeenlarging our 4.5G footprint in a cost-efficient manner and improveimproving user experience.

In the IMT-Advanced (“4.5G”) tender held on August 26, 2015, Turkcell acquired large amounts of FDD spectrum: 2x10 MHz from the 800 MHz, an additional 2x1.4 MHz from the 900 MHz, 2x29.8 MHz from the 1800 MHz, additional 2x10 MHz from the 2100 MHz and 2x25 MHz from the 2600 MHz frequency bands. And for TDD frequencies, 1x10 MHz from the 2100 MHz and 1x10 MHz from the 2600 MHz bands were also acquired. All frequency bands are technology-neutral and can be used for any technology, providing efficiency and flexibility for spectrum usage in the network. We currently use the 900 MHz band for 2G and 3G, the 2100 MHz band for 3G and 4.5G, and the 800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz bands for 4.5G.

For voice services, Voice over LTE (VoLTE) has been supported from day one to provide voice services over our 4.5G network. We activated EVS (Enhanced Voice Services) on our VoLTE voice service to further enhance the voice quality and thus became among the first mobile operators in the world supporting this high-end feature. The applicable regulations mandate that our 2G network remains active until April 2023; however most of our voice traffic is already carried by our 3G network, which has enabled us to gradually make our 2G network leaner without impacting our customers. As the terminal support base grows, we expect voice services to be migrated to the 4.5G network from legacy 3G/2G networks.

In order to provide a solution for VPN over wireless technologies like 4.5G, we have announced the Mobile VPN offer to our corporate customers. With this solution, corporates are able to connect to the internet cloud over a wireless interface using 4.5G technology, without sacrificing their service quality requirements. This is a fast and flexible solution for connections between their branch offices and headquarters.

Through our ongoing investment in 4.5G infrastructure, we became the first operator in Turkey to support NB-IoT, which is required for a new generation of innovative IoT applications on 4.5G networks. This technology is now available on request across our whole 4.5G footprint and enables machines to communicate faster and more effectively. Furthermore, through our Cat-M (eMTC) network support which enables fleet management, asset tracking and smart metering, we are able to provide higher data transfer throughput and have greater mobility for M2M communications. With regard to international recognition, in 2018, we won two technology awards for our accomplishments in RAN technology, namely for our ‘Connected Parking’ project from IoT World Europe (Best End to End IoT Solution Award) and ‘Smart Irrigation’ project from Telecoms World Middle East (Innovation Award).

We provide a “Wireless to the Home” or FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) service called Superbox, which offers wireless high-speed internet access for customers without fiber connectivity. The required equipment is included in the subscription plan and uses 4.5G network as a backhaul to provide internet connectivity in customers’ premises. As part of 5G preparations, we have demonstrated 5G FWA capability in a millimeter wave band (28GHz), which was the first 5G live network test in Turkey.

For real-life scenarios in which the terrestrial network may be down or unable to provide the required coverage, we have developed a technology called ‘Dronecell’ which provides 4.5G coverage from airborne drones with the help of a micro base station installed on the drones. This solution can be useful when communications in the areas are affected by natural disasters, or when temporary coverage in some other areas is necessary.

Offering a unique experience to our customers with our strong 4.5G infrastructure, we continue our efforts to prepare our network for 5G. We have thoroughly tested the Massive MIMO technology (for both frequency division duplex (“FDD”) and time division duplex (“TDD”)), which can be deployed to meet capacity demands in dense areas. These collective activities help to maximize spectral efficiency, further enhancing network capacity and improving overall user experience. We believe that Turkcell has a significant competitive advantage with its Massive MIMO, in addition to having the widest spectrum in Turkey.

Furthermore, we have been closely cooperating with our network vendors for long term prospects through projects that enable Turkcell to deploy the latest technologies even before their availability on the market. This puts Turkcell at the forefront of the technology race and allows for the evaluating of the new technology benefits in the development phase, and then their timely deployment followingupon their commercial availability.

Turkcell continues to provide extensive support to the projects involving domestic products, mainly for fulfilling the obligations related to the usage of domestically produced network equipment as per the 4.5G licence.license. We cooperate with domestic companies regarding base stations, antennas, transports and infrastructure solutions. For example, the ULAK Project initially started as an initiative taken byof the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (UDI), aiming to designaimed at designing and developdeveloping national software and hardware components for anLTE-Advanced communication system and enhanceenhancing Turkey’s self-sufficiency in this area. ULAK has become a network vendor, producing 4.5G base stations. The first deployments of ULAK base stations in the network have beenwere realized in a city in the north-eastern part of Turkey.

As a new technology, Additionally, CTG (Communications Technologies Group) aims to provide an end-to-end local and national 5G solution, which is funded by TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey). Turkcell is one of the major project partners of this group, and is responsible for generating use of Massive MIMO in LTE can be a proper solution to increase radio network capacity. TDD Massive MIMO enhances spectrum efficiency by means of beamformingcases and multi-user MIMO techniques but it may also cause user throughput degradation due to the limited bandwidth of Band 38 we have and due to its support of at most1-2 MIMO layers per user. To mitigate these issues, an innovative algorithm has been developed by Turkcell on the Self-Organized Network (SON) Platform to optimize Massive MIMO’s benefits on system capacity, taking user experience into account as well.requirements.

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In the scope of 5G technology as Turkcell we participate in the next generation technology, known as 5G, Turkcell has been participating inactivities of international organizations such as 3GPP,ITU-T, NGMN,5G-PPP 5G IA (the private arm of 5G-PPP) ONF, TIP and GSMA by joining in meetings, work groups, projects and programs to follow the latest developments and shape itsour future strategies for the future accordingly. In this context, Turkcell has started to lead NGMN’s “5GPre-Commercial Networks Trials” project, aiming to test the earliest 5G equipment prototypes in the field. Moving beyond the state-of-the-art in another project, the 5G-MOBIX consortium serves to develop 5G-enabled cooperative, connected and automated mobility for vehicles, where Turkcell is the leader of the Greece-Turkey corridor. For 5G-MOBIX, which happens to be the first 5G-PPP and also the Horizon2020 project of Turkcell, C-V2X use cases tailor-made to ameliorate impediments to an efficient crossing of the hard borders between Turkey and Greece. To extend its reach and knowledge base, Turkcell has also signed agreements with vendors (Ericsson, Huawei, Samsung, ZTE, Aselsan) to collaborate in the research & development and work on variousactivities as well as realization of novel 5G use case options.cases. In addition to technology organizations and vendors, Turkcell has been doing some research activitiesengaging with universities and research centers. AnSpecifically, a MoU for 5G Research and Development has been signed with some major universities in Turkey within the scope of “The 5G Valley” initiative led by the ICTA. As Turkcell’s first5G-PPP (The 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership) project, we have joined in5G-MOBIX project to develop cooperative, connected and automated mobility for vehicles. In the context of this project, we will be developing “Platooning” use case for 5G on the Turkish-Greek border together with other local and international partners.

With the leading global vendors including Ericsson, Huawei and Samsung, we have been demonstrating and trialing 5G since 2017. InWithin the scope of the first 5G use cases, we tested FWA and AR/VR to take additional steps into the 5G era.

(ii) Transmission Network

Turkcell is the first operator in Turkey to start deployingAll-IP NodeBs throughout its network. We are not only expanding our 3G network but also migrating legacyTDM-GSM sites to IP through the deployment of Abis over IP technologies. Thus, we currently have anAll-IP mobile backhaul of more than 57,000for BTSs,Node-Bs and eNodeBs that provides resiliency, ease of operation and operational expense advantages. In addition, we have also invested in topology redundancy projects due to our IP/MPLS backhaul for better service availability. Backhaul bandwidth capacities were increased for wide coverage of up to 450 Mbps 4.5G applications and the Microwave Radio Link network was modernized for Native Ethernet and Adaptive Modulation support to increase availability and reduce outages due toresulting from severe rain conditions. Usage of fiber connectivity is moving further fromHigh-RAN aggregation points towardsLow-RAN aggregation points. Furthermore, fiber to mobile site applications have been started for 4.5G readiness of sites with very high traffic. Due to higher bandwidth requirements of the 4.5G users, we are migratinghave migrated from SDH based leased lines to DWDM, or dark fiber multi-Gigabit Ethernet links on the high traffic aggregation points.

We have also started a renovation program in order to converge fixed and mobile backhaul transport networks, scheduled to be completed in 2020. More than 25% of the transport-IP network was converged with high scale and the leading-edge technology routers in order to be ready for the capacity demand of 5G applications.

(iii) Core Network

The whole Turkcell Core Network is currently composed of IP based layered structure Next Generation Network (NGN) nodes, supporting all mobile standards, including 2G/3G/4.5G. By using a Geographical Redundant Pool (GRP) structure, we get (i) full redundantMSC-Ss, (ii) redundant physical interfaces to MGWs, (iii) CAPEX efficiency, and (iv) improvements in radio network KPIs. By implementing IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) based VoLTE (Voice Over LTE) and SRVCC (VoLTE Voice Continuity to 2G/3G), all subscribers can use seamless HDVOICE technology.

We have deployed and continue to develop our all IP Mobile Broadband GPRS network to provide the high speed and reliability to meet the demand of our businesses and consumers. 2G/3G/4.5G data services are given from our converged core network, which is designed to support all mobile broadband.

(iv) Fixed Network

Our own fiber optic network provides up to 1000 Mbps high speed internet service in 21 cities across Turkey. We also provide superior triple play service experience to our subscribers. We are installing and investing in EDGE technology access equipment in our network. We believe that with this strategy Turkcell will be ready to offer future customer experiences. InSince February 2018, we began to offer 10 Gbps high speed internet as anon-demand service.

We are providingend-to-endWi-Fi services for our Enterprise customers, which enables their guests to access WiFi. The EnterpriseWi-Fi service includes installation with authentication services, and further provides the necessary interface.

We announcedalso provide smartWi-Fi services for Soho Customer, which provides login andWi-Fi connectivity to customers. The service provides plug and play for easy installations.

We also have started to use Turksat cable network for Fixed Virtual Network Operator (FVNO) services, with the goal of reaching more homes with our services.

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Furthermore, Turkcell is the first company in the world that has realized alaunched commercial application of colorless and directionless ASON on a live traffic carrying network. Turkcell also introduced coherent 100G technology in the backbone along with optical ASON in the early stages at the end of 2012 and early 2013. In 2016, Turkcell also tested for 1 Tbps400 Gpbs per wavelength using supersingle channels on existing DWDM networks successfully.

in its backbone. We are continuously investing in our backbone network in order to be prepared for bandwidth-intensive services with the latest technology. Fixed networks provide backhaul that not only connects the signal towers to the telecom network, but also allows for enough bandwidth to support operations in 4.5G. This is creating an environment in which optical cabling and fiber to Ethernet media converters are among the most important parts of a mobile network. As a result, fiber will remain an integral part of telecom networks.

(v) Services and Platforms

We have an intelligent network and other service platforms enabling our services and we also provide secure and controlled access to the network for the content and service providers to provide messaging and data services. This infrastructure is being improved to open up more capabilities on the network for the application and content providers. New infrastructure also contains a portal where subscribers buy services, receive promotions and enroll for campaigns easily.

d.Network Operations

We have primarily employed experienced internal personnel for network engineering and other design activities, while employing suppliers for our network infrastructure and as our partners in product/service development. Our suppliers install the base station cell site equipment and switches on aturn-key basis, while subcontractors employed by our suppliers perform the actual site preparation.

e.Network Maintenance

We have entered into several system service agreements. Under these agreements, our mobile and fixed communications network, including hardware repair and replacement, software and system support services, consultation services and emergency services are serviced by local providers. Our subcontractors perform corrective and preventative maintenance on our mobile and fixed communications network in the field, although providers repair all the network equipment. We have regional operation units with qualified Turkcell staff that operate and maintain our network in Turkey.

In addition, the Turkcell Network Operation Center located in Istanbul monitors our entire network 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and ensures that necessary maintenance is performed in response to any problem.

f.Site Leasing

If a new coverage area is identified, our technical staff determines the optimal base station location and the required coverage characteristics. The area is then surveyed to identify BTS sites. In urban areas, typical sites are building facesfacades and rooftops. In rural areas, masts and towers are usually constructed. Our technical staff also identifies the best means of connecting the base station to the network. Once a preferred site is identified and the exact equipment configuration for that site is determined, we start the process of site leasing and obtaining necessary regulatory permits. Site leasing processes and construction of the masts or towers are performed by our wholly ownedwholly-owned subsidiary, Global Tower. We lease the land and provide site management services (yearly rental payments, contract renewals, rework permits) through Global Tower. If we decide to buy the land, another wholly ownedwholly-owned subsidiary, Turkcell Gayrimenkul Hizmetleri A.S. (“Turkcell Gayrimenkul”), will handlehandles the necessary procedures. We also manage all these processes for technical demands also for Turkcell Superonline and Global Tower.

g.Business Continuity Management (“BCM”)

Turkcell Business Continuity Management identifies potential threats and their impact and provides a framework for building resilience with the ability to create an effective response that safeguards the interests of our key stakeholders, their reputation, brand and value-creating activities. We established the Business Continuity Management System (“BCMS”) to implement, operate, monitor, review, maintain and improve the business continuity.

Turkcell BCMS is assisted by business continuity coordinators at technical andnon-technical groups. Regular BCM training and awareness programs are carried out throughout the organization. The effectiveness of BCMS is monitored every year through internal/external audits, and integrated exercises, the results of which are reviewed in management review meetings. In 2018,2019, we exercised and tested our business continuity plans, communication and warning procedures to ensure that they are consistent with the business continuity objectives.

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Turkcell’s BCM will be able to cover the majority of Turkcell’s operations through potential environmental events and natural disasters. Our purpose is to ensure the continuity of the voice call, messaging, data/internet and societal security services for Turkcell, availability of fixed voice call services, data/internet, hosting services, data centers and societal security services for Turkcell Superonline, provision of site acquisition and contract management services for infrastructure requirements of mobile operators, TV/Radio broadcasters and technical infrastructure suppliers and installation, testing, commissioning, operation and maintenance of tower, in building, roof top infrastructure/Sitessites for Global Tower at acceptable predefined levels following disruptive incidents.

Business continuity plans are prepared by taking into consideration the customer’s expectations, company policies and legal obligations. They are regularly exercised to guarantee the operation of time-sensitive business activities in case of business disruptions. We are continuously improving our business continuity capacity in accordance with the “ISO 22301 Societal Security, Business Continuity Management System” internationalinternationally while preserving our image as a reputable and solid integrated service provider.

h.Enterprise Risk Management (“ERM”)

Turkcell’s Enterprise Risk Management team is responsible for coordinating the process of identifying, assessing and overseeing actions by management and the company’s business units to manage the risks that may affect the business objectives of the company. ERM supplies an information platform to management regarding the risks whichthat may have an effect onimpact the decision makingdecision-making process. Turkcell ERM aims to develop an approach of integrating risk management with the core management processes as well as enterprise risk culture. While doing this, Turkcell uses an ERM framework which is compatible with the COSO ERM framework and the ISO 31000 Standard. Based on the ERM procedures, risks are identified and evaluated in terms of impact and likelihood. Risk responses controls, issues and actions are developed and the wholeentire process is monitored.

Turkcell’s ERM team is the owner of an enterprise risk database. A range of management tools are used for risk identification and evaluation such as workshops, brainstorming sessions, risk reporting from divisions’division directors and risk contacts,in-depth interviews with the management team and research reports while coordinating the process of identifying and assessing risks. The risk database, monitored by the ERM team and new risks and opportunities, updates onon-going risks, financial risks, cyber risks and risk and trend research from the around the world are reported to the Early Detection of Risk Committeebi-monthly.

VIII. Sales and Marketing

We design our sales and marketing strategy around subscriber needs and expectations. We try to ensure the loyalty of our subscribers by providing offers, campaigns and our advanced service delivery platforms.

a.Sales Channel

We support our sales efforts through one of the largest retail telecommunications distribution networks in Turkey, with 1,467more than 1,300 branded stores, many with prime locations, as well as more than 4,6004,000 semi-branded dealers as of December 31, 2018.2019. Our two exclusive distributors provide our products and services as well as consumer technologies (such as handsets, tablets, notebooks, IoT devices and accessories) and aftersales services for this wide network of dealers, while seveneight exclusive Turkcell Distribution Centers (TDCs) focus solely on semi-branded dealers. We also have adoor-to-door sales force and home technology management team, which realizes approximately 115,000135 thousand connected home technology transactiontransactions per month. This provides us an important channel on which to distribute our integrated solutions directly into the homes of Turkish consumers. We also operate a dedicated corporate direct sales team of more than 450over 657 personnel who can offer tailored solutions to their respective segments.

Our nationwide distribution channel is an important asset that helps us differentiate ourselves from our competitors and achieve our sales targets. Our strong and extensive distribution network consists of distributors, TDCs, Corporate Solution Centers, semi-branded dealers and Turkcell Branded Stores (Turkcell Plus & Turkcell), as well as points of sale for scratch cards and prepaid airtime, including digital channels, ATMs and Points of Sale (POSs). We sell postpaid and prepaid services, fixed and mobile solutions and digital services to subscribers through our distribution network. The number of branded and semi-branded dealers, including corporate solution centers, totaled over 6,0005,450 sales points as of December 31, 2018.2019.

Digital transformation has continued at full speed in our retail channel. At the beginning of 2018, we completed the physical transformation of Turkcell stores and have been offering the latest technologies and digital services to customers since then. In addition, sophisticated store concepts reflecting customer trends were put into place at selected locations. As the most important step in digital transformation, strategic infrastructure investments were realized at the stores where physical transformation was completed. The first major change occurred in the supply chain model. As of 2018, the product catalog presented to our customers was centralized in all Turkcell stores. Thus, more advantageous purchasing options and high-quality standard products were in place in stores. Turkcell retail partners began to supply commercial products through digital catalogs. The performance indicators in the procurement processes of the products started to be monitored in a transparent manner and efficiency was ensured.

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With the experience gained from the transformation in exclusive Turkcell stores, thenon-branded sales channel structure has been completely renewed. Following the optimization of the distribution structure, Turkcell Sales Points started to operate under the name of Digital Points of Sales (“DPoS”). DPoS started to be available on tablets and with the help of digital signature technology, all printed documents were removed from the process and customer data started to be transported through Turkcell’s 4.5G network. DPoS have been differentiated from Turkcell Stores by focusing on the renewed interface and widespread availability of basic products and services.

As the final step in digital transformation, theThe Turkcell GO project was launched, which digitizeddigitizes the sales dialogue between our employees and our customers. ThanksThe sales platform of Turkcell GO presents the smart phones, tariffs and digital services to the customer with a customer based visual design, easy and meaningful way. GO sales screens are now simple, easyoffers personalized tariff model to understandthe customers and transparent. Store employees can look athelps to deliver a higher customer experience. Meanwhile GO also provides the sales screens with our customers, understand our customer’s needs with data and product information and easily offer the products according to these needs. GO, with its simple structure, has shortened the timeopportunity of instant training for new store employees to specialize and learn new products.employees.

Turkcell stores product portfolio has been enriched with new products such as SUPERBOX,Superbox, subscription to Digiturk and Paycell. In addition, more than 150 institutions200 institutions’ bills have become payable inat Turkcell stores.

The scope and prevalence of theIn 2019, we continued basic retail employee certificate program with a 94% success rate, which corresponds to the rate of the certified employees in the total store sales force. In addition to the basic program, we had launched in 2017, were expanded. The advanced certification program was launchedthe “Advanced Retail Certificate Program” for experienced store employees and approximately 300 passedin 2018. In 2019, our Advanced Retail Certificate Program has continued as a face-to-face training program in cooperationcollaboration with Marmara University.University, and is aimed at training our employees in retail sales.

Furthermore, we prepared a Finance Certificate Program in order to provide our store employees with finance expertise. A total of approximately 5,000 store employees successfully completed the training and qualified for the “Insurance Training Center” exams.

Ournon-branded dealer network provides us with a high penetration of Turkcell products and services in Turkey. Our 7Adding one more TDC to our ecosystem, our 8 TDC’s are aimed at enhancing our distribution effectiveness in thenon-branded channel and ensureensuring the timely and efficient distribution of Turkcell products and merchandising materials. They also facilitate the Turkcell brand and offer awareness in this competitive channel.

Alternative sales channels arere-designed under four main branches: Call center, Online Channel,online channel, which includes the company’s web site and the My AccountDigital Operator app,Non-Telco Sales non-telco sales and the Turkcell Flagship Store.

We offer our customers fast and safe access to our products and services 24/7 via Call Center,our call center, our web site (www.turkcell.com.tr) and the My AccountDigital Operator app. Our web site has been serving as a sales channel since 2012. Besides Turkcell’s digitalized products and services, we provide services for manyhave offers under other categories, including smartphones, tablets, computers, mobile accessories and home technologies. Another channel is ournon-telco channel (which consists of ATMs, Call Centers, internet branches of banks and chain stores) where we provide our customers with the opportunity to access Turkcell’s products easily and quickly. We also proactively reach our customers and satisfy their needs easily and safely when they need our products and services through our Telesalestelesales channel. Further, we also serve through our flagship store in Istanbul.

Alternative sales channels are the main channel for digital services sales. In 2019, 1.8 million units of TV+, lifebox, fizy products have been sold over alternative sales channels using big data in conjunction with our analytical models and machine learning.

All dealers are compensated based on the number of new subscribers they sign up and the level of such subscribers’ usage, as well as additional incentives based on their performance.

Sales ManagementOur sales management team develops strong relationships with dealers and promotes brand loyalty among dealersthem through a variety of support and incentive programs. Training programs aim to educate dealers’ personnel on the technical aspects of our products and services, as well as sales techniques to increase sales and enhance customer relations. Our specialized sales employees, who are obliged to obtain a certificate to be eligible to work inat the stores, serve around 200220 million visitors annually. The certification program for our employees is quite extensive and involves different stages. The program began in April 2016 and has been widened with the inclusion of online assessments. The program has been created with a view to improving employee experience and making Turkcell an attractive work place. The technological development projects, coupled with merchandising services,point-of-purchase (POP) materials digital display and channel specific campaigns, helps to support the sales efforts across all of our sales channels.

Corporate clients are managed in four different segments: Public Accounts, Strategic Accounts, Major Accounts, Small and Medium Sized Businesses Accounts. The first three segments’ customers are directly contacted by Turkcell’s Account Managers, while dealers and telesales teams manage the Small and Medium Sized Business segment.

The corporate segment services consist of four basic categories including mobile telecom, fixed telecom, data center and cloud and information technologies.

Within Turkcell’s sales teams, along with Telecom Services, Mobile Product and Solution Specialists, Fixed Product and Solution Specialists, Corporate Data Network, DC Cloud, Cyber Security Specialists and Professional

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Managed Services teams specialized in IT solutions cater to the corporate clients. In 2017, verticalVertical solution teams were formed to develop such solutions for eleveneight sectors including banking, retail, manufacturing, energy, local government, tourism, healthcare, education, IT/media, defensefinance, transportation and logistics. These teams aim to create cross industry solutions to serve the digital transformation of Turkcell’s corporate clients.

Turkcell also provides turnkey mobile and digital transformation and IT outsourcing projects for large corporations with the contribution of solution partners in Turkcell Satis ve Dijital Is Servisleri A.S.Satis.

b.Advertising

Turkcell has been on an exciting transformational journey towards becoming one of the world’s leading digital operators since 2015. We have worked tirelessly to evolve intopositioned itself as a digital services-focused experience provider and enrich our customers’ lives with ouroperator, providing a portfolio of digital services. Leveraging our network capabilities and the power of our 4.5G network, our services combine the best of the OTT world with the strongest capabilities of a converged telecom services operator, thus reaching what we believe to be higher standards of quality and customer experience.

Following the launch of 4.5G in Turkey in 2016, users began to increasingly rely on the Internet to meet their communication needs. This and our vision tothat add value to its customers’ daily life with our digital services through the 1,440 minutes in a day, we created our digital brand Lifecell which includes the tariffs that provide all communication and digital needs entirely through mobile data and digital services.

lives. We base our communication efforts on three pillars that underlieunderline our digital operator strategy. The first pillar comprises our four key assets that we believe ensure our position as the market leader: our integrated mobile and fixed communication technologies,infrastructure, the social responsibility projects that we undertake throughout the year, our brand perception; and the “firsts” we have marked in the Turkish market. The second pillar involves customer conversations which spring from various products and servicesfocuses on providing offers that target diverseare tailored to the needs of specifically identified customer segments.our customers through analyzing their behavior with enhanced AI features. The third pillar includes our digital services that connect our customers with what the digital world has to offer.

c.Customer and Experience Management

The key part of our customer and experience management strategy is to provide basic and premium services through several channels by thinking and acting in a customer-focused manner in line with market trends and Turkcell’s mobile and fixed solutions.manner. Our goal is to maintain a continuous relationship with our customers through fostering a high level of customer satisfaction. We continuously ask our customers how satisfied they are with the service they receive and for any suggestions through near real-time mobile surveys. We aim to achieve operational excellence throughout all customer touch points foracross every customer segment by continuously improving and simplifying processes and services. Customer feedback is the major input for Turkcell’s continuous process and journey improvement efforts.for improvement.

With respect to the provision of customer services we mainly work with our subsidiary Global Bilgi Pazarlama DanismanlıkDanismanlik ve Cagri Servisi Hizmetleri A.S. (“Turkcell Global Bilgi”). Turkcell Global Bilgi offers 24/7 contact center services at several sites. In 2018,2019, Turkcell Global Bilgi managed approximately 130113 million calls received through its interactive voice response system. Turkcell’s customer service strategies for contact centers are implemented by Turkcell Global Bilgi. We audit their operations along with monitoring whether customer services and customer satisfaction programs are executed in line with Turkcell’s customer strategies. Turkcell Global Bilgi also offers telesales and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) helpdesk services. Turkcell Global Bilgi’s success has been affirmed by a number of domestic and international awards in 2018. Turkcell Global Bilgi also offers telesales and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) helpdesk services.2019.

We have prioritized the “digitalization” of our customers. Accordingly, we have invested in our online self-service channels and aim for the migration of our customers on those channel. Thechannels.

Our primary online self-service channel, is our mobile application “Mythe Digital Operator app offers efficient solutions under “Digital Shop”, “Digital My Account” which was downloaded 37.3 million times and had 19.2 million3-month active users as of fourth quarter 2018. The app enables our customers to track their bills, usage and settings, change tariffs and maketop-ups to their plans and pay bills. Within“Digital Support” sections. Under the scope of convergence, both mobile and fixed customers can use “My Account”. In 2018, we have also enhanced our Omni channel activities like scheduling appointments for Turkcell stores, tracking requests and viewing SMS that are sent to/received from Turkcell. Additionally,Digital My Account section, our customers can contact us via online chat available oncomplete Turkcell related transactions such as paying bills and verifying their usage. Under “Digital Shop” section, the app offers Turkcell products according to customers’ usage habits as well as any device, accessory, application or package that is in our main website or through My Account. Weportfolio. Under “Digital Support”, we offer customer service solutions. The three-month active customers of the application reached 21.2 million.

Our customers can also use online chat applications to reach ourmanage their fixed internet subscriptions from the same Digital Operator application by switching between their accounts within the application. Nearly 300 thousand Turkcell Superonline customers proactively when they are stuck on our website or need assistance while buying a product. We have launched anAI-based chatbot called “Turkcell Assistant” instead of live chat agent. 75% of all chats regarding billing have been resolved by Turkcell Assistant without any agent involvement.make 2.7 million transactions monthly using the Digital Operator app.

For corporate customers, account managers are assigned for an exclusive service. An account manager serves as the single point of contact and provides solutions in response to customer needs. While we serve our corporate customers by categorizing them under four segments, we also support them throughe-mails, calls and dedicated back offices under

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the umbrella of our contact center. We have corporate customer representatives to support direct requests from our public accounts, strategic and major enterprises, medium businesses and/or to support indirect requests received through our account managers. In addition, for small businesses, we aim to meet faster and higher quality service standards by providing online solutions to support our sales teams with our “Field Support Desk”. Moreover, we have enriched our corporate application called “My Company” with the addition of new tariff and bill features.features, fast login and new campaigns to improve digital customer experience. In 2018, 1402019, 82 thousand companies have experienced the convenience and speed of doing self-service transactions for their corporate lines by using My Company app for an average of 12 million transactions monthly. In 2019, 230 million transactions were implemented over My Company’s web and mobile application platforms, which were used by 196 thousand companies.

Turkcell developed chat-based service channels, where customers can access us anytime and anywhere quickly and easily without connecting to the call center . Customers can also contact Turkcell via instant messaging to ask a question about their lines or our applications. In 2019, there were 1.6 million such chat sessions on average per month. With artificial intelligence based chatbot technology, Turkcell has increased the automation level of its instant chat-based services for its customers.

Turkcell connects with social media users 24/7 with a total of 80 million transactions.54 accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. We respond to nearly 165 thousand comments from 50 thousand social media users per month.

We conducted numerous projects to improve customer experience over IVR, a digital channel connecting Turkcell to its customers. We enabled customers to check their credit limits via IVR and complete their transactions over the digital channel without connecting to the call center. Turkcell can proactively provide customers who contact the call center with complaints regarding calling and internet experience with real-time solutions and offer location reset services.

Turkcell has been awarded thereceived ISO 10002 certificatecertification since 2011 and continuously renews its ISO 10002 certification every year inannually within the scope of design, installation, operation, sales, and after-sales services of global mobile communications within Turkcell functions. The latest certification ISO 10002: 2004 Quality Management-Customer Satisfaction-Complaints Handling Certificate was awardedreceived in 2018.2019.

Turkcell encourages all employees to embrace an “I’m here for my customer” approach and awareness. In this respect, Turkcell initiated the “Customer Action Transformation Program”. As part of this program, all Turkcell employees are expected to take decisions and design products and services with the aim of making customers feel safe, valuable and happy. As part of this program, we analyzed and interpreted a high level of customer feedback received through our call centers, social media channels as well as through chat and emails in 2019. Based on these analyses, we have determined areas of improvement and put an action plan in place.

IX. International and Domestic Subsidiaries

A component of our strategy is to grow or improve our business in our home market and in the international markets where we are already present. Continued strong operations in the countries in which we are currently present is important for us. We believe these operations offer growth opportunities and willwe expect them to provide additional value to usthe Group in the future.

While continued improvement of our current operations is a key priority, we will seek and evaluate the opportunities of being a digital operator by offering our portfolio of digital and financial services, both in Turkey and in international markets, and increasing their number of users.

Ukraine - Ukraine—lifecell

We acquired our interest in our subsidiary lifecell LLC (“lifecell”, formerly(formerly known as “LLC Astelit” or “Astelit” operating under the “life:)” brand) on April 2, 2004, by purchasing the entire share capital of Astelit’s parent, CJSC Digital Cellular Communications, (“DCC”), from its shareholders.

On July 10, 2015, we completed the acquisition of SCM’s 44.96% stake in our Netherlands-based subsidiary Euroasia Telecommunications Holding B.V, which owns 100% of LLC Astelit, and which merged with Lifecell Ventures Cooperatief U.A. in December 2016. The terms of the acquisition required a payment of $100 million as consideration for the acquisition, the payment of Astelit’s debts obtained through and with the guarantee of SCM Group, the termination of all guarantee agreements to which SCM Group iswas party and the release of SCM Group in this regard. In accordance with IFRS 10 “Consolidated Financial Statements”, the acquisition of the remaining 44.96% in Astelit for a total consideration of $100 million was considered an equity transaction and the deficit representing the difference between thenon-controlling interests was derecognized, andwhile the consideration paid for the acquisition of shares amounting to TRY 929 million was deducted from retained earnings in July 2015.

Following this transaction, Astelit’s borrowings obtained from and with the guarantee of SCM Group waswere repaid in July 2015. The Group converted a material portion of Astelit’s borrowings to equity and restructured Astelit’s remaining borrowings in order to mitigate the foreign exchange risks associated with borrowings denominated in foreign currency. Astelit’s capital was increased by $686 million (equivalent to TRY 1,995 million as of December 31, 2015) and Astelit obtained $66 million (equivalent to TRY 192 million as of December 31, 2015) subordinated loan directly from the Company in the third quarter of 2015. As of 31 December, 2018, the company utilized loans fully denominated in local currency of UAH 4.9 billion (equivalent to TRY 925 million as of December 31, 2018) under the guarantee of Turkcell.

After ten years of successful history in the industry, on January 15, 2016 Astelit announced a new stage of its development which started with large-scale rebranding into “lifecell”, and in connection therewith changed its legal name to “lifecell LLC” on February 2, 2016. Under the new brand identity

In April 2016, lifecell sold 811 towers to a subsidiary of Turkcell in Ukraine, UkrTower LLC (“UkrTower”), and with ongoing investments in 3G+ and 4G infrastructure and services,signed a tower lease agreement which allows lifecell will continue its presenceto leaseback these assets.

On July 7, 2017, Turkcell injected $74 million (equivalent to TRY 268 million) in the market, seekingcapital of lifecell. Funds were allocated for the repayment of the abovementioned subordinated loan. On July 10, 2017, lifecell repaid $72.8 million to become Ukraine’s top data operatorthe Company (equivalent to TRY 264 million): $66 million of principal and usher$6.8 million of interest.

On February 8, 2018, the capital of lifecell was increased again by $65 million (equivalent to TRY 259 million) in new possibilitiespreparation for the 4G license tender in Ukraine. The injection was executed in four tranches: $10 million on February 9, 2018, $30 million on February 14, 2018, $20 million on April 4, 2018 and $5 million on August 9, 2019.

On September 11, 2019, lifecell obtained a EUR 28 million (equivalent to TRY 175 million) subordinated loan directly from the country’s telecommunications landscape.Company. The proceeds were used for the reduction of the lifecell loan portfolio. As of 31 December, 2019, the company utilized loans fully denominated in local currency of UAH 4.2 billion (equivalent to TRY 1.0 billion as of December 31, 2019) under the guarantee of Turkcell.

As of December 31, 2018,2019, lifecell had 9.98.9 million registered subscribers. The majority of such subscribersthose were prepaid subscribers. lifecell’s three-month active subscribers had reached 7.37.4 million as of December 31, 2018.2019.

The company has beenis known in the market as one of the most dynamic and innovative ever since lifecellas it was the first to introduce a number of new technologies and products that had previously been unavailable toin the Ukrainian subscribers.mobile market. The company is highly motivated to keepsustain its innovation leadership in marketing and sales. There are 233were 265 exclusive lifecell branded shops in 107130 cities ofacross Ukraine as of December 31, 2018.2019. There are 10533 “facelifted” and 128 rebranded232 shops in full lifecell branding as of December 31, 2018.2019. In addition, customers can order lifecell services in 1,964 branded sales points and 24,978products are available at 28,000 other GSM andnon-GSM sales points throughout Ukraine. As of December 31, 2018,2019, lifecell provided roaming services in 198202 countries via 301590 roaming partners.

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As of December 31, 2018, lifecell provided services in all cities in Ukraine (excluding Crimeapartners and Sevastopol city) with a population of more than 2,000 inhabitants and in total more than 1,988 settlements nationally, and all principal intercity highways and roads. This corresponds to a coverage of approximately 92.19% of the population of Ukraine or 94.62% geographical coverage with 6,970 base stations. lifecell stopped recording revenues from Crimea and Sevastopol city starting from the end of September 2014 and impaired its assets in that region. Furthermore, in 2016 the operator has also ceased services and lost its revenue stream on the uncontrolled territories of Luhansk region and since February 2017 lifecell is unable to provide mobile services and stopped recording revenue on the disputed part of the Donetsk region. The company impaired its assets in the disputed part of Donetsk and Luhansk region in the fourth quarter of 2017. Cumulative capital expenditure for the development of lifecell’s coverage amounted to $2.2 billion as of December 31, 2018.eight satellite operators.

The Ukrainian telecommunications market is regulated by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (main state policy), the newly formed Ministry of Digital Transformation, the State Service of Special Communication Administration (“SSSC”) (technical policy aspects) and by the National Commission for the State Regulation of Communications and Informatization (“NCCIR”) controlled by the President of Ukraine and which carries out general telecommunication market regulation and inspection.

lifecell is dedicated to further development of innovations in the market. NCCIR held the 3G license tender on February 23, 2015. lifecell submitted a bid of UAH 3,355 million (equivalent to TRY 376 million as of March 19, 2015) and was awarded the first lot, which is the 1920-1935 / 2110-2125 MHz frequency band. In May 2015Furthermore, lifecell made paymentspaid a total of UAH 350886 million (equivalent to TRY 46 million as of May 8, 2015) and UAH 7 million (equivalent to TRY 1 million as of May 12, 2015) for the first installment of conversion of spectrum from military use. In April 2017, lifecell had made payment of UAH 299 million (equivalentuse in three installments between 2015 to TRY 40 million as of April 28, 2017) for the second installment of conversion. In October 2018 lifecell had made a payment of UAH 230 million (equivalent to TRY 45 million as of October 31, 2018) for the third installment of the conversion.

2018. After winning the tender, lifecell launched 3G services on June 4, 2015, becoming the first operator to offer a 3G+ network in Ukraine and asUkraine.

As of December 31, 2018 3G+ from2019, lifecell is availableprovides 3G services in all cities of Ukraine (excluding Crimea and Sevastopol city and uncontrolled territories of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions) with a population of over 2,000 inhabitants, and in total more than 7,789 towns and1,858 settlements innationwide. This corresponds to a coverage of approximately 93.42% of the population of Ukraine and in more than 1,213 Ukrainian towns and settlements lifecell is the only operator providing the third generation network services.or 95.54% geographical coverage with 7,087 base stations. As of December 2018,2019, lifecell has the widest 3G geographical coverage over the country based on its own calculations by using operators’ relevant disclosures. Inlifecell ceased recording revenues from Crimea and Sevastopil city as of the end of September 2014 and impaired its assets in that region. Furthermore, in 2016 the operator has also discontinued services in and lost its revenue stream from the uncontrolled territories of Luhansk region and since February 2017 lifecell has been unable to provide mobile services and ceased recording revenue in the disputed part of the Donetsk region. The company becameimpaired its assets in the 3G speed leader accordingdisputed part of the Donetsk and Luhansk region in the fourth quarter of 2017. Cumulative capital expenditure for the development of lifecell’s coverage amounted to the OOKLA speed test. 3G+ services on the lifecell network can be used by 3.4 million Ukrainians$2.3 billion as of December 31, 2018. As of December 2018, lifecell is a leader of smartphone penetration with 75% on its high-speed 3G+ network in the Ukrainian telecommunication market.2019.

NCCIR held the 4G license tenders for the 2600 MHz band on January 23, 2018 and for the 1800 MHz band on February 26, 2018. Lifecelllifecell was awarded 4G licenses for 15 years, at a cost of UAH 909 million (equivalent to TRY 173 million as of December 31, 2018), and UAH 795 million (equivalent to TRY 151 million as of December 31, 2018) for the 15 MHz in each frequency band, the latter of which was paid in April 2018. In February 2018 lifecell made payments of UAH 187 million (equivalent to TRY 36 million as of December 31, 2018) to PrJSC VF Ukraine, and in May 2018, UAH 19 million (equivalent to TRY 4 million as of December 31, 2018) to JSC Kyivstar for the installment ofand conversion of spectrum from operators use.

After winning the tenders, lifecell launched 4G services in the 2600 MHz band on March 30, 2018 and in the 1,8001800 MHz band on July 1, 2018, becoming the first operator to offer 4.5G services in Ukraine nationwide.

As of December 31, 20182019, 4.5G from lifecell is available in more than 2,014over 3,857 towns and settlements in Ukraine, andwhile in more than 609643 Ukrainian towns and settlements lifecell is the only operator providing fourth generation4G network services. As of December 2019, lifecell is a leader in terms of smartphone penetration with 80.1% of the Ukrainian telecommunication market.

In line with the Turkcell Group’s digital services strategy, in 2017, the companylifecell launched a number of unique digital services. lifecell was the first mobile operator to launch the cloud application “lifebox”,lifebox, the Ukrainian radio application “fizy”,fizy, the Ukrainian online magazines application “lifecell Magazines”,lifecell Magazines, the sports dedicated application “LifeSport”LifeSport offering no data consuming packages for video, social networks and digital communication. All these digital services are also available forto the users of other telecom operators. In response to the need of the Ukrainian market for cardless and cashless payment services, lifecell introduced its online money transfer tool available online. As of August 2017, Paycell LLC has been incorporated as a subsidiary of lifecell in order to operate as a financial institution and perform loan granting, leasing, money transfer and e-money services. Licenses for leasing and loan granting has been obtained as of October 2017, and licenses for e-money and local currency transfers have been obtained in September and October 2018, respectively.

lifecell is continuously focused on company security (tools, processes, people) and investment in security infrastructure. In January 2017, lifecell’s Corporate Security Department developed Emergency Notification System (“ENS”). ENS is a cloud-based solution serving as a tool for instant emergency alerts and mass notification of a certain target audiencesaudience via voice messages, SMS ande-mail. The solution was applied by lifecell during the massive global cyber-attack on theof June 27, 2017. Theso-called Petya malware affected major companies and critical infrastructure in the country. However, it did not have a major impact on lifecell’s business continuity due to immediate reaction of the

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company’s security team and real-time alerts sent to the lifecell employees. In September 2017, the company signed a Memorandum for cooperating with the Department of Cyber police of the National Police of Ukraine and grantedUkraine. lifecell provided the cyber-police with the license for ENS which helpsemployment that helped the Ukrainian government in creatingto create an environment that is resistant to IT security attacks and coordinate the actions of people in case of emergency.

Mobile Number Portability (MNP) had been introduced to Ukrainian customers in May 2019, after almost 10 years of postponing. The company was also the first among all operators providing its subscribers with a free online registration procedure enabled via BankID.

Demonstrating the advantages of the LTE based solutions, lifecell deployed the first segment of NB-IoT networks in 2019, running successful pilot projects with public and private companies working in the energy sector. Together with its partner, lifecell also built LoRaWAN networks covering Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Odessa, Dniproas well as other settlement (in total more than 34), that had been successfully used as a platform to deliver smart solutions to some retailers, developers, energy and agriculture companies.

In 2018 NCCIR approved an MTR decrease from UAH 0.15May 2019, lifecell and Ericsson Ukraine deployed the first 5G network demo segment and presented its advanced capabilities at the Sweden-Ukraine Business Forum in Kyiv. The speed test was attended by state representatives, regulators and the media, and reached 25.6 Gbps download throughput using spectrum in the ultra-high frequency band of 28 GHz.

lifecell also introduced the first “digital kiosks” to UAH 0.12 per minute starting from January 1, 2019. Lifecell would benefit fromthe market in 2019, set up in some major shopping malls in Kyiv, that allowed customers to purchase SIM cards at any time of the day.

On October 29, 2019, lifecell and three other leading mobile operators signed a further decreaseMemorandum of MTR rates alongUnderstanding with the introductionUkrainian Government to reorganize radio-frequency resources to the 900 MHz band. It will ensure maximum coverage of asymmetrythe entire territory of Ukraine with 4G mobile communication, including rural areas and main roads. Accordingly, in March 2020, lifecell’s 900 MHz frequency band has been increased from 3.8 MHz to reflect5.6 MHz. These frequencies, which are currently being used for 2G services, will also be utilized for 4G services. Ukraine’s National Telecommunications Authority opted not to hold a tender process and the

license fee for lifecell was determined as UAH 121,176,000 (equivalent to US$ 4.6 million as of March 19, 2020, the payment date). The license fee has been fully paid. The respective license will be effective as of July 1, 2020 for five years.

In line with global tech trends, lifecell was the first operator cost ifamong the regulator decides«big three» in Ukraine to do solaunch eSIM in November 2019. Earlier, lifecell had strengthened its portfolio of digital services with MobileID that became available for Ukrainian business customers.

Elevating its customers’ digital experience, lifecell launched public transportation SMS-ticket in four large Ukrainian cities with plans to expand this service to other regions.

In December 2019, lifecell became the sole operator to have launched 3G/4G in the coming years. Such a change would likely stimulate competitionDnipro Metro, in Ukraine’s fourth largest city, in the Ukrainian market, reducing the competitive barrier.test mode.

The MNP Procedure and Technical Requirements have been drafted with the involvement of operators and adopted by state authorities back in 2015. Tender for an MNP solution provider occurred on January 25, 2016. MNP was not launched in 2016 because the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) annulled the result of the initial MNP tender. There had been several claims to the court which were successfully resolved in spring 2018. In 2017 the NCCIR adopted a new Registration Procedure which allows remote ways of identification and will facilitate“donor-led approach”, where the registration is provided by donor within the MNP Procedure. New Registration Procedure came into force on December 13, 2018. The MNP introduction, which is expected to create a more competitive and transparent telecommunication market in Ukraine, is officially announced by NCCIR to begin on May 1, 2019.

In April 2016, lifecell LLC sold 811 towers to a subsidiary of Turkcell in Ukraine, Ukrtower LLC, and signed a tower lease agreement which allows lifecell to leaseback these assets.

As of August 2017, Paycell LLC has been incorporated as a subsidiary of lifecell LLC in order to operate as a financial institution and perform loan granting, leasing, money transfer ande-money services. Licenses for leasing and loan granting has been obtained as of October 2017, and licences fore-money and local currency transfers have been obtained in September and October 2018, respectively.

Belarusian Telecom

On July 29, 2008, Beltel Telekomunikasyon Hizmetleri A.S. (“Beltel”) signed a share purchase agreement to acquire an 80% stake in CJSC “Belarusian Telecommunication Network” (“Belarusian Telecom”),Telecom, which provides services using GSM and UMTS technologies, for a consideration of $500 million. On August 26, 2008, control of Belarusian Telecom was acquired from Belarus’ State Committee on Property and $300 million of the total consideration was paid. An additional $100 million was paid in December 2009 and anothera further $100 million was paid in December 2010. An additional payment of $100 million will be made to the seller whenin instalments contingent of the financial performance of Belarusian Telecom records a full-year positive net income for the first time.Telecom. For more information, see Note 2728 (Othernon-current liabilities) to our Consolidated Financial Statements.

AtAs at December 31, 2018,2019, Belarusian Telecom had 1.5 million registered subscribers, the majority of which were prepaid, Belarusian Telecom’sand its three-month active subscribers reached 1.21.1 million as of December 31, 2018.2019. Belarusian Telecom had 150is the leader of Mobile Number Portability in Belarus in terms of number of port-in subscribers’ count. Belarusian Telecom has 10 own stores, 140 exclusive and more than 300320 non-exclusive sales points and the sales from online store continuously increases with the growing customer demand through online channels.demand.

AtAs at December 31, 2018,2019, Belarusian Telecom operated 2G and 3G services in all cities with a population of more than 10,000, and provided 2G services on all principal intercity highways and roads of the Republic of Belarus, which corresponds to coverage of approximately 99.9% of the entire population of Belarus, or 97.7% geographical coverage. BelarusBelarusian Telecom has also launchedoffers 4G service in August 2016 on LTE infrastructure established by JLLC Belarusian Cloud Technologies (“beCloud”) and provides 4G services throughout the country in 182around 190 cities, towns or settlements as of December 31, 2018.2019. In Belarus, the only LTE license is owned by beCloud at current and beCloud is the only infrastructure provider for LTE services. Availability of 4G services to our customers has improved the quality of data services and customer experience in using data services. Belarusian Telecom’s data subscribers reached 700 thousand asexperience. As of December 31, 2018.2019, the share of 4G subscribers in the three-month active subscribers segment reached 54.6%, fostering mobile data consumption and digital services usage.

Belarusian Telecom has a wide range of products in its portfolio, which consists of voice and data products, terminal offers and an enriched digital services portfolio. BiP, fizy, lifebox, Magazines, TV+ and Games Platform are the main services in the digital services portfolio. In January 2019, Belarusian Telecom launched a digital tariff plan “Play” which is a unique offer in the market, combining all digital services in a single package.

In line with our strategic priority of improving our balance sheet structure, we have restructured the debt of Belarusian Telecom in 2015. As part of the restructuring, Belarusian Telecom’s total existing intra-group loans were converted into a subordinated loan, provided directly by Turkcell. Following the restructuring, Belarusian Telecom’s debt iswas EUR 612 million subordinated loan. On April 1, 2019, this EUR nominated subordinated loan was converted to the local currency amounting to BYN 1.46 billion (equivalent to TRY 3.74.1 billion as of December 31, 2018)2019) is owed to Turkcell as of December 31, 2018.2019.

As of February 1, 2012, Mobile Number Portability was launched with a donor-initiated mechanism where subscribers who want to port their numbers had to apply to their existing operator, which was in favor of the dominant market players. In April 2014, the mobile number portability procedure was revised to a recipient-initiated mechanism. Popularity of the mobile number portability service has increased with the revision of the procedure. Belarusian Telecom is the leader of Mobile Number Portability in Belarus in terms of number ofport-in subscribers’ count.

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In Belarus, the lack of pricing regulations in the wholesale and retail mobile markets to prevent dominant operators’ abusive pricing practices continued to have an adverse impact on our business. We continue to hold discussions with authorities for the implementation such regulations.

Belarus –

Lifetech LLC

Lifetech LLC (“Lifetech”), which is a subsidiary of Turkcell Group, was established in 2012. It is 99.9% owned by Belarusian Telecom and has more than 200around 160 professionals located in Belarus. Lifetech LLC provides a full cycle of software development services and develops custom and platform-based solutions to its clients located in Belarus, Turkey, the Netherlands, the Russian Federation and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Kuzey Kibris Turkcell In April 2019, Lifetech became a member of High-Technology Park of the Belarus.

Kibris Mobile Telekomunikasyon Limited (“Kuzey Telekom

Kibris Turkcell”),Telekom, a 100% owned subsidiary of Turkcell, was established in 1999 in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. As of December 31, 2018, Kuzey2019, Kibris TurkcellTelekom had 0.5 million registered subscribers.

On April 27, 2007, Kuzey Kibris TurkcellTelekom signed a license agreement for the installation and operation of a digital, cellular and mobile telecommunication system with the Ministry of CommunicationsPublic Works and Public WorksTransportation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The license agreement became effective on August 1, 2007 and replaced the previousGSM-Mobile Telephony System Agreement dated March 25, 1999, which was based on revenue-sharing terms. The new license agreement granted a GSM 900, GSM 1800 and IMT 2000/UMTS license, for GSM 900 and GSM 1800 frequencies, while the usage of IMT 2000/UMTS frequency bands was subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions.licenses. The license agreement is valid for 18 years from the date of signing. The license fee was $30 million including VAT and financed by Kuzey Kibris TurkcellTelekom through internal and external funds.

On March 14, 2008, Kuzey Kibris TurkcellTelekom was awarded a 3G (IMT 2000/UMTS) infrastructure license at a cost of $10 million including VAT, which was paid at the end of March 2008.

In the third quarter of 2010, Kuzey2012, Kibris Turkcell completed and began operating the radio transmission (airlink) project providing direct international voice and data connection to the mainland.

In 2012, Kuzey Kibris TurkcellTelekom acquired Internet Service Provider and Infrastructureinfrastructure establishment and operation licenses. Kuzey Kibris TurkcellTelekom applied for a right of way to major municipalities and the Ministry of Transportation in order to establish a national fiber optic infrastructure. On January 24, 2014, a protocol was signed between Kuzey Kibris TurkcellTelekom and the Ministry of Transportation was signed for the right of way for highway sides. In the fourth quarter of 2017, Lifecell Digital Ltd. has been incorporated in order to operate as an Internet Service Provider company and offer converged telecom services. Lifecell Digital Ltd. also acquired an infrastructure license in December 2018.highways. Total fiber optic infrastructure implementation is at 69 kilometers by the end of 2018.2019.

The National Regulatory Authority started to decrease mobile termination rates gradually in July 2014 over a year; with around a 71% decline in total, from TRY 0.10 to TRY 0.03. The rates were then increased by 62% to TRY 0.05 in August 2019.

The Ministry of Transportation reduced the call charges 41% foroff-net calls as of January 1, 2015. These price regulations had a substantial adverse effect on our business. According to the requirements of Electronic Communications Law, prepaid lines were registered. In addition, technical infrastructureregistered in 2015. On May 7, 2019, an amendment was completedmade to the Electronic Communications Law making signed contracts obligatory for IMEI registrations. The registration of IMEI numbers continue since early 2016.prepaid subscribers.

At the end of 2016, for the first time in the communication industry, Turkcell launched its digital brand Lifecell in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, providing all itsoffering services only through internet basedinternet-based digital services. AsIn the fourth quarter of 2017, Lifecell Digital Ltd. (“Lifecell Digital”) was incorporated in order to operate as an Internet Service Provider company and offer converged telecom services. Lifecell Digital also acquired an infrastructure license in December 31, 2018 lifecell subscribers have 80% more ARPU when compared to other subscribers.2018.

As of January 22, 2018 mobile number portability (“MNP”) hashad come into effect in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

The interoperability of mobile phones across the island officially began on July 11, 2019. This was a very important confidence building measure and marked a historic moment for the island. Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, travelling to both sides of Cyprus, had been losing their connection prior to the implementation of this measure.

Turkcell Europe GmbH

Turkcell Europe GmbH (“Turkcell Europe”) was founded by Turkcell in 2010 as an MVNO providing service over theT-Mobile (Deutsche Telekom AG) network. Headquartered in Cologne, Germany, Turkcell Europe commenced activity in March 2011.

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Until the end of 2014, Turkcell Europe continued its operation as aan MVNO and offered Turkcell’s service quality across both Germany and Turkey. In order to increase the efficiency of our operations in Germany, we

made changes to the business model in 2014 from a “wholesale traffic purchase” agreement to a “marketing partnership”. The Marketing Partnership agreement between Turkcell Europe and aTelekom Deutschland Multibrand GmbH, the subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom was signed on August 27, 2014, which involved the transfer of Turkcell Europe subscribers and operations to a Deutsche Telekom subsidiary as of January 15, 2015. The contract has been renewed on December 12, 2017 and remains in effect. Turkcell and Deutsche Telekom have agreed to rebrand Turkcell Europe into the “lifecell” brand. Going forward Turkcell aimsThis marketing partnership will end on April 30, 2020 pursuant to offer its digital services also in the German market. respective agreement.

As of December 31, 2018,2019, Turkcell Europe had 190,751170 thousand registered subscribers.

Financell B.V.

Financell B.V. was incorporated under Turkcell Europe’s revenue contribution to the laws of the NetherlandsTurkcell Group amounted to TRY 2.2 million in 2007 and had its registered address in the Netherlands. Financell borrowed funds from third party lenders with or without a Turkcell guarantee to fund other Turkcell subsidiaries. Due to other available options for funding the subsidiaries, the Board of Directors of Turkcell resolved to liquidate Financell B.V. on December 21, 2016 and liquidation was completed as of August 14, 2018.2019.

Turkcell Global Bilgi

On October 1, 1999, Turkcell Global Bilgi Pazarlama Danismanlik ve Cagri Servisi Hizmetleri A.S. (formerly known as Global Bilgi Pazarlama Danisma ve Cagri Servisi Hizmetleri A.S.) (“Turkcell Global Bilgi”) was established in order to provide telemarketing, telesales, and call center services, particularly for Turkcell Group. In 2005, Turkcell Global Bilgi completed its transition from call center to contact center as Turkcell Global Bilgi started to manage customer contacts at every channel. Since then, in addition to providing services to Turkcell, Turkcell Global Bilgi started offering customer care services to companies in finance,banking, retail, e-commerce, insurance, energy, public sector and the airline industry. In 2016, Turkcell Global Bilgi announced its presence as a “Customer Experience Solution Center”. By completing its business model transition from Customer Carecustomer care to Customer Experience,customer experience, Turkcell Global Bilgi started to analyze customer experiences deeper, and gained againing vast experience. As ofexperience in the process. On August 4, 2017 Turkcell Global Bilgi has obtained an R&D center certificate from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Industry. As of December 31, 2018,2019, Turkcell Global Bilgi employed 12,034had 13,840 employees, 57% of whom approximately 64% provide Turkcell with customer carethese employees serve Turkcell’s customers and retention services, around 27%36% serve the customers of other clients, and while the remainder works as administrative personnel. Turkcell owns approximately 100% of Turkcell Global Bilgi.

Since 2008, Turkcell Global Bilgi owns a 100% share ofstake in Global Bilgi LLC, since 2008, which operates in Ukraine and provides telesales and call center services.services to lifecell and many other companies in the Ukrainian, Russian and English languages at six locations with 728 employees.

Inteltek Internet Teknoloji Yatirim ve Danismanlik Ticaret A.S.

Inteltek Internet Teknoloji Yatirim ve Danismanlik Ticaret A.S. (“Inteltek”) offers information and entertainment services. Turkcell holds 55% of Inteltek through its wholly ownedwholly-owned subsidiary Turktell Bilisim Servisleri A.S. (“Turktell”), while Intralot S.A. Integrated Lottery System and Services, a Greek company, holds 20% and Intralot Iberia Holdings S.A., a Spanish company, holds 25%.

Inteltek has entered into a contract on August 29, 2008 with Spor Toto Teskilat Baskanligi (“Spor Toto Directorate”) in order to runoperate a sports betting business for ten years.a ten-year period. In addition to the foregoing, Inteltek signed a mobile betting dealer agreement with Spor Toto on January 12, 2010, which gives it the right to operate 1,000 mobile terminals. On August 29, 2018, on the day its licence ended, Inteltek signed a new agreement with Spor Toto Directorate for up to one year, or up until a new license is tendered out. This contract, based on a specific Turkish legislation relating to gaming enacted in 2008, was entered into following numerous legal challenges to prior contracts.tendered.

On November 15, 2018, İnteltekInteltek agreed to sell its 51% owned-owned subsidiary Azerinteltek QSC (“Azerinteltek”) to Baltech Investment LLC (“Baltech”), a shareholder of Azerinteltek with a 24.5% shareholding. The transaction was completed on January 11, 2019 for a total consideration of EUR 19.5 million.

On November 27, 2018, Spor Toto Directorate held the Tender Forfor Procurement Ofof Fixed Odds Andand Pari-Mutuel Betting Based Onon Sports Competitions Byby Procurement Of Theof the Same By Legal Persons Ofof Private Law (the “Tender”“Spor Toto Tender”). Shortly after, Spor Toto announced the cancellation of the Tender whereHowever Inteltek was the only bidder.sole bidder, and consequently the Spor Toto Tender was cancelled. On February 13, 2019, Spor Toto Directorate held the Super Toto Tender once again andwhereafter Inteltek has beenwas notified that the tender wasSpor Toto Tender had been awarded to the other bidder. Following a transition period of up to six months, Inteltek’s operations in sports betting will cease. Inteltek may consider exercising its rights stemming from the law within the respective time frame with respect to the tender process. Unless our legal challenge proves successful or there is a new tender, we expect that Inteltek will cease its activitiesceased in August 2019.

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The respective revenues comprised approximately 1% of our 20182019 consolidated revenues while 2019 contributionrevenues.

Our Company’s subsidiaries Turktell, Turkcell Global Bilgi and Turkcell Satis signed a binding term sheet on January 14, 2020 to transfer their total shareholding of 55% in Inteltek, including all rights and liabilities, to the other shareholder of Inteltek, Intralot Iberia Holding SAU. The respective transaction is anticipatedexpected to be lower considering our ongoing contract and the transfer process.

In 2017, Inteltek entered the digital gaming sector by developing a gaming platform for Turkcell’s BiP application. Inteltek has launched the kids-oriented gaming platform “Playcell” andcompleted within the first board game app “Backgammon Go” tohalf of 2020, once the Turkish market in 2018. In 2018, over 18 million users visited Playcell;final share sale and purchase agreement is signed and necessary legal approvals are obtained. The final value of the BiP gaming platform had 4.8 million unique visitorstransaction will be determined based on the IFRS net book value of Inteltek and more than 240 thousand users downloaded Backgammon Go. Inteltek will focusno material impact is expected on growing its presence in the attractive gaming market.our financial statements.

Turkcell Superonline

Turkcell Superonline Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. (“Turkcell Superonline”) has a fixeda-fixed telephony services authorization, which allows the company to provide call origination and termination for consumers and corporations, as well as wholesale voice carrying services. It also has authorization to provide satellite communication services, infrastructure operating services, internet services and wired broadcasting services, and mobile virtual network operating services. Currently, the company carries the majority of Turkcell’s traffic, previously carried by Turk Telekom (the incumbent operator). Turkcell Superonline was founded in 2009 through the merger of our subsidiary Tellcom with the Superonline business acquired from the Cukurova Group.

Established to beas an innovative telecom service operator, and with its extensive international connectivity, Turkcell Superonline offers its international and national clients wholesale voice termination, international leased data lines, internet access, telehouse and infrastructure services. Furthermore, Turkcell Superonline is active in the retail broadband market, bringing fiber optics to residences. Turkcell Superonline provides fast communication technology with its own fiber optic infrastructure in Turkey and provides telecommunication solutions to individuals and corporations in the areas of voice, data and TV.

Turkcell Superonline is a telecom operator providing fixed network communication solutions to telecom operators, corporations and households in the areas of data, voice and video. Bringing one of the world’s fastest internet services to Turkey through cooperation with major international operators, we carry on investingcontinue to invest in order to transform the “Silk Road” into a “Fiber Road” by expanding our own infrastructure across Turkey with a fiber network stretching to every corner of the country. We believe that the group synergy arising from being a 100% subsidiary of Turkcell Group, along with our top quality services and our goals stated goals above sets Turkcell Superonline as a worthy candidate to become “thethe most preferred service provider of choice”.choice.

We believe that Turkcell Superonline differentiates itself through its commitment to the quality of after-sale services. Turkcell Superonline supplies corporations with industry-leading service-level agreements utilizing its professional technical support personnel and highly qualified team of consultants. Turkcell Superonline has been awarded the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System Certificate from Bureau Veritas. Turkcell Superonline aims to become one of the “leading innovative telecommunications operators” in Turkey and it intends to continue to seize opportunities in the internet and telecommunications markets.

Turkcell Superonline won the tenders of BOTAS, Turkey’s state-owned pipeline company, and TEIAS, Turkey’s state ownedstate-owned electric power transmission company, for the indefeasible right to use the capacity of the fiber optic cables already installed by BOTAS for 15 years in 2009 and TEIAS for 15 years in 2017, including the right to install additional fiber optic cables and the right to use the capacity of these fiber optic cables during the same period. These transactions have been considered both considered as a finance lease as the lease term is for the major part of the remaining useful life of the fiber optic cables already installed by BOTAS, and Turkcell Superonline made a significant investment during the initial period of the lease agreement which is an indicator that the transaction is a finance lease. The recognized cost of the indefeasible right of use as of December 31, 20182019 is TRY 118.0 million (December 31, 2017: TRY 113 million).118 million.

Turkcell Superonline began to provide 1000 Mbps service to homes in May 2011 for the first time in Turkey in line with the Turkcell Group’s strategy to provideof providing state-of-the-art technology for its customers withtop-quality service. Turkcell Superonline has rendered Turkey as one of the first five countries in the world where a 1000 Mbps connection is provided to homes thanks to this service option. As of February 2018, Turkcell SuperolineSuperonline started to offer 10 Gbps connections on a demand basis.

On March 7, 2013, Turkcell Superonline signed a share purchase agreement to acquire a 100% stake in Deksarnet Telekomunikasyon A.S. (“Deksarnet”) which is an affiliate of Vestel Elektronik San. ve Tic. A.S. Group. In July 2013, the control over Deksarnet was acquired from Vestel Elektronik San. ve Tic. A.S. Group for a consideration of TRY 3.4 million. Turkcell Superonline and Deksarnet merged on December 3, 2013.

On January 31, 2014, Turkcell Superonline signed a share purchase agreement to acquire a 100% stake in Metronet Iletisim Teknoloji A.S. (“Metronet”). In April 2014, the control over Metronet was acquired from Es Mali Yatirim ve Danismanlik A.S. for a consideration of TRY 27 million. Turkcell Superonline and Metronet merged on July 4, 2014. With this acquisition, Turkcell Superonline’s fiberin-city coverage increased to 14 cities, up from 12 at the time.

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Turkcell Superonline merged with Turkcell Interaktif Dijital Platform Icerik Hizmetleri A.S. on December 28, 2016 (“Turkcell Interaktif”). Following the merger, Turkcell Interaktif was deregistered from Istanbul Trade Registry.

As of December 31, 2018,2019, Turkcell Superonline has 43.346,035 thousand km of fiber backbone covering 7981 major cities in Turkey and has 8 border crossings. Turkcell Superonline has fiberin-city coverage in 21 cities and increased its homepasses to around 3.43.6 million as of December 31, 20182019 from around 3.13.4 million a year ago. Including partnership engagements, we are capable of covering 6.446.7 million households in 28 cities. We have five border crossings to Europe, offering various diversity options to important European cities through protected and completely diverse routes. With our stable fiber infrastructure and six border crossings to the East, we offer

capacity services through Middle-East, CIS and Asia. Our next generation network designed over this strong infrastructure enables us to deliver high quality solutions to telecom operators, multinational and national private corporations and the governmental institutions.

Turkcell Superonline is building and putting into motion its domestic wholesale business strategy as well providing wholesale products such as bit stream access via its FTTx fiber coverage, infrastructure services, backbone transmission, Ethernet, IP transit capacities, cyber security and VPN services to operators, service providers and datacenter companies in the Turkish domestic market.

Turkcell Superonline is leading the localization strategy for Turkey’s data and internet traffic by developing partnerships with internet exchange platforms,Tier-1 operators, global/local content and cloud service providers to enable direct access to all networks, and also commercializing the internet traffic. Turkcell Superonline aims to continue to invest in and expand its own fiber optic network and further utilize the group synergy created with Turkcell.

On December 18, 2017, the Turkcell Board of Directors approved the issuance of management agreement based lease certificates (wakala sukuk) in accordance with capital markets legislation by Turkcell Superonline through an asset leasing company in the domestic market, for an amount of up to TRY 300 million, up to12-month tenor, on various dates and at various amounts without public offering, as private placement and/or to be sold to institutional investors. On January 19, 2018, application for the approval of the issue programme for lease certificates was made to the Capital Markets Board, and thewith approval wasbeing obtained on March 1, 2018. The first issue of TRY 125 million with a6-month tenor was made in March 22, 2018 and matured on September 13, 2018. It was followed by the second issue of TRY 75 million on December 13, 2018 with103-day tenor and the third issue of TRY 100 million on February 13, 2019 with121-day tenor, which concluded the issue programme under the CMB approval. On February 1, 2019, the Turkcell Board of Directors approved a new resolution to allow Turkcell Superonline to issue lease certificates for an amount of up to TRY 500 million under the same above conditions.conditions above. Three issuances of TRY 400 million in total were made out from this resolution, and the outstanding (lease certificate) amount is TRY 175 million as at March 20, 2020. On March 24, 2020, the Turkcell Superonline may continue to raise local currency funding throughBoard of Directors approved the issuance of lease certificates by Turkcell Superonline through an asset leasing company based in Turkey. The issuance in the amount of up to TRY 600 million must be made in Turkish Lira terms with maturities of up to 12 months, and be offered in the domestic market.market, in one or more tranches, through private placements and/or sales to institutional investors without a public offering.

JCR Eurasia Rating has evaluated Turkcell Superonline in an investment-level category on the national and international scales and assigned the ratings on the Long TermLong-Term National Scale as ‘AA (Trk)’ and the Short TermShort-Term National Scale as‘A-1+ ‘A-1+ (Trk)’ with ‘Stable’ outlooks on May 29, 2018.17, 2019.

Global Tower

Kule Hizmet ve Isletmecilik A.S., (“Global Tower”)Tower was established in 2006 as a 100% subsidiary of Turkcell and commenced its operations in 2007 to provide infrastructure management by leasing places on towers to private and public entities and institutions. It is the first and only tower company in Turkey and fifth largest tower company in Europe. In addition to Turkey, it has operations in Ukraine, Belarus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Today, it serves not only Mobile Network Operators (“MNO”)mobile network operators but also broadcasting, ISPs,ISPS, energy, public institutions and other related industries. Its 100% owned-owned subsidiary in Ukraine, UkrTower, LLC, was founded in 2009 and its 100% owned-owned subsidiary in Belarus, Beltower LLC (“Beltower”), was founded in 2016. Beltower has a right of use agreement signed with Belarusian Telecom.

Global Tower operates a unique portfolio of 10,58110,726 towers, 8,5018,636 of which are located in Turkey. Global Tower owns 1,1321,141 towers in Ukraine and operates 833834 towers in Belarus, as well as 115 towers in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus with right of use, through agreements with the tower owners to sublease them to third parties though revenue share agreements. An assessment process for a potential sale and lease-back arrangement relating to the remaining towers in Belarus is currently ongoing. Global Tower also provides service over 100150 mobile towers. Global Tower provides fast and high-quality service to its customers in collaboration with its business partners.

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In Turkey, Global Tower manages the processes of renting, maintaining and installing towers in 1115 structured regions with its 54 solution partnerships.partnerships and 3 installation subcontractors. With this structure, the distance between any two service points in Turkey is less than 90 km.

Global Tower helps customers expand their network, enables peer-to-peer telecommunications and it provides broadcasting field infrastructure solutions, turnkey setup services and professional operation-maintenance services. With its project management, field rental, construction works, telecommunications equipment setup andready-for use field delivery solutions, it helps private and public institutions reach more customers.

Global Tower’s wide service range consists of:

 

Shared infrastructure services in tower/rooftop/in house fields

 

TV-Radio infrastructure solutions

 

E2E and wind power infrastructure solutions

 

M2M / Scada / Telemetry Infrastructure Solutions

 

GSM-R Solutions

 

Mini Data Centre Infrastructure Solutions

 

Mobile Tower Solutions

 

Acclimatized System Room Solutions

 

Energy infrastructure solutions

 

Hybrid Systems Solutions (Solar / Wind)

 

Infrastructure Maintenance and Operation Services

 

Field Acquisition and Contract Management Services

 

Satellite telecommunication solutions and services

The Turkcell Board of Directors decided to initiate an initial public offering (“IPO”) of Global Tower’s shares in June 2016. However, due to adverse macroeconomic conditions in the markets, the IPO has been postponed. We are evaluating the IPO option for the coming periods if and when the financial market conditions become favorable.

On March 24, 2020, the Turkcell Board of Directors approved the issuance of lease certificates by Global Tower through an asset leasing company based in Turkey. The issuance of up to TRY 300 million must be made in Turkish Lira terms, with maturities up to 12 months, and be offered in the domestic market in one or more tranches as private placement and/or sold to institutional investors with no public offering.

Turkcell Teknoloji Arastirma ve Gelistirme A.S.

Turkcell Teknoloji Arastirma ve Gelistirme A.S (“Turkcell Teknoloji”), a wholly ownedwholly-owned subsidiary of Turkcell, commenced operations in 2007 in the TUBITAK Marmara Research Center Technological Free Zone in Kocaeli, Turkey. In 2015, Turkcell Teknoloji consolidated its operations inat Kucukyali Technology Plaza, Maltepe, Istanbul, Turkey.

Turkcell Teknoloji’s R&D center employs more than 800over 900 researchers who have been accredited by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Industry. Turkcell Teknoloji’s established team of experts develops a wide range of convenient and reliable solutions with innovative roadmaps. Through integrated intelligence and high-performance core capabilities, (Data Analytics and artificial intelligence,Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Network Technologies, IoT, VR/AR), Turkcell Teknoloji’s comprehensive portfolio addresses the following domains: digital services, location-basedmobile communication solutions, smart cloud platform and platform developed solutions, location based services and platforms, security, roaming solutions, blockchain software life cycle, artificial intelligencegeographic information systems, network management solutions, 5G infrastructure projects, customer relationship management and solutions, next generation value added services, music and entertainment services, IPTV services, mobile marketing solutions, mobile financial systems, campaign management systems, IoT, AR / VR, big data processing, business intelligence applications, CRMsmart SIM card solutions, networkdigital identity technologies, financialimage video processing, text analysis , suggestion engines, voice analytics, robot assistants, robotics process automation, mobile analytical platform, artificial intelligence in health, learning and education applications solutions, cloudE-Mail and search engine solutions, mobile marketing, internetdigital broadcasting solutions, CDN (Content Delivery Network) Solutions, Over-the-Top (OTT) and block chain solutions.

In line with Turkcell’s strategy of things (IOT), revenue managementexpanding digital services and solutions and campaign management solutions, musicICT services in international markets, Turkcell Technology aims to develop new digital and entertainmentICT servicesOver-The Top (OTT) solutions and IP TV services.

Turkcell Teknoloji has continued worldwide according to exportthe latest technology and software to CIS, Europe, Middle Eastmarket requirements, and Africa. The Turkcell Teknoloji Campaign Management System is deployed and used in ten countries Azerbaijan, Belarus, Ukraine, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Germany, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Moldova, Libya and Kazakhstan. In 2018, Turkcell continued to expand its customer base with digital servicesthe regions in Moldova, and looked for the new opportunities to implement its product catalogue with newly added products.which Turkcell Group provides services.

With the goal of beingbecoming Turkey’s leading R&D and innovation base, Turkcell Teknoloji demonstrates the value it attaches to innovation with its increasing number of patents each year. In 2018,2019, the Turkcell Teknoloji R&D Center submitted over 453511 new national and 20 international patent applications. As of December 31, 2018,2019, Turkcell Teknoloji has 1,6052,117 national and 128148 international patentspatent applications and 369521 granted patents.

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Turkcell Teknoloji cooperates with a wide network of national and international R&D companies, universities and research centers and plays an active role in international R&D programs. Hence, Turkcell TechnologyTeknoloji is an active participant in European collaborative research programs.

As a member ofTurkcell Teknoloji is an ICT company that sits on the boards of ITEAthe Information Technology for European Advancement (“ITEA”) and CELTIC clusters of the Eureka program, which is a leading open network platform for international cooperation in innovation involving over 40 countries, Turkcell Technology supports the establishment of the European research agenda.countries. ITEA is a transnational and industry-driven Research, Development and Innovation programme in the domain of software innovation in the ICT domain. On the other hand, the CELTIC programme which is the ICT Cluster focusing on Next Generation Telecommunications for the Digital Society, strengthens the competitiveness of the European industry by fostering European R&D cooperation in telecommunications and the well-being of society by stimulating innovative information and telecommunication services. Besides supporting the establishment of the European research vision and agenda, Turkcell TechnologyTeknoloji also has a long history of developing research projects associated with Eureka programs, where we participatedthese programmes, participating as a project leader, national leader or project partner. Turkcell TechnologyTeknoloji works closely with its national and global partners to initiate new projects in the Eureka clusters and Horizon 2020 (Horizoncalls. Horizon 2020, publicly funded by the European Commission, is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programmeprogram to promote discoveries and world-firstsworld firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market) calls which are publicly funded by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) and the European Commission.market.

Turkcell Finansman

Turkcell Finansman A.S.

Turkcell Finansman A.S. (“Financell”, “Turkcell Finansman”), a wholly ownedwholly-owned subsidiary of Turkcell, was established onin October 22, 2015 with the approval of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (“BRSA”, the financial institutions regulator in Turkey) in order to provide financing solutions to Turkcell customers in the form of consumer loans. The company commenced operations in February 2016 after receiving the BRSA’s operational permission and wasre-branded as Financell in 2017.

Financell was launched nationwide in March 20162016. It is the first consumer finance company in orderthe Turkish telecommunications sector to providebe focused primarily on meeting the financial needs of individuals and corporate customers, and provides financing solutions to existing or new Turkcell customers for their handset, tablet or accessory purchases. In September 2017, Financell established a branch in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and started handset financing operations. Due to growing cost and risks, the branch was closed in June 2019.

As of January 2020, smartphones and tablets with a retail price at or above TRY 3,500 can be offered with a maximum three-month installment plan, and those with a retail price of up to TRY 3,500 with a maximum 12-months installment plan.

With a prudent risk management approach, Financell mainly supports the smartphone sales of Turkcell and thus cooperates with a wide network of Turkcellpoint-of-sales points-of-sale across Turkey. Since 2017 Financell also offers insurance and bundled insurance products with consumer loans through a revenue sharing agreement with BNP Paribas Cardiff. This insurance product insured customers against unexpected circumstances that may occur, such as unemployment, death, disease, accidents and hospital stays.

Financell is funded by equity and borrowings from different sources. Even though the major funding source is bilateral loans from domestic and international lenders, Financell may also tap into the local debt capital markets for bond issues. In order to diversify its borrowing base, Financell also resorts to other funding alternatives such as asset backedasset-backed securities (“ABS”). From April 2017 to December 31, 2018,2019, Financell executed foursix ABS issuances via Aktif Yatirim Bankasi A.S. (a domestic investment bank) at an amount totallingtotaling TRY 360485 million. The very first four ABS issuances and first two tranches of the fifth issuance and the first tranche of the sixth issuance totaling TRY 100421 million have fully matured onas at March 20, 2020. In addition, non-performing consumer loans amounting to TRY 184 million were sold to various asset management companies based in Turkey in 2019.

Financell had TRY 2.52 billion loans outstanding and TRY 3.0 billion of consumer loans had been granted as of year-end 2019. Cost of risk has increased to 3.20% in December 21,2019 from 1.97% in December 2018. The coverage ratio as of December 2019 was 72.4%. In 2019, Fitch Ratings assigned Financell ‘BB’‘B+’ Foreign and Local Currency Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) and‘AA- ‘AA-(tur)’ National Long-Term Rating.

In 2019, Financell had 4.4 million loans outstandingadded corporate entities to its existing individual customer portfolio. “Digital Transformation Finance” (DTF) which includes special-priced technological products, credit limits and TRY 4.2 billion of consumer loans had been granted as ofyear-end 2018. Cost of risk has improvedinterest

rates, is offered to 1.97% in December 2018SMEs and commercial enterprises, facilitating their ability to get the latest technology. DTF enables them to spread their payments over a time thanks to installment facilities and to benefit from 2.26% in December 2017. Coverage ratio as of December 2018 was 77.6%.flexible payment plans. Financell aims to support corporates with financial and insurance services throughout their digital transformation journey.

In September 2017, Financell established a branch in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus started handset financing operations The business grew throughout 2018 by offering financing options for smart devices.Turkcell Sigorta

Financell expanded its services in 2017 into insurance and bundled insurance products with consumer loans through a revenue sharing agreement with BNP Paribas Cardiff. In June 2018, the insurance agency Turkcell Sigorta Aracilik Hizmetleri A.S. (“Guvencell”, “Turkcell Sigorta”) insurance agency has beenwas incorporated as a subsidiary of Financell in order to offer various insurance products. In December 2018, GuvencellTurkcell Sigorta operates in the field of tech insurance and aims to use Turkcell’s know-how in digital technologies and introduce innovations that are necessarily conducive to the advent of new economic paradigms, new processes and new products. Turkcell Sigorta launched its first insurance product which isin December 2018.

Turkcell Sigorta provides a wide variety of insurance products, including health and life, non-life (property insurance, electronic devices, errors and omissions, EAR (Erection All Risks), CAR (Construction All Risks), cash in transit, cash in safe, machinery breakdown, employers’ liability, political violence, third person liability, fidelity, professional liability, directors and officers liability) compulsory earthquake policy, marine cargo, motor third party liability and auto insurance to Turkcell and its subsidiaries’ employees. In addition, Turkcell Sigorta provides insurance advisory and claim advisory services to Turkcell Group. Turkcell Sigorta also provides other insurance products with leading insurance companies like Zurich and BNP Paribas Cardiff, such as device protection, travel insurance, personal accident insurance and critical illness insurance for women health insurance.women. Turkcell Sigorta aims to expand its product portfolio to small & medium business segments as well as a retail client base by offering simplex products and ease-of-purchase.

Turkcell Ozel Finansman A.S.

Turkcell Ozel Finansman A.S. (“TOFAS”), a wholly ownedwholly-owned subsidiary of Turkcell, was incorporated on February 12,16, 2018 with the approval of the BRSA in order to provide financing solutions in accordance with Islamic financing principles for purchases of goods and services. The company is currently waiting forawaiting the completion of BRSA licensing process.processes.

Turkcell Odeme ve Elektronik Para Hizmetleri A.S.

Turkcell Odeme ve Elektronik Para Hizmetleri A.S. (“Paycell” or “Turkcell Odeme”) became operational as of March 2015 to create a convenient payment solution for users and to offer them a streamlined shopping experience under the “Paycell” brand. Paycell is a payment services platform providing digital payments and core financial solutions.

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In August 2016 Paycell hasTurkcell Odeme acquired a Payment Service Provider License from the BRSA and becameto become the first MNOmobile network operator subsidiary havingholding this license in Turkey. With its brand “Paycell”, Turkcell has expanded its merchant network and reached over 2,000 merchants7,000 points of sale by implementing easy and secure payment methods to new areas such as mobile app stores, restaurant chains, parking lots, transportation services, physical goods and airport fast track services. Paycell makes life easier for customers by offering direct carrier billing, money transfer, payment services and wallet, plus cash top-up for the Turkcell prepaid line and the public transportation card IstanbulKart as well as Paycell card. Paycell also provide merchants a QR based payment alternative and mobile POS solutions.

After it was awardedgranted an electronic money payments licencepayment license in July 2017, Paycell has launched digital money, prepaid card and utility bill payments though Paycell application and various Turkcell shops as well as non-Turkcell affiliated shops. In December 2017 VISA has confirmed Paycell’s membership. As of December 31, 2018, 2.7 million credit and debit cards are registered at Paycell.Paycell entered into a 5-year contract with Visa to issue prepaid cards. Throughout 2018, the business grew at an accelerating rate and added on otherthe features of peer to peer money transfer, expanded merchant integrations and increasing penetration of Paycell prepaid cards. 2019 was a year of expansion for Paycell with regards to larger scale merchants with high number of physical stores; such as Sok Markets and Burger King restaurant chain in Turkey. In addition to increasing its offline presence, Paycell has also expanded its online presence with integrations such as n11.com, Turkey’s second largest online marketplace and Kamil Koc, Turkey’s largest scale coach travel firm.

Paycell took its first step toward globalization in October 2017 by launching direct carrier billing services in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The business grew throughout 2018 with addition of other Paycell products. In 2018, Paycell launchede-money and local currency transfer services in Ukraine, allowing Ukrainian customers to make digital payments. Paycell plans to grow into other international markets offering Turkcell’s digital solutions worldwide.

As of December 31, 2018,2019, Paycell had 5.24.5 million three-month active users (including direct billing service users) and the Paycell app was downloaded 2.65.0 million times. In 2018, including Financell, Paycell generatedprepaid card reached 2.4 million and spending via Paycell prepaid cards in 2019 amounted to TRY 5.8 billion transaction volume.166.6 million. Paycell mobile payments active users reached 1.6 million. As of December 31, 2019, 4.4 million credit cards are registered at Paycell.

Paycell delivered TRY 252.2 million revenue in 2019 with 35% year on year growth, while its EBITDA reached TRY 160.4 million with a 63.6% margin.

Lifecell Ventures

Lifecell Ventures Cooperatief U.A. (formerly named Beltur Cooperatief U.A., “Lifecell Ventures”, “Lifecell Digital”) is a 100% subsidiary of Turkcell and it is incorporated in the Netherlands.

In line with Turkcell Group’s strategic priority being a “digital operator” and spreading OTT products andof monetizing its digital services, both in international and domestic markets, Lifecell Ventures is responsible for delivering our OTT services to the global markets and expanding Turkcell Group’s footprint by launching new offerings, accelerating the company’s owned OTT activities, growing current services and making strategic alliances.alliances with other operators. Lifecell Ventures uses technology to provide a digital experience to consumers worldwide and enable telecom operators to compete effectively by offering digital communications, entertainment, music, TV, transactional ande-commerce applications as well as cloud solutions on either a licencelicense or a white-label basis. Lifecell Ventures’ business model is based on charging consultancy,implementancy, support, brand and license fees in return for provision of digital service infrastructuretechnology andknow-how to other operators. Lifecell Ventures has the ambition of contributing to contribute in taking telecoms to the “next level”, which is a more digital service focus, rather than being an infrastructure company.

Lifecell Ventures signed cooperation agreementslaunched the first overseas digital solution partnership with ALBtelecom SH.a. (ALBtelecom)BiP and lifebox services at Moldcell, the Eastern European operator with a revenue sharing model. The company expanded digital solution partnerships in 2019 with the launch of Albania, CG Corp Global of NepalBiP and Digicel Group of Carribean following its already-signed agreementlifebox with Moldcell of Moldova within the scope of our international digital business which will allow the use of our digital services in total 39 countries. ALB Telecom,Albanian operator ALBtelecom, which operates in Albania with a population of 3 million, will initially start to offer BiP and lifebox services to its customers, and then will expand its offerings to include fizy, Yaani, Dergilik and Kopilot in accordancethree million. In February 2019, Lifecell Ventures signed a cooperation agreement with the cooperation. Digicel Group operating in 31 countries in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific will integrate these services into the infrastructure of operators in its countries of operations. With the agreement signed, CG Corp Global, part of the CG Group, willCaribbean. In January 2020, Digicel has launched lifebox, which is rebranded as Billo. In 2020, we aim to launch Nepal’s first digital operator that will offer our digital services BiP, lifebox, fizy, TV+, Dergilik and Fast Login to a population of around 30 million.

Lifecell Digital’s business model is based on charging consultancy, brand and license fees in return for provision of digital service infrastructure andknow-how to respective32 countries through alliances with other operators.

Turkcell Satis ve Dijital Is Servisleri A.S.

Turkcell Satis ve Dijital Is Servisleri A.S. (formerly known as Turkcell Satis ve Dagitim Hizmetleri A.S.) (“Turkcell Satis”) sells telecommunication and IT products through our flagship store and provides a wide variety of products via our websitewww.turkcell.com.tr. In 2016, Turkcell Satis started to sell equipment to other entities as corporate sales. In addition, since Turkcell Satis is experienced in the sector, it also acts as an intermediary between producer and distributors to support the determination of products, pricing, amount to be sold, sales support components and management of their inventory.

In January 2019, the company’s legal name was changed to Turkcell Satis ve Dijital Is Servisleri A.S., (often referred to as Turkcell Digital Business Solutions) and its area of operations have been expanded to cover end to end IT and technology related solutions and services for enterprises, including data center, cloud, security, digital transformation, system integration and IT managed services.

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Turkcell Enerji

Turkcell Enerji, Cozumleri ve Elektrik Satis Ticaret A.S. (“Turkcell Enerji”), a 100% owned-owned subsidiary of Turkcell, was established on February 20, 2017 with the vision of being a leader forin the transformation of energy markets in Turkey through digitalized, decentralized and decarbonized solutions. Turkcell Enerji supplies electricity to eligible residential, commercial and industrial customers in Turkey.

Turkcell Enerji owns an electricity supply licence,license, issued by the Energy Market Regulatory Board (EMRA), on May 11, 2017, for a period of 20 years. This enables the company to trade electricity and/or electrical capacity. Turkcell Enerji supplies electricity to eligible residential, commercial and industrial customers in Turkey. In 2019, Turkcell Enerji has completed solar rooftop projects for renewable power generation at selected Turkcell Group buildings and data centers. The focus on renewable energy will continue with large-scale projects and investments.

Yaani Digital B.V.

Yaani Digital B.V. (formerly named NTENT Netherlands B.V., “Yaani Digital”) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lifecell Ventures and is incorporated in the Netherlands. It was acquired by Lifecell Ventures from NTENT, Inc, an American company, on May 14, 2019. The perpetual license and usage rights associated with the source codes of the Yaani search engine rest with Yaani Digital.

Equity Accounted Investments

Turkiye’nin Otomobili

On November 2, 2017, Turkcell signed the Joint Initiative Group Cooperation protocol and on May 31, 2018 a Shareholders Agreement was signed by Turkcell with the intention of participating as a potential contributor in “Turkey’s Automobile Project”. Under this protocol, the signing parties agreed to determine the framework of the activities to meet the requirements of the project for designing, developing and manufacturing an electric car and establishing a sales and distribution network as well as establishing a local company to own the intellectual and industrial property rights of this car. Accordingly, on June 25, 2018, Turkiye’nin Otomobili was incorporated, in which Turkcell has participated as a founding partner with a 19% stake. AG Anadolu Grubu Holding A.S., BMC Otomotiv Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., Kok Ulasim Tasimacilik A.S., Vestel Elektronik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. and Turkcell (through its wholly owned subsidiary Turkcell Gayrimenkul) have equal partnerships in TOGG each with a 19% shareholding; whereas Turkiye Odalar ve Borsalar Birligi holds 5%. The CEO of TOGG was appointed on September 1, 2018. On December 27, 2019, TOGG introduced its C-SUV and sedan electrical vehicle prototypes, which are currently being developed and scheduled for production in 2022. The paid-in capital of the company stands at TRY 150 million as of December 31, 2019. Turkcell is committed to participating to fulfill 19% of total committed capital of €500 million over the following years.

Sofra Kurumsal

Sofra, Kurumsal ve Odullendirme Hizmetleri A.S. (“Sofra Kurumsal”), in which Turkcell indirectly holds a 33.3% stake, was incorporated on July 24, 2018. Belbim Elektronik Para ve Odeme Hizmetleri A.S., a subsidiary of the Municipality of Istanbul, and Posta ve Telgraf Teskilati A.S., the Turkish postal services company, act as shareholders together with our subsidiary Turkcell Odeme. Sofra Kurumsal will provide services via various means such as service coupons, meal coupons,enables personnel of customers to conveniently purchase food at member merchants with meal cards electronic coupons and/or smart cards, in vehicle payments as well as smart keys.issued under the “PAYE Card” brand. PAYE Card also offers transportation payment services provided by the Municipality of Istanbul. In 2019, Turkcell Group employees started to use the PAYE Card. Sofra aims to enhance its customer and merchant network.

Non-Consolidated Group Companies

Turkcell Foundation

Turkcell Foundation (“Turkcell Vakfi”, “Foundation”) was founded by our Company on October 11, 2018. The Foundation is anon-for-profit foundation not-for-profit organization aiming to develop and implement charity and donation programs with respect to and including, but not limited to, technology and education.

Assets Held for Sale

Fintur

Turkcell holds a 41.45% stake in Fintur Holdings B.V (“Fintur”), which holds interests in the mobile operation in Moldova as of March 7, 2019.

Telia Company A.B. (“Telia Company”), which is one of our major shareholders and also our partner in Fintur through a 58.55% stake held by Sonera Holding B.V. (“Sonera”), announced on September 17, 2015 that it had initiated a process in relation to its Eurasian assets with the ultimate aim of a complete exit. In line with the growth strategy in the region at the time, and as the minority shareholder in Fintur (which included assets in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova at that time), on February 26, 2016, Turkcell submitted a binding offer for the remaining 58.55% stake of Sonera in Fintur that Turkcell did not own and Telia Company’s 24% direct stake in J.S.C. Kcell (“Kcell”) operating in Kazakhstan. However, the negotiations were inconclusive and we decided to sell our Fintur stake. Fintur was classified as held for sale and reported as discontinued operations since October 2016.

As part of this process, on January 26, 2018, Fintur, through its 99.99% subsidiary Gurtel Telekomunikasyon Yatirim ve Dis Ticaret A.S. (“Gurtel”), signed a binding agreement with Silknet JSC (“Silknet”), a joint stock company organized under the laws of Georgia, to transfer its 100% total shareholding in Geocell LLC, a limited liability company organized under the laws of Georgia for USD 153 million. The transaction was closed on March 20, 2018 following the receipt of regulatory approvals. On March 5, 2018, Fintur transferred its 51.3% total shareholding in Azertel Telekomunikasyon Yatirim Dis Ticaret A.S (“Azertel”) to Azerbaijan International Telecom LLC (“Azintelecom”), a company fully owned by the Republic of Azerbaijan, for EUR 221.7 million. The signing of the definitive agreement, the transfer of shares to Azintelecom and the transfer of proceeds to Fintur were completed simultaneously. On December 12, 2018, Fintur signed a binding agreement with JSC Kazakhtelecom to transfer its 51% total shareholding in Kcell for USD 302.6 million. The transaction was closed on December 21, 2018. These transactions have no impact on the Company’s financial statements since Fintur is classified as “assets held for sale”. Simultaneously with the signing of the Kcell share sale agreement, Turkcell also signed a binding agreement with Sonera Holding to transfer its 41.45% shareholding in Fintur for EUR 350 million, subject to closing adjustments. The transaction is expected be completed following the receipt of regulatory approvals from the Moldovan authorities, although we can provide no assurance that such approvals will be obtained.

X. Potential Investments

Our efforts to selectively seek and evaluate new investment opportunities continue. Our strategy for growth involves selectively seeking and evaluating new investment opportunities and participating in those meeting our criteria. We may pursue inorganic growth opportunities both in Turkey and in countries where we are already present with a controlling stake in order to be able to leverage our experience and technological base. We may also pursue opportunities which include alliances, such as MVNOs, management service agreements and marketing partnerships, and that may be in the area of mobile or fixed telecommunications and services.

We may also evaluate network sharing opportunities and participate in joint infrastructure companies within Turkey.

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We will evaluate the opportunities of being a digital operator by enrichingmarketing the portfolio of digital products and financial services in certain international markets and increasing the users for our digital services in international markets to increase the users and products.

On November 2, 2017, Turkcell signed the Joint Initiative Group Cooperation protocol and on May 31, 2018 Shareholders Agreement was signed by Turkcell with the intention to participate as a potential contributor in “Turkey’s Automobile Project”. Under this protocol, the signing parties has agreed to determine the framework of the activities to meet requirements of the project for designing, developing, manufacturing an electric car and establishing sales and distribution network, and to establish a local company that will own the intellectual and industrial property rights of this car. Accordingly, on June 25, 2018, Turkiye’nin Otomobili Girisim Grubu Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (“Turkiye’nin Otomobili”, “TOGG”, “Turkey’s Car”) was incorporated, in which Turkcell has participated as a founding partner with a 19% stake and provided TRY 3.8 million as initial capital. AG Anadolu Grubu Holding A.S., BMC Otomotiv Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., Kok Ulasim Tasimacilik A.S. and Turkcell have equal partnerships in TOGG each with a 19% shareholding; whereas Turkiye Odalar ve Borsalar Birligi holds a 5%. The CEO of TOGG was appointed on September 1, 2018. The capital of the company was increased to TRY 50 million as of October 17, 2018.

TOGG has been established primarily to produce the electric car referred to above and to carry out supporting activities within the framework of Turkey’s Automobile Project. Turkcell continues its efforts towards developing smart transportation systems, leveraging on its high quality communication network and strong engineering and software capabilities embedded within its organization. We believe that we will make an important contribution to Turkey’s Automobile Project as a technology partner with our knowhow and competencies.revenues from these services.

XI. Disclosure Pursuant to Section 219 of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (“ITRA”)

Based on our information and the information provided to us by our affiliates, as of the date of this annual report, we believe that certain of our business activities in Iran in 20182019 and in 2019,2020, and the business activities of certain of our affiliates, are subject to disclosure pursuant to ITRA Section 219.219 of ITRA.

During the year ended December 31, 2018,2019, Turkcell had international roaming relationships with the following companies in Iran and Syria: TCI Mobile Company of Iran, MTN Irancell, Taliya Iran,

Telecommunication Kish Co., Rightel, Syriatel and MTN Syria. Turkcell had gross revenues of approximately EUR 0.8 million and net profits of approximately EUR 0.5 million attributable to these agreements during the year ended December 31, 2019.

During the year ended December 31, 2019, lifecell had international roaming relationships with the following companies in Iran and Syria: Telecom Infrastructure Company of Iran (“TIC”), MTN Irancell, Taliya Iran, Telecommunication Kish Co., KIFZO and Rightel, and Syriatel and MTN Syria. During the year ended December 31, 2018, Turkcell and lifecell had gross revenues of approximately TRY 5.5 millionEUR 0.9 thousand and cost of approximately TRY 2.2 millionno net profits attributable to these agreements. agreements during the year ended December 31, 2019.

Turkcell has developed an OTT product called “BiP”several digital services like BiP, Dergilik, fizy, lifebox, TV+ etc. which isare available for download online for free.free of charge and have been downloaded from within Iran. The Company believes that there have beenthese downloads from within Iran which have generated no revenue or profits. For details regarding the risks we face with regard to our business in Iran, please refer to “Item 3.D—Risk Factors—Any instability in the political environment and/or downturn in the economy, as well as volatile international markets and events and, in particular as a result of the threat of terrorism,ongoing COVID-19 global outbreak, in Turkey and/or internationally may have an adverse effect on our business and financial condition.”

Turkcell has voice interconnection agreements with TadbirErtebatat-E-Sigma (“Sigma LLC”). (Sigma llc) of Iran. During the year ended December 31, 2018,2019, gross revenues attributable to these agreements were TRY 41approximately EUR 5.8 million, and net losses ofwere approximately TRY 16EUR 0.9 million.

Turkcell Superonline provided transit IP and leased line services through network interface agreements with TIC.Telecom Infrastructure Company of Iran (“TIC”). During the year ended December 31, 2018, total2019, gross revenues attributable to these agreements were TRY 10.7approximately EUR 4.7 million, and net profits were approximately EUR 1.4 million. Furthermore, Turkcell Superonline has a business relationship with Teleka Maedeh Co. (“Telecom Idea”)(Telecom Idea) based in Iran. ForIran, which acts as its solution partner and agent. No revenue or net profits are attributable to this business relationship for the years 2017 and 2018year 2019. Costs attributable to the services provided to this company generated no revenues,by Teleka Maedeh Co. were EUR 70.0 thousand for the year 2019, and the services received from this company amounted to approximately TRY 1.8 million. Payments for these costsall payments were donemade to QBIC Electronics TradingELECTRONICS TRADING LLC (a UAE company) which iscompany based in the United Arab Emirates), an authorized by Telecom Idea for receiving payments.intermediary.

We have made enquiries of our major shareholders regarding activities in Iran and Syria.

Telia Carrier AB of Sweden is interconnected with the Telecommunications Infrastructure Company of Iran via an interconnection point outside of Iran, but did not exchange any international telephony traffic with TIC of Iran inIran. During the year ended December 31, 2018.2019, gross revenues and net profits attributable to this business relationship were EUR 31.0 thousand and EUR 25.0 thousand, respectively. Telia Carrier AB of Sweden also receives international telephony traffic from the Syrian Telecommunications Establishment via an interconnection point outside of Syria. Telia Carrier AB does not send traffic to the Syrian Telecommunications Establishment via this interconnection point, as this agreement has been terminated. During the year ended December 31, 2018,2019, gross revenues and net profits attributable to this business relationship were EUR 2998.0 thousand and EUR 2713.0 thousand, respectively.

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Furthermore, we have been informed that Telia Sweden, Telia Norway, Telia Latvia, Telia Lithuania, Telia Finland, Telia Norge AS,Estonia and Telia Denmark Moldcellhad bilateral roaming relationships with MCI Iran for voice and Telia Lithuania hadSMS (no data) roaming agreements with Mobile Company of Iran (MCI), MTN Irancell, MTN Syria, Syriatel.services. For the year ended December 30, 2018,31, 2019, total inbound costs associated with these agreements amounted towere EUR 11 thousand.3.7 thousand and total outbound costs were EUR 107.1 thousand, although the corresponding payments have not been made or received.

Although it is difficult to do with a reasonable degree of certainty, we have concluded that our Iranian business partners described in this section may be owned or controlled indirectly by the Government of Iran. However, to our knowledge, none of the services provided by Turkcell and our affiliates in Iran described in this section have been used by the Government of Iran to commit serious human rights abuses against the people of Iran. Furthermore, we understand that the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a general license authorizing U.S. persons to engage in certain of the activities described in this section. With the exception of the roaming agreement between Telia Denmark and Syriatel which has been terminated in 2018, weWe and our affiliates intend to continue the activities described in this section in 2019.2020.

XII. Regulation of the Turkish Telecommunications Industry

a.Overview

All telecommunications activity in Turkey is regulated by the ICTA. The Electronic Communications Law No. 5809 (the “Electronic Communications Law”), which came into force on November 10, 2008, is the principal law governing telecommunications activity in Turkey. The Electronic Communications Law was published to correspond to the rapidly-evolving Turkish telecommunications industry, and all secondary regulations have been updated to be in accordance with this law. The duties of the ICTA, which may be exercised in a manner that is adverse to our operations and our financial results, include those described below.

b.ICTA

The ICTA has the authority to grant licenses and set fees in the electronic telecommunications industry.

According to Article 8 of the Electronic Communications Law, electronic communications services are rendered and/or established (as in the case of an electronic communications network or infrastructure) and operated following the authorization made by the ICTA.ICTA authorization. Authorization is granted either through notification made in accordance with the principles and procedures determined by the ICTA, in cases where scarce resource allocation is not necessary, or by the granting of usage rights, in cases where scarce resource allocation is necessary (allocation of frequency, satellite position, etc.). Under the Electronic Communications Law, usage rights may be granted for up to 25 years; however, there is no clause relating to the term of notification. According to the Electronic Communications Law, the principles and procedures relating to the notification and granting of usage rights is determined by the ICTA through secondary regulations.

According to the Electronic Communications Law, usage rights can only be restricted where the resources are required to be operated by a limited number of operators and for the purpose of ensuring the effective and efficient use of the scarce resources. In cases where the quantity of rights of use is limited,Article 9-6(a) of the Electronic Communications Law allows the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure to determine the criteria, such as (i) the authorization policy regarding electronic communications services which cover the assignment of satellite position and frequency band on a national scale and which need to be operated by a limited number of operators, (ii) the starting date of the service, (iii) the duration of the authorization and the number of operators to serve. While the criteria are determined by the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, the authorization is still granted by the ICTA.

Under Article 51 of the Electronic Communications Law, the ICTA was authorized to determine the principles and procedures related to the process of personal data and protection of privacy and has published “Regulations on the Protection of Privacy and Processing of Personal Data”. With its decision rendered on April 9, 2014 and published in the Official Gazette on July 26, 2014, the Turkish Constitutional Court decided that Article 51 of the Electronic Communications Law is a violation of Article 20(3) of the Constitution, which stipulates data protection as a constitutional measure and that the measures should be regulated by the laws and therefore annulled the aforementioned provision (Article 51). The Article 51 of the Electronic Communications Law, which was repealed by Turkish Constitutional Court, was amended and came into force on April 15, 2015. In the amended Article 51, the main principles of recording and sharing subscribers’ personal data are defined in general. In addition, ICTA is also authorized to determine the procedures and principles related to the process of personal data and protection of privacy. A public consultation regarding the draft regulation has been collected by the ICTA, however the new regulation has not yet been adopted.

The Electronic Communications Law establishes legal principles and broad policy lines that the ICTA must follow, some of which are stated below:

 

Creation and protection of a free and efficient competitive environment.

 

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Protection of consumer rights and interests.

 

Protection of the objectives of development plans and Government programs, as well as the strategies and policies set by the Turkish Ministry.Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure.

 

Promotion of implementations that ensure that everyone can benefit from electronic communications networks and services.

 

Ensuringnon-discrimination among subscribers, users and operators under fair conditions.

 

Ensuring the conformity of electronic communications systems to international norms.

 

Protection of information safety and communication confidentiality.

Determination of the procedures and principles related to the personal data and protection of privacy.

The Electronic Communications Law also specifies general rules and principles relating to interconnection between operators. Agreements for interconnection are publicly available, but precautions are taken by the ICTA to protect the commercial secrets of the parties.

The law entitled Universal Services and Amending SomeService Laws, Law No. 5369, determines the procedures and principles governing the provision and execution of universal service and the procedures and the rules relating to the fulfillment of universal services in the electronic communications sector, a universal public service that is financially difficult for operators to provide (and performance of a universal service obligation in the electronic communications sector).sector. In accordance with Law No. 5369, the scope of universal services is determined and periodically reviewed, with the review period not exceeding every three years, and can be re-determined by the President of Republic of Turkey, which will not exceed three years.Turkey.

The legislation designates the following as universal services: fixed-line telephony services, public pay telephones, telephone directory services to be provided in printed or electronic environments, emergency call services, basic internet services, passenger services to residential areas where access is solely provided by sea and sea communication and sailing safety communication services.

This law mandates that designated operators must provide universal services, and the General Directorate of Communication can demand that operators provide universal services on a national and/or geographical basis. Turk Telekomunikasyon A.S.Telekom and the GSM operators are currently designated as universal services providers.

The Council of Ministers Decision No. 2011/1880, which was published in the Official Gazette numbered 27984 and dated July 4, 2011 allowed the use of the universal service fund to extend the mobile GSM network

coverage listed in the annex of the decision to uncovered areas with a population of 500 or less.below. On February 13, 2013, we were appointed as universal service provider after a tender process and the related contract was signed on February 20, 2013. Under the aforementioned contract, Turkcell duly carried out its undertakings for installing sufficient infrastructure to cover 1,799 rural locations and the investment and operating expenses are compensated by the universal service fund of the Turkish Ministry.Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. This contract was renewed until December 31, 20182019, and the extension contained new requirements to addprovide mobile broadband services to the existing infrastructure providing GSM services under Universal Service Law and to operate the new and existing networks together. Recently, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure has approved the extension of the contract has been extended withunder the same conditions as defined inthrough June 30, 2020. The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure is also preparing a new auction for the contract clause until December 31, 2019. operation of the Universal Service beyond June 30, 2020.

The Electronic Communications Law also specifies general rules and principles relating to tariffs. Pursuant to the Electronic Communications Law, operators may freely determine the tariffs they apply in compliance with the relevant legislation and the ICTA arrangements. In the event of determination of the significant market power of the operator, the ICTA may determine the method of the approval, tracking and auditing of the tariffs. It may also determine the lower and upper limit of the tariffs and principles and procedures of the application of the same.

The Electronic Communications Law provides basic guidelines for the tariffs and pricing and thus leaves the detailed rules and enforcement to the ICTA. According to the law:

(1) The tariff may be determined as one or more subscription fees, fixed fees, call charges, line rentals, and similar fee items.

(2) Tariffs to be imposed in return for providing any kind of electronic communications services shall be subject to the following provisions:

(a) Operators shall freely determine the tariffs under their possession, provided that they comply with the regulations of the ICTA and the relevant legislation.

(b) If an operator is designated as having significant market power in the relevant market, the ICTA shall be entitled to determine the procedures regarding the approval, monitoring and supervision of tariffs as well as the highest and lowest limits of the tariffs and the procedures and principles for the implementation thereof.
(1)

The tariff may be determined as one or more subscription fees, fixed fees, call charges, line rentals, and similar fee items.

 

(2)

Tariffs to be imposed in return for providing any kind of electronic communications services shall be subject to the following provisions:

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(a)

Operators shall freely determine the tariffs under their possession, provided that they comply with the regulations of the ICTA and the relevant legislation.

(b)

If an operator is designated as having significant market power in the relevant market, the ICTA shall be entitled to determine the procedures regarding the approval, monitoring and supervision of tariffs as well as the highest and lowest limits of the tariffs and the procedures and principles for the implementation thereof.


(c)

If an operator is designated as having significant market power in the relevant market, the ICTA shall be entitled to make the necessary arrangements to prevent anti-competitive tariffs such as price squeezing and predatory pricing and to supervise the implementation thereof.

(c) If an operator is designated as having significant market power in the relevant market, the ICTA shall be entitled to make the necessary arrangements to prevent anti-competitive tariffs such as price squeezing and predatory pricing and to supervise the implementation thereof.

(3)

(3) Procedures and principles pertaining to the implementation of Article 13 of the Electronic Communications Law, submission of tariffs to the ICTA and publishing and announcing them to the public shall be determined by the ICTA.

According to this regulation, the ICTA may intervene in the structure of our tariffs or may impose certain criteria relating to the revision of our tariffs. Pursuant to its decision in 2005, the ICTAIn Mobile Call Termination Market, all three operators are designated Turkcell as having “Significant Market Power” (SMP) in(“SMP”). Accordingly, the “Mobile Access Call Origination Market” whilemobile termination rates of all three operators were designated as having Significant Market Power in “Mobile Call Termination Market”.are being regulated by ICTA.

As a result of the significant market power designation inIn the Mobile Access and Call Origination Market our Companyonly Turkcell was obliged to provide access and call origination services to other operators suchdesignated as MVNOs and Directory Services Operators on a cost-based basis, while competitors can set their prices freely on commercial basis.

Upon the renewalhaving SMP. As of related market analysis; following an ICTA Decision dated April 12, 2017 and numbered2017/DK-SRD/124, it has been decided that anex ante regulation is no longer needed for Mobile Access Call Origination Market and that Turkcell’s SMP designation will be removed as of April 12, 2018 unless otherwise stated. However,January 1, 2020, the Mobile Access and Call Origination Market deregulation transition period is extended until April 12, 2019. Within this period, Turkcell will retain itshas been deregulated and Turkcell’s SMP designation and obligations under the Mobile Access Call Origination Market regulation will continue.

Upon the renewal of Mobile Call Termination Market analysis, by ICTA Decision dated April 19, 2017 and numbered2017/DK-SRD/131, it has been decided that SMS and MMS termination services will no longer be regulated as of April 19, 2018 unless otherwise stated. However, an ICTA decision on April 12, 2018 stated that deregulation of SMS/MMS termination services is cancelled and SMS/MMS termination services will be regulated on the Mobile Termination Market.was removed.

In addition to the duties and authorities stated above, the Law Regarding the Establishment of ICTA No. 2813 has been amended and the ICTA has been given the authority to apply a conciliation procedure for the receivables including administrative sanctions (except for the receivables that are intermediated for collection and the penalty requirement for the treasury share) and the debts of the ICTA. According to this provision, it is possible to settle on a part of the disputed amount and to waive the primary or secondary claims and the settled matters cannot be made the subject of a lawsuit or a complaint.

Telegraph and Telephone Law numbered 406 has also been amended and it has been regulatedsuch that in the event that the treasury share is not paid in full in the given period, the ICTA has the right to impose a penalty in the amount of one full amount of the incomplete or unpaid treasury share.

c.Regulationon Quality of Service in the Electronic Communications Sector

The Regulation on Quality of Service in the Electronic Communications Sector, effective since December 31, 2011 is applicable to all operators that provide service to end users and sets out the procedures and principles to control the conformity of the services of operators. Mobile telephone operators are required to meet new service quality requirements and submit a report based on these requirements every three months to the ICTA. Additional requirements for service quality must be fulfilled. If the operators fail to reach these requirements more than once, this may result in the imposition of penalties. The results of quality measurements can also be made publicly available on the website of the ICTA for a period of one month, stating that the operator has failed to comply with the service quality requirements.

d.Regulationon Administrative Fines, Sanctions and Precautions in the Electronic Communications Sector

According to the Regulation on Administrative Fines, Sanctions and Precautions to be imposed on operators, effective as of February 15, 2014, the ICTA retains the right to impose fines in the event an operator submits incorrect or misleading documents or fails to submit documents as requested by the ICTA; does not submit such documents in a timely manner; does not permit inspection or audits to be made by the ICTA; uses unpermitted equipment or equipment not complying with standards or alters technical features of equipment; or does not pay fees arising from its use of licenses and frequencies; does not meet the regulations regarding numbering, number portability, calling line identification, (CLI), access and interconnection,end-user tariffs, consumer rights, value added services, (VAS), data protection, national security and public order, service quality and such or does not comply with the provisions of license agreements, telecommunications licenses and general authorizations or the legislation. The ICTA is authorized to impose sanctions and precautions as well as administrative fines.

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In 2018, there has been another amendment to the aforementioned regulation which introduces a new provision addressing “natural persons” and “private legal entities which are not operators” under the Electronic Communications Law. According to the new provision, entities (including “natural persons” and “private legal entities which are not operators”) who fail to comply with the obligations determined by ICTA regarding national cyber-security activities and protective measures against cyber-attacks, or fail to implement the measures taken by ICTA, will be subject to administrative fines.

e.Regulation on Authorization regarding the Electronic Communications Sector

In 2009, the ICTA published the “Regulation on Authorization regarding the Electronic Communications Sector” (“Authorization Regulation”), which determines the principles and procedures for the authorization of the companies that seek to provide electronic communication services and/or to install or operate electronic communications networks or infrastructure. In 2016, there had been major amendments to the aforementioned Regulation. According to the amendments:

(1)

(1)

Operators authorized with the limited usage right authorization may sell devices, make installations, carry out maintenance or give consultations if it is related to or necessary for its field of activity. As a result of this amendment, Turkcell is able to sell devices in relation to or necessary for its field of activity. As a result of this amendment, Turkcell is able to sell devices in relation with electronic communication services.

(2)

Companies that apply to the ICTA for authorization should have paid the minimum amount of paid capital set by the ICTA. Those operators authorized before the amendment of the Regulation are also liable to meet this condition. According to the ICTA decision dated March 31, 2016, the operators authorized to provide Public Access Mobile Radio Service should have minimum paid in capital amounting to TRY 250,000 and the operators granted other authorization types should have minimum paid in capital amounting to TRY 1,000,000.

(3)

All operators should obtain the consent of the ICTA prior to the transfer, acquisition or any other transaction regarding 10% or more of their shares. Those operators authorized with limited usage rights should also notify the ICTA within two months at the latest in case of a transfer, acquisition or any other transaction of their shares up to 10%.

(4)

Operators should provide free call center services, which was not an obligation in the former Regulation.

(5)

Operators should keep the traffic data of their customers for two years, which was set at one year in the former Regulation.

(2) Companies which apply to the ICTA to be authorized should have paid the minimum amount of paid capital set by ICTA. The operators authorized before the amendment of the Regulation are also liable to meet this condition. According to the ICTA decision dated March 31, 2016 and numbered2016/DK-YED/195, the operators authorized to provide Public Access Mobile Radio Service should have minimum paid capital amounting to TRY 250,000 and the operators granted with other authorization types should have minimum paid capital amounting to TRY 1,000,000.
(6)

Operators are liable to notify the ICTA of any amendments to documents regarding the employees of the operators (including employee lists) which have been previously submitted to the ICTA.

(7)

(3) All operators should obtain the consent of the ICTA prior to the transfer, acquisition or any other transaction regarding 10% or more of their shares. The operators authorized with limited usage right should also notify the ICTA within two months at the latest in case of a transfer, acquisition or any other transaction of their shares up to 10%.

(4) Operators should provide free call center services, which was not an obligation in the former Regulation.

(5) Operators should keep the traffic data of their customers for two years, which was set at one year in the former Regulation.

(6) Operators are liable to notify the ICTA of any amendments to the documents regarding the employees of the operators (including employee lists) which have been previously submitted to the ICTA.

(7) The ICTA is entitled to decline authorization applications and proceed with operator inspections to confirm the accuracy of the information and documents submitted during the authorization application.

In addition to the amendments of the abovementioned Regulation, the ICTA decision on Procedures and Principles Regarding the Usage of Caller Line Identification (CLI) was published; the liabilities of the operators are increased.

f.Regulationon Mobile Number Portability (“MNP”)

Pursuant to Article 32 of the Electronic Communications Law, operators are required to supply operator number portability.

MNP allows subscribers to keep their existing telephone number when changing their telephone operator, their physical location or current service plan. These regulations becamehave been operational in the fourth quarter of 2008. Since we believe the MNP regulations conflict with our rights under our license agreement, without due compensation, we filed a lawsuit in 2007 for the cancellation of the MNP regulation. While we do not object to the substance of mobile number portability, we do, however, believe that our rights under our license agreement should remain protected or, ifwhere they are violated, that we should be justly compensated. The Court rejected the case in June 2009 and we appealed the decision. The Plenary Session of the Chambers for Administrative Cases approved the court decision. We applied for the correction of the decision. The Court rejected the Company’s request of the correction of the decision. The CompanyTurkcell made an individual application before the Constitutional Court, against the respective decision. The Constitutional Court process is pending. In 2009, the ICTA issued a new Regulation on MNP, abolishing the 2007 regulation and amended somecertain Articles of this Regulation in November 2015. For new subscriptions,Mobile subscribers are eligible to make a porting request only after 90 days of the date of activation of their first mobile operators cannot port out to another operator in the first three months if the line has not been transferred to another subscriber.connection.

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g.Regulation on Security of Network and Information in Electronic Communications Sector

In 2008, the ICTA published the “Regulation on Security of Electronic Communication”, which determines the principles and procedures for precautions to be taken by the operators for eliminating or derogating the risks caused by threads or weaknesses of (i) the physical area of the operators, data, hardware/software security and reliability, and (ii) sustaining the reliability of human resources. In accordance with the regulation, our Company is required to comply with TS ISO/IEC 27001 or ISO/IEC 27001 standards. Turkcell was the first mobile operator in Turkey to receive the ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certification for its Network Operations function in 2008 covering all operations throughout Turkey. In 2011, Turkcell’s IT function was also certified for ISO/IEC 27001:2005 and Turkcell’s ISO/IEC 27001:2005 scope became one of the largest among telecommunication operators in Europe. In 2015, the Information and Communications Technology and Network departments successfully passed ISO 27001:2013 audits and were deemed to be in compliance with the ISO 27001:2013 version. By having an ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certificate covering telecom infrastructure operations, Turkcell fulfills its regulatory obligations and offers its customers the benefits of an internationally-recognized secure management of operations and services. In July 2014, the ICTA repealed the above regulation and published the “Regulation on Security of Network and Information in Electronic CommunicationCommunications Sector” which requires the Company to set up and maintain a specialized team to detect, prevent and report all cyber events and work in coordination with the National Computer Emergency Response Center, in addition to the abovementioned obligations.

h.Presidency Circular on Information and Communication Security Measures

The Presidency Circular on Information and Communication Security Measures, published in the Official Gazette numbered 30823 and dated July 6, 2019, aims to ensure the security of critical data, which may threaten national security or lead to the deterioration of the public order when the data privacy, integrity and accessibility is impaired. Pursuant to the Circular, an “Information and Communication Security Guide” is expected to be published by the Presidential Digital Transformation Office that will set out the information and communication security measures to be taken by the obligated organizations including public institutions as well as the enterprises providing critical infrastructure services.

i.Turkish Competition Law and the Competition Authority

In 1997, the Competition Law (No. 4054) established a Competition Board. The Competition Board consists of seven members who are appointed for a term of six years andone-third of the Board members are renewed every twofour years. It is an autonomous authority with administrative and financial independence established to ensure effective competition in markets for goods and services.

The Competition Board can carry out investigations, evaluate requests for exemptions, monitor the market, assess mergers and acquisitions, submit views to the Ministry of Industry and Technology (formerly known as Ministry of Industry and Trade)Trade and perform other tasks stipulated by the Competition Law. The ICTA can apply to the Competition Board if it determines that agreements regarding access, network interconnection and roaming violate the Competition Law.

Any person or legal entity may file a complaint with the Competition Board. The Competition Board can take necessary measures to prevent violations and may impose fines on those who are liable for such prohibited practices. The Competition Board may impose fines of up to 10% of the annual gross income of the operators, which is constituted by the end of the previous financial year and determined by the Competition Board. The ICTA and the Competition Board entered into a Protocol on Cooperation in 2002, followed by newfollow-up Protocols in 2011 and 2015. The original Protocol established a framework whereby the ICTA and the Competition Board can cooperate on legal actions and policies regarding measures, regulations and inspections that affect competition conditions and competition in the telecommunications sector. The newfollow-up Protocols regulate the mechanisms to improve cooperation between the ICTA and the Competition Board.

i.j.The Principles on the Applications Regarding the Anticompetitive Acts Inin Electronic Communications Sector

One of the principles that the ICTA must follow is the creation and protection of a free and efficient competitive environment. The Electronic Communications Law specifies that the ICTA is authorized to set rules (that do not contradict the Turkish Competition Law) to prevent anticompetitive acts, to investigate the operators as officio or upon a claim, and to take necessary measures against the anticompetitive actions. Considering that the applications regarding the anticompetitive acts are made by different methods and are based upon a variety of documents, the ICTA published the “Principles on the Applications Regarding the Anticompetitive Acts in Electronic Communications Sector” on December 20, 2017 in order to clarify these points.

j.k.Regulation on the Establishment of Metropolitan Municipalities in Fourteen Provinces and of Twenty-Seven Districts and Amending Certain Laws and Decree Laws

The Law No. 6360 on the “Establishment of Metropolitan Municipalities in Fourteen Provinces and of Twenty-Seven Districts and Amending Certain Laws and Decree Laws” was published in the Official Gazette on December 6, 2012 and enacted on March 30, 2014 through municipal elections. The Law, increasing the number of metropolitan cities from 16 to 30, dissolves the legal entity of villages and special provincial administrations in cities where there are metropolitan municipalities. By the amendment of the Law for Metropolitan Municipalities, the number of metropolitan municipalities increased and the borders of somecertain metropolitan municipalities were extended. AfterFollowing this amendment, the ICTA increased our coverage obligations, defined in our concession agreement, bywith its decision, based on this law amendment which requires us to make material capital expenditures. We filed a lawsuit for thea stay of execution and

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cancellation of the ICTA’s aforementioned decision. The Council of State granted a motion for the stay of execution of ICTA’s aforementioned decision. The ICTA objected to this decision. The objection was also rejected in favor of Turkcell. The hearing was held on November 27, 2018 and it2018. The Court annulled the decision of the ICTA. The ICTA appealed the decision. Turkcell replied to the appeal request in due time. The appeal process is expected that the court will grant a decision in 2019.pending. Since then the ICTA has been working on a new regulation aligned with the law no.Law No. 6360.

k.l.Regulationon Base Station Implementation in Electronic Communication Sector

In 2012, according to Law noNo. 6360 and Municipality Law NoNo. 5393, the Metropolitan Municipalities were authorized to give site selection certificatecertification to the BTS considering the requirements of city and building aesthetics and electronic communication services. The Site Selection Certificate Regulation was published in the Official Gazette dated January 27, 2018, numbered 30314, and entered into force on the date of its publication. According to this regulation, the Site Selection Certificate and the TRY 2,970a fee (TRY 3,640 per station fee for the year 20192020) will apply only apply to the BTSs established after December 6, 2012.

l.m.Zoning Law and Construction Certificate Requirement of Base Stations

The Supreme Court of Appeals rescinded the regulation regarding the base stations exemption from obtaining construction permits on October 1, 2009. The existing zoning law in Turkey requires mobile operators to obtain construction certificates for all existing and new base stations, resulting in the shutdown of somecertain stations for which certification cannot be obtained. In Turkey, nearly half of the premises were built illegally without any permission. As a result, somea number of municipalities started taking legal action such as affixing seals to suspend the construction, or demolition orders against base stations, negatively affecting our coverage, quality of service and customer experience. We have also taken legal action requesting nullity of those acts. In addition, studies for altering zoning laws regarding procedures for building certifications are being prioritized.

The Planned Areas Zoning Regulation was published in the Official Gazette dated July 3, 2017 and became effective as of October 1, 2017. The necessity of obtaining a building permission certificate and a construction permit, which is not possible in practice, haswas thereby been abolished. This regulation authorizesauthorized the establishment of a BTS without a construction license process, provided that necessary precautions and approval of ICTA are taken and providesICTA approval received, and provided a special BTS installation procedure.procedure is followed. The following requirements must be met for a BTS to be established on private land and in buildings:

 

The Site Selection Certificate should be received prior to the establishment of the BTS.

 

Operators must undertake the technical responsibility of the installation.

 

The consent of flatapartment owners should be obtained prior to the establishment of a BTS.

 

A static report for the BTS installation should be obtained by operators.

 

The appearance of the BTS should not negatively affect the aesthetics, appearance and silhouette of the buildings.

 

The size of the antenna should not exceed 1.55 meters onroof-top sites.

However, in accordance with the decision to suspend the execution of the procedures of license, the amendments made in The Planned Areas Zoning Regulation came into force on July 25, 2019. With the related amendments, rooftop cellular systems and tower installations were separated. Towers and reinforced concrete station installations are excluded from the scope of the license exemption. On the contrary, building licenses will not be required for rooftop BTSs, although there are certain height limitations applicable to rooftop installations of BTSs.

m.n.Regulation on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment

In May 2012, the Regulation related to Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment was published in the Official Gazette and became effective. Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment regulations may impose some obligations on our Company and increase our operational costs.

n.o.Regulation on the Internet

Law no.No. 5651 for the Regulation of Web Content has been revised by Law no.No. 6518, which became effective on February 19, 2014. The new law required that all internet access providers, which include all mobile and fixed network operators as well as all internet service providers, would form a Union of Internet Access Providers (“UAP”) within three months, which was duly established. After the establishment of the UAP, if any internet service provider or any operator giving internet services fails to become a member of the UAP, it shall also be fined within an amount equal to one percent of the previous year’s revenues.

In addition, the new law raises the existing fines for not removing content as requested by the court. The law also introducesURL-based blocking of websites which requires new capital as well as operating expenditures for all internet access providers.

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o.p.GSM Licensing in Turkey

The terms of license agreements are governed by the Authorization Regulation, and it provides that the ICTA approve the transfer of licenses to third parties, ensure continuation of services in the event of cancellation of a license and approve the investment plans submitted by licensees.

A GSM license is subject to the ICTA’s right to suspend or terminate operations under the license on the grounds of security, public benefit, and national defense, or to comply with the law. However, suspension or takeover of facilities under these circumstances is subject to the payment of compensation to the operator. The ICTA can also inspect such licensee and nullify its license if the licensee has materially failed to comply with the terms of its license. The ICTA may also terminate licenses in cases of gross negligence ornon-payment of the authorization fee.

The licensee is responsible for installing telecommunications equipment in conformance with international signalization systems and abiding by the numbering plans. Furthermore, the licensee is obligated to make the necessary investments to offer the licensed service, including the design of the service, the making of financial investments and the installation and operation of the facility required for the service. Licensees are allowed to determine the prices for services, subject to the regulations of the ICTA. Upon the expiry of a license, including termination, the facilities and immovables of the licensee, in operating condition, will be transferred by the licensee in accordance with the license agreement.

p.q.Our GSM License Agreement

General

Since April 1998, we have operated under a25-year GSM license for which we paid an upfront license fee of $500 million. In 2002, we signed a renewed license agreement for our GSM license which provides that a monthly payment of 15% over our gross revenue paid to the Turkish Treasury shall be subject to the legal interest rate. If such payments are not duly paid twice in any given year, a penalty in an amount equal to triple the last monthly payment shall be payable to the Turkish Treasury. However, as a result of the aforementioned amendments made to the Telegraph and Telephone Law, it has been provided that in the event that the treasury share is not paid in full in the given period, the ICTA has the right to impose a penalty in the amount of one full amount of the incomplete or unpaid treasury share. The process of the amendment of the licence agreement in accordance with said Law is ongoing and the licence agreement is expected to be amended by the ICTA. In addition, we must pay annual contributions in an amount equal to 0.35% of our gross revenue to the ICTA’s expenses. After the tender relating to the allocation of additional GSM 900 frequency bands, made by the ICTA in June 2008, the license agreement was amended to include the additional frequency band, and was signed in February 2009 by Turkcell and the ICTA, in February 2009, which made small additional changes in the articles of the license agreement entitled performance bond and allocated frequency bands, and then it was signed again in February 2016 with small amendments. The license agreements of Turkcell were last amended in 2019.

Terms and Conditions

Under the license agreement, we hold a licensed concession to provide telecommunications services in accordance withGSM-PAN European Mobile Telephone System standards in the 900 MHz frequency band. Our license covers 55 channels and allocates telephone numbers between the 530 and 539 area codes in the national numbering plan. Our license also permits us to establish customer service centers, sign contracts with subscribers and market our services to subscribers. Our license was issued with an effective date of April 27, 1998, for an initial term of 25 years. At the end of the initial term, we can renew our license, subject to the approval of the ICTA, provided that we apply between 24 months and 6 months before the end of our license. Our license is not exclusive and is not transferable without the approval of the ICTA.

We paid a license fee of $500 million to the Turkish Treasury upon the effectiveness of our license. On an ongoing basis, we must pay 15% of our gross revenue, defined as of March 2006 to exclude interest charges for late collections from subscribers and indirect taxes such as 18% VAT, as well as other expenses and the accrued amounts that are recorded for reporting purposes to the Turkish Treasury. We are required to pay 10% of our existing monthly treasury share to the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure as a universal service fund contribution. Since 2005, we are required to pay 90% of the treasury share to the Turkish Treasury and 10% to the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure as a universal service fund contribution. As of January 1, 2018, all of our treasury share is paid to the ICTA, which then transfers it to the Turkish Treasury and the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure as detailed above. The calculation method for the treasury share has also beenwas later revised and consequently, the following will consequentlyare not be considered in calculation of the treasury share: overdue interests which are accrued to the subscribers for any unpaid balance, accrual amounts for the purpose of reporting, reflecting the installation and maintenance costs of the mobile radio stations to other mobile operators and finally, amounts for the purpose of correction accounting records which occur in the same year due to errors (such as customer information, type of business, amount and price).

Furthermore, under the Authorization Regulation, all kinds of share transfers, acquisitions and actions of the operators which are authorized by a Concession Agreement must be communicated to the ICTA, and such share

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transfers, acquisitions and actions shall be made with the written approval of the ICTA if they result in a change of control component of such operators. The “control component” is defined as “the rights that allow for applying a decisive effect on an enterprise, either separately or jointly, de facto or legally”.

Our license subjects us to a number of conditions. It may be revoked in the event that we fail to meet any of these conditions.

Coverage

Our license requires that we meet coverage and technical criteria. We must attain geographical coverage of 50% of the population of Turkey (living in cities or towns of 10,000 or more inhabitants) within three years of our license’s effective date and at least 90% of the population of Turkey (living in cities or towns of 10,000 or more inhabitants) within five years of the effective date of our license. This coverage requirement excludes coverage met through national roaming and installation sharing arrangements with other GSM systems and operators. Upon the request of the ICTA, we may also be required, throughout the term of our license, to cover at most two additional areas each year. Except in the event of force majeure, we must pay a late performance penalty of 0.2% of the investment in the related coverage area per day for any delay of more than six months in fulfilling a coverage area obligation. As at the end of 2018, we have met and surpassed all coverage obligations.

Service Offerings

Our license requires that we provide services that, in addition to general GSM phone services, include free emergency calls and technical assistance for customers, free call forwarding to police and other public emergency services, receiver-optional short messages, video text access, fax capability, calling and connected number identification and restrictions, call forwarding, call waiting, call hold, multi-party and three-party conference calls, billing information, and the barring of a range of outgoing and incoming calls.

Service Quality

Generally, we must meet all the technical standards of the GSM Association as determined and updated by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute and Secretariat of the GSM Association. Moreover, we must meet the standards that the ICTA imposes under “Regulation on Quality of Service in the Electronic Communications Sector”.

Tariffs

The license agreement regulates our ability to determine our tariff for GSM services. The license agreement provides that, after consultation with us and consideration of tariffs applied abroad for similar services, the ICTA sets the initial maximum tariffs in Turkish Lira and U.S. Dollars. Thereafter, our license provides that the maximum tariffs shall be adjusted at least every six months. The license agreement provides a formula for adjusting the existing maximum tariffs. For the adjustment of the maximum tariffs established in Turkish Lira, the formula is: the Turkish Consumer Price Index announced by the Ministry of Industry and Technology for TurkeyCommerce minus 3% of the Turkish Consumer Price Index announced by the Ministry of Industry and Technology.Commerce. For the maximum tariffs established in U.S. Dollars, the same method is applied to the USA Consumer Price All Item Index Numbers.

Although we believe the tariff structure in our license will, in most instances, permit adjustments designed to offset devaluations of the Turkish Lira against the U.S. Dollar, any such devaluation that we are unable to offset will require us to use a larger portion of our revenue to service ournon-Turkish Lira foreign currency obligations. Additionally, in the event that the ICTA were to establish maximum tariffs at levels below those that would enable us to adjust our rates to offset devaluations, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated financial condition, results of operations and/or liquidity. The maximum tariffs set by the ICTA may constitute the highest rates we may charge for the services included in these customized service packages. Generally, the maximum tariffs set by the ICTA for particular services are set higher than the standard tariffs determined by the ICTA for those services. Such caps were in force at the beginning of 2016, until a decision rendered in March 10, 2016 by the ICTA annulled the maximum tariffs set by the ICTA in 2015. On September 20, 2018, the ICTA set the maximum tariffs at 0.5670 TRY/min for voice and TRY 0.4075 for SMS with regard to Turkcell and Vodafone on the basis of the obligations in their licence agreements. Since AveaTT Mobil does not have such an obligation in its licence, a policy decision was taken by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastucture for AveaTT Mobil to comply with maximum tariffs. The latest ICTA Board Decision dated September 23, 2019 sets the rates at TRY 0.6494 TRY/min for voice and TRY 0.4668 for SMS as of October 1, 2019.

With respect to our retail tariffs, following a board resolution dated March 25, 2009, the ICTA set a lower limit solely forwith regard to Turkcell’son-net retail tariffs. In the following years our minimumon-net price level was changed several times by the ICTA, and was set at TRY 0.0073 for SMS and TRY 0.0428 for voice for the first two quarters of 2016. However, pursuantPursuant to a decision rendered on August 16, 2016, the ICTA removed the regulation on lower limit onaforementioned on-net

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retail prices and campaigns. These pricing regulations were valid on each and every single voice tariff and campaign, whereas we were obliged to maintain our minimumon-net SMS rate on network base. The table below shows theon-net prices and MTR rates until August 16, 2016:price regulation.

TRY

  Before July 1, 2013   July 1, 2013 –
August 16, 2016
   Change % 

Minimumon-net voice price

   0.0313    0.0428    37

Minimumon-net SMS price

   —      0.0073    —   

Voice MTR

   0.0313    0.0250    (20%) 

SMS MTR

   0.0170    0.0043    (75%) 

The ICTA has in the past intervened and may again intervene with the charging period, impacting the prices we charge for our tariffs.

Relationship with the ICTA

The license agreement creates a mechanism for an ongoing relationship between us and the ICTA. The ICTA and Turkcell coordinate their activities through a License Coordination Committee (“the Committee”), which is responsible for ensuring the proper and coordinated operation of the GSM network, assisting in the resolution of disputes under the license agreement and facilitating the exchange of information between the parties.

License Suspension and Termination

The ICTA may suspend our operations for a limited or an unlimited period if necessary for the purpose of public security or national defense, including war and general mobilization. During suspension, the ICTA may operate our business, but we are entitled to any revenues collected during such suspension, and our license term will be extended by the period of any suspension.

Our license may be terminated under our license agreement upon a bankruptcy ruling that is not reversed or dismissed within 90 days, upon our failure to perform our obligations under the license agreement if such failure is not curedremedied within 90 days, if we operate outside the allocated frequency ranges and fail to terminate such operations within 90 days or if we fail to pay our treasury fee.

In the event of termination, we must deliver the entire GSM system to the ICTA.

If our license is terminated for our failure to perform our obligations under our license, the performance guarantee given by us in an amount equal to 1% of the license fee may be called. The license agreement makes no provision for the payment of consideration to us for delivery of the system on such termination.

In the event of a termination of our license, our right to use allocated frequencies and to operate the GSM system ceases. Upon the expiration of the license agreement, initially scheduled to occur in 2023, without renewal, we must transfer to the ICTA, or an institution designated by the ICTA, without consideration, the network management center, the gateway exchanges, and the central subscription system, which are the central management units of the GSM network. We may apply to the ICTA between 24 and six months before the end of the25-year license term for the renewal of the license. The ICTA may renew the license, taking into account the legislation then currently in effect.

Applicable Law and Dispute Resolution

Under our license agreement, any dispute arising from scope, implementation and termination of the agreement shall be brought before the Committee. If the dispute is not settled within 30 days before the Committee, it shall be referred to the parties. If the dispute is not resolved by the parties within 15 days, then it shall be settled by an arbitral tribunal in accordance with ICC Rules. The governing law of any arbitration is Turkish law and any such arbitration shall be conducted in English. Disputes relating to national security or public policy shall not be subject to arbitration proceedings.

Additionally, the Law No. 7061 dated November 28, 2017 has introduced the settlement mechanism set forth in a provision of the Tax Procedural Law No. 213 for the disputes in relation to the payment of the treasury share.

q.r.Authorization of 3G License

In 2008, the ICTA conducted a tender process to grant four separate licenses to provide IMT 2000/UMTS services and infrastructure. We were granted theA-type license, which provides the widest frequency band, at a consideration of EUR 358 million (excluding VAT). We signed the license agreement relating to 3G authorization on April 30, 2009 and then the agreement was renewed and resigned in February 2016 with small amendments which do not change the core of the service. The license agreement has a term of 20 years.

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The 3G License Agreement has provisions that are generally similar to those contained in our license agreement relating to 2G. However, with respect to dispute resolution, while our 2G license provides for arbitration for the settlement of disputes, under the 3G License Agreement, disputes arising between the parties shall ultimately be settled by the Council of State of the Republic of Turkey.

With the 3G License Agreement, we are obliged to meet certain coverage obligations. We are required to cover the population within the borders of all metropolitan municipalities within three years and all cities and municipalities within six years. We are also obliged to cover every region with a population over 5,000 within eight years and population larger than 1,000 within 10 years. Following the amendment of the Law for Metropolitan Municipalities, the number of metropolitan municipalities increased and the borders of some metropolitan municipalities were extended. After this amendment, the ICTA increased our coverage obligations, defined in our concession agreement, by its decision, based on this law amendment. We filed a lawsuit for the stay of execution and the cancellation of this decision. The Council of State accepted our stay of execution request. The ICTA objected to this decision. ObjectionThe objection was also rejected in favor of Turkcell. The hearing was held on November 27, 2018 and it2018. The Court annulled the decision of the ICTA. The ICTA appealed the decision. Turkcell replied to the appeal request in due time. The appeal process is expected that the court will grant a decision.pending.

With the 3G License Agreement, as opposed to the 2G License Agreement, the Company assumed an obligation related to its electronic communications network investments, such as the obligation to provideobtain at least 40% of its electronic communications investments from suppliers that have a Research and Development Center in Turkey and the obligation to provideobtain at least 10% of its electronic communications investments from suppliers that are small and medium sizesized enterprises (“SMEs”) established in Turkey.

According to the Authorization Regulation, breaches by operators resulting in the termination of the GSM concession agreement for any reason shall also result in the termination of the operator’s concession agreement signed forIMT-2000/UMTS service. Also, if the GSM concession agreement is not renewed at the end of its natural expiration, the ICTA may continue to allow the utilization of the needed infrastructure byIMT-2000/UMTS services on terms and conditions to be set by the ICTA itself.

The statutes, rules and regulations applicable to our activities and our 2G and 3G licenses are generally new, subject to change, in some cases, incomplete, and have been subject to limited governmental interpretation. Precedents for and experience with business and telecommunications regulations in Turkey are generally limited. In addition, there have been several changes to the relevant legal regime in recent years. There can be no assurance that the law or legal system will not change further, or be interpreted in a manner that could materially and adversely affect our operations.

r.s.Authorization of 4.5G License

In theIMT- Advanced (“4.5G”) tender held on August 26, 2015 to grant spectrum usage for 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz (FDD,TDD) and 2600 MHz (FDD, TDD), the Company purchased a total of 172.4 MHz, the broadest 4.5G (IMT) spectrum allocation of any operator in Turkey (including widest frequency bands on 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz and 2600 MHz) for EUR 1,623.5 million (excluding VAT and interest payable on the installments).

The tender gave equal opportunity to the operators in the low frequency bands utilized for coverage while enabledenabling competition in higher frequency bands mainly used for capacity. The Company has reached a total frequency bandwidth of 234.4 MHz and our ownership in total bandwidth in the market increased to 43% (234.4 MHz / 549.2 MHz) with the new frequencies acquired. The operators will be able to utilize the new spectrum in a technology neutraltechnology-neutral way.

The ICTA granted Turkcell’s 4.5G License on October 27, 2015. The 4.5G License is effective for 13 years until April 30, 2029. According to the License, Turkcell started to provide 4.5G services from April 1, 2016.

The 4.5G License Agreement has provisions that are generally similar to those contained in our license agreement relating to 2G and 3G. According to the IMT License Commitments Document, the Company;

(a) must achieve population coverage of 95% of the population of Turkey and coverage of 90% of the population within the borders of all cities and all city districts within eight years,

(b) must cover 99% of highways, high speed railroads and tunnels with lengths more than one kilometers within eight years, 95% of double roads within six years and 90% of conventional railroads within ten years, and

(c) is obliged to share actively with other mobile operators, any new 3G or 4.5G site which it will decide to build within settlement areas with a population of less than 10,000 and highways, double roads,dual carriageways, tunnels, high speed railroads and conventional railroads, from the effective date of the License granted to the Company.

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While building its infrastructure for 4.5G networks, Turkcell is required to purchase up to 45% of its network related hardware (i.e. base stations, switches, routers and as such) and software from local suppliers, and purchase 10% of the network equipment and software from local SMEs engaged in production in Turkey. The local network related hardware purchase requirement is defined in three periods: 30% for first year, 40% for second year and 45% for the third and followingsubsequent years. Reporting on these requirements should be made to the ICTA on a yearly basis. In case of a projection of a failure to meet the requirement for locally produced hardware and software due to the lack of sufficient local supply and other relevant conditions, the Company shall file an application to the ICTA 6 months before the due date, and request an easing or removal of the obligation. Based on the law, we have applied for the removal of the obligation for the first threefour periods, which are 2015-2016, 2016-2017, 2017-2018 and 2017-2018 periods.2018-2019.

In addition to the above-mentioned obligations, in the context of the 4.5G license, the Company assumed the obligation to obtain at least 40% of its electronic communications investments from suppliers with a Research and Development Center in Turkey, as well as the obligation to obtain at least 10% of its electronic communications investments from small and medium sized enterprises suppliers that are established in Turkey and manufacture local products.

Breaches regarding the abovementioned obligations and the breaches resulting in the termination of the GSM andIMT-2000/UMTS concession agreements for any reason shall also result in the termination of the Operator’s 4.5G authorization. The Company may apply to the ICTA between 18 and 12 months before the natural end of authorization (April 30, 2029) for the renewal of the authorization.renewal. The ICTA may renew the authorization, taking into account the current legislation.

s.t.Licenses and Authorizations of our Subsidiaries

In addition to the foregoing, our majority owned subsidiary, Belarusian Telecom, and wholly ownedwholly-owned subsidiaries lifecell and Kuzey Kibris TurkcellTelekom hold GSM licenses in Belarus, Ukraine and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, respectively, and all of them have obtained 3G licenses. lifecell also holds 4G licence. If lifecell, Belarusian Telecom and Kuzey Kibris TurkcellTelekom fail to comply with the terms and conditions of their license agreements, they may incur significant penalties, which could have a material adverse effect on our strategy for international expansion and our business and results of operations. In addition, our subsidiaries Global Tower, Turkcell Superonline, Inteltek, Turkcell Enerji, Paycell and Financell have licenses to perform their business. Failure to comply with the terms of such licenses may lead to significant penalties and adversely affect their, as well as our, results of operations.

Ukraine License Agreement

As of December 31, 20182019 lifecell owns eleven11 activity licenses, for GSM 900, a technology neutral license, issued for 3G, one license for international and long-distance calls and eight PSTN licenses for eight regions in Ukraine. Starting from December 25, 2019, the Telecommunications Law was changed and the licensing obligation relating to telecommunications activity was removed. Consequently, as of December 31, 2019, lifecell performs its activities without a license. As of December 31, 2018,2019, lifecell owned 2927 frequency use licenses for IMT(LTE-2600,LTE-1800),IMT-2000 (UMTS),GSM-900,GSM-1800,CDMA-800 and microwave Radiorelay and Broadband Radio Access, which are regional and national. Licenses for IMT(LTE-2600,LTE-1800) andGSM-1800 were issued on 4G tenders, held in the first quarter of 2018. Additionally, lifecell holds a specific number range – range—three NDC codes for mobile networks, twenty one permissiontwo permissions on a number resource for short numbers, eleven permissions on a number resource forSS-7 codes (7 regional and 4 international), one permission on a number resource for Mobile Network Code, nine permissions on a number resource for local ranges for PSTN licenses, two permissions on a service codes for alternative routing selection for international and long-distance fixed telephony, and one permission on a code for global telecommunication service “800”.

According to the licenses, lifecell must adhere to state sanitary regulations to ensure that the equipment used does not injure the population by means of harmful electromagnetic emissions. Licenses require lifecell to inform authorities of the start/end of operations within four months and changes in the incorporation address within 30 days. Also, lifecell must present all the required documents for inspection by the NCCIR by their request. The NCCIR may suspend the operations of lifecell for a limited or an unlimited period if necessary due to the expiration of the licenses, upon mutual consent, or in the case of a violation of the terms regarding the use of radio frequencies. If such a violation is determined, the Ukrainian Telecommunications Authority will notify lifecell of the violations and will set a deadline for recovery. If the deadline is not met, the licenses may be terminated.

Belarus License Agreement

Belarusian Telecom owns a license for mobile services without technological limitations (technology neutral), issued on August 28, 2008, for a period of 10 years, which was valid till August 28, 2018. However, in accordance with the Edict of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated November 26, 2015, numbered 475, the license is issued without limitation of the period of validity. Starting from March 1, 2016 the license is valid from the date of the licensing authority’s decision on its issue and for an unlimited period. Under the terms of its license, Belarusian Telecom has coverage requirements for 2G and 3G networks. Belarusian Telecom had been provided with additional time by the license authority to fulfill all 2G signal coverage requirements regarding the settlements untilsettlements. Management of the end of 2018. We arecompany is in close communication with the regulatory body regarding 2G license requirements and we have applied for certain license requirement adjustments. We expect that another period extension will be provided imminently to Belarusian Telecom. As of December 2018,3G related license requirements have been fulfilled. There is no any coverage requirement for 4G services in the number of uncovered settlements is 646 out of a total of 22,552 settlements.license.

Based on local legislation, 4G infrastructure can be built by JLLC Belarusian Cloud Technologies (“beCloud”) only. Belarusian Telecom uses beCloud’s infrastructure to deliver LTE services for its customers.

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Turkcell Superonline Authorizations

Turkcell Superonline was authorized as a Fixed Telephony Service Provider as of November 19, 2004 (for 15 years), Infrastructure Provider as of March 6, 2006 (for 25 years), Internet Service Provider as of February 15, 2005 (no duration specified), Satellite Communication Service Provider as of March 24, 2009 (no duration specified), Cable Broadcast Service Provider as of November 23, 2009 (no duration specified) and Mobile Virtual Network Operator as of July 14, 2015.2015 (for 15 years). Upon the expiry of the term of Turkcell Superonline’s Fixed Telephony Service Provider authorization on November 19, 2019, the ICTA has extended the authorization period by one year.

The AuthorizationBy-Law for Telecommunication Services and Infrastructure published in the Official Gazette on August 26, 2004 was abrogated with theBy-Law on Authorization for Electronic Communications Sector dated May 28, 2009. According to this abrogation, Turkcell Superonline’s “Authorization” on Infrastructure Operating Service, Internet Service Provision and Satellite Communication Service have been changed to “Authority” on Infrastructure Operating Service, Internet Service Provision, Satellite Communication Service and Cable Broadcast Service. Turkcell Superonline’s “License” on Long Distance Telephony Services License has been changed to “Authorizations” relevant to the Fixed Telephony Services. Aforementioned Public Access Mobile Radio Service Provider Authorization of Turkcell Superonline was annulled as of December 31, 2015.

In accordance with the legislation issued by the ICTA in 2011, the term of the infrastructure operator authorization of Turkcell Superonline has become indefinite.

Turkcell Superonline was authorized as a Platform Operator and Infrastructure Operator, according to the Radio and Television Supreme Council’s decision numbered 24, dated March 26, 2014. Such authorizations have been provided by the Radio and Television Supreme Council, according to the rules of the Media Law and also the Radio and Television Supreme CouncilBy-Law on Broadcasting via Cable Networks. In accordance with the Media Law and its regulations, the Platform Operator Authorization and Infrastructure Operator Authorization are provided annually. Within the scope of the Platform Operator Authorization and Infrastructure Operator Authorization, Turkcell Superonline has the right to operate the platform and infrastructure of TV services.

In 2019, the ICTA finalized “The Wholesale Central and Local Market Analysis”. By its Board decision dated December 31, 2019, the ICTA decided to designate Turk Telekom alone as the SMP for both markets. Access to fiber products, VULA (Virtual Unbundling of Local Access) access, margin squeeze obligations are also imposed on Turk Telekom in addition to its current obligations.

t.u.Access and Interconnection Regulation

The Access and Interconnection Regulation (the “Regulation”) became effective when it was issuedupon issue by the ICTA on September 8, 2009, and abolished the Access and Interconnection Regulation which was published on May 23, 2003. The Regulation sets forth the rights and obligations of the operators relating to access and interconnection, and establishes rules and procedures pertaining to their performance of such obligations. The Regulation primarily sets forth applicable principles, details of access and interconnection obligations, financial provisions, and policies and procedures regarding negotiations and contracts for access and interconnection.

The Regulation is driven largely by the goal of improving the competitive environment and ensuring that users benefit from electronic communications services and infrastructure at a reasonable cost. Under the Electronic Communications Law, the ICTA may compel a telecommunications operator to accept another operator’s request for access to and use of its network. All telecommunications operators in Turkey may be required to provide access to other operators. The operators who are compelled to provide access to other operators may be obliged to provide service and information on the same terms and qualifications provided to their shareholders, subsidiaries, and affiliates by the ICTA.

In accordance with Article 7 of the aforementioned Electronic Communications Law, the ICTA may determine thethose operators that have significant market power in the relevant market as a result of market analysis. After determination of the operators who have significant market power,of SMP, the ICTA may impose additional liabilities for such operators in order to protect the competitive environment. On December 15, 2005, the ICTA designated Turkcell, Vodafone, and AveaTT Mobil as “operators holding significant market power” in the “GSM Mobile Call Termination Services Market” and designated Turkcell individually as an “operator holding significant market power” in the “Access to GSM Mobile Networks and Call Originating Markets”. According to the new Regulation published in

the Official Gazette dated September 1, 2009, numbered 27336, unless otherwise agreed, any decisions taken by the ICTA in the years 2005 and 2006 relating to market analysis were valid and effective until the end of calendar year 2009. Pursuant to its decision dated December 8, 2009, the ICTA designated Turkcell individually as an operator holding significant market power in the “Access to Mobile Networks and Call Originating Markets” and designated Turkcell, Vodafone and AveaTT Mobil as operators holding significant market power in the “Mobile Call Termination Market”. Based on the market analysis of the ICTA for the 2012-2015 term, all three operators were declared as operators holding significant market power in the “Mobile Call Termination Market” and Turkcell is once again recognized as the only operator holding significant power in “Access to GSM Mobile Networks and Call Originating Markets”. As explained above, renewalThe Mobile Access and Call Origination Market has been deregulated and Turkcell’s SMP designation was removed as of market analysis for both markets was expected to be finalized in 2016. However, public consultation documents were released at the end of 2016; and mobile market analyses were finalized in April 2017.January 1, 2020.

As a result of the significant market power designation in the “GSM Mobile Call Termination Services Market”, our company,Company, as well as AveaTT Mobil and Vodafone, is required to provide interconnection services on a cost basis.

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Consequently, according to the Electronic Telecommunications Law, the ICTA may oblige such operators to provide access and to submit their reference offers for access and interconnection to the ICTA for review, and may require amendments to the offers. Operators are obliged to make the amendments requested by the ICTA in a prescribed manner and within a prescribed period. In addition, the operators are obliged to publish their reference offers for access and interconnection, which have been approved by the ICTA, and to provide access under the conditions specified in their reference offers and interconnection, which have been approved by the ICTA. Please refer to the Interconnection table under the caption “Interconnection“(ii) Interconnection Rates—Turkcell, Vodafone, AveaTT Mobil and Turk Telekom” below for the approved interconnection rates as at March 7, 2019.20, 2020.

u.v.Regulation onCo-Location and Facility Sharing

The ICTA has required operators to share certain facilities with other operators under certain conditions specified in the Electronic Communications Law and to provideco-location on their premises for the equipment of other operators at a reasonable price.

Under the Regulation, operators holding significant market power are required to provide access and services to all operators on equal terms. Operators with significant market power are also required to perform unbundling of their services, which means that they have to provide separate service of, and access to, transmission, switching, and operation interfaces. Furthermore, the ICTA may establish rules applicable to the division of the costs of facilities among parties.

The ICTA published a CommuniquéCommunique concerning“Co-Location “Co-Location and Facility Sharing” on December 2, 2010 (which abolished the Regulation published on December 31, 2003). According to the Communiqué,Communique, the ICTA should determine operators to beco-location incumbent if operators do not enableco-location, or there’swhere is a dispute against competition, orend-users. Similarly, the ICTA could set tariffs if the tariffs forco-layout are not determined on a cost basis.

The CommuniquéCommunique defines the criteria for operators who are incumbents for facility sharing, and also states the items which must be considered for determining the Facility Sharing prices.

Subsequently, the provisions that regulate the ICTA approval of the examination fee determined by theCo-Location and Facility Sharing incumbent have been removed, opening up theCo-Location and Facility Sharing process to negotiation. In addition, the Facility Sharing incumbent’s right to allocate a facility for its own network and investment plans has been reduced to 25% of the facility.

The ICTA published a regulation concerning “Cellular System Antenna Facility Design, Set Up and Sharing” on March 18, 2011 (which abolished the Regulation published on April 16, 2008). The regulation frames antenna facilities design, set up and sharing to enable base station facility usage by multiple operators. The emission points will not be determined by operators, therefore operators will have to work cellular planning together. Operators must share every base station facility regardless of tower orbuilding-top distinction. Antenna facilities must be set up in certain capacity that at least one more operator can benefit. Some incentives, such as exemptions on somecertain certification fees, will be given if sharing occurs on existing or new sites. Finally, when antenna facility set up and sharing requests are evaluated, if the owner of the facility refuses the request, the requesting operator will be informed of the reason for the refusal. This way, negotiation between parties is supported and ICTA involvement is kept at a minimum level. On December 6, 2016, the ICTA repealed the above regulation and replaced it with “The Regulation on the Procedures and Principles of Sharing of Cellular System Antenna Installations and Radio Access Networks”. According to this Regulation:

 

The number of sharing types has increased. The terms and conditions of sharing aton highways, railways and within tunnels is now a separate section.

 

In regions where the population is lower than 10,000, if an operator is unable to use the antenna installations built by another operator before the IMT licensing, the operator must notify the ICTA about the situation and the ICTA may let the operator build a new antenna installation. This operator is obliged to make an installation facilitating the sharing by all types with at least two other operators. The operator cannot turn down any sharing requests involving installations set up after IMT licensing in motorways, high speed and very high speed railways, dual carriage highways, tunnels and conventional railways, except for indoor installations.

 

In regions where the population is higher than 10,000 at the time of application to the Authority to build a new installation, provided that operator(s) are present and offer the new comer at least three of the possible share types, no wireless usage fee will be charged for the following year. If the antenna installation concerns towers exclusively, type 2 sharings (e.g. tower and direct sharings) will suffice. This rule will apply until December 31, 2023.

 

In regions where the population is lower than 10,000, except indoor installations, new antenna installations which were established between the date of the IMT authorization and the issue date of this Regulation, all settlements and motorways, high speed and very high speed railways, dual carriage highways, tunnels and conventional railways must be brought in line with the conditions set by this Regulation.

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In the 4.5G Authorization Document, in provinces with a population of less than ten thousand and at sites to cover highways, double roadsdual carriageways and railroads, any new 3G or 4.5G site to be built must be shared actively by all operators within this region. In the 4.5G Authorization Document, usage of locally-produced equipment in network was obliged, with rates up to 45%. Yet if the lack of such equipment or absence in the demand for the production of such equipment is proved by mobile operators, and appealed before the end of reporting period, the ICTA may ease the conditions of the obligation or completely remove the obligation specifically for the related period. We informed the ICTA that we support any local R&D and P&D, as long as it complies with international technical and financial standards and can be sustainable. However, the 4.5G Authorization Document does not provide details on the compliance with international standards. The ICTA may oblige operators to buy and use the locally produced products, independent of the quality standards, if a local vendor produces sufficient equipment to support the mobile operators’ demands. This may cause technical problems in our network. Should such technical problems occur, it could negatively affect our quality of service, leading to increased costs for the 4.5G infrastructureroll-out and could negatively affect our customer experience.

v.w.Regulationon Consumer Rights in the Electronic Communications Sector

The ICTA published a “Regulation on Consumer Rights in the Electronic Communications Sector” on July 28, 2010 (which abolished the Regulation published on December 22, 2004) and made some changes to such regulation on June 20, 2013. This regulation introduced some radical changes to the electronic communications sector. With this regulation, the ICTA determined new procedures/changes regarding: the process and timing of churn steps, the obligation of operators to keep subscribers informed of services, including, but not limited to, informing customers about amendments of the campaigns and tariffs, the consumer complaints solution mechanism, billing processes and safe internet. The Regulation on Consumer Rights in the Electronic Communications Sector, which came into force in April 2018, repealed and replaced the previous regulation. Although the new version mainly preserves the provisions of the former regulation, one of the main differences is that the first service on/off operation in a calendar year may no longer be charged in case the services were suspended/disconnected due tonon-payment within due date. Moreover, the Regulation on Consumer Rights in the Electronic Communications Sector has been amended to allow subscription contracts to be made electronically as of October 28, 2017. Procedures and principles regarding the use of digital signatures are to be determined separately by the ICTA.

In addition, the ICTA may restrict the conditions under which certain mobile internet and services are provided by third parties. Moreover, the ICTA published a board decision regarding Safe Internet on August 22, 2011, and the service is now offered to subscribers free of charge. Operators must provide Safe Internet Service to subscribers, who request this service, as two separate profiles, the child profile and the family profile, each of which can restrict subscribers from accessing certain internet addresses and content. The subscribersSubscribers can easily change their profiles oropt-out from the Safe Internet Service.

The ICTA set forth the reimbursement process arising from its decisions by publishing the procedures and principles to be applied to the reimbursement of the subscribers which came into force in 2018. In addition, “the Procedures and Principles Regarding the Services with Limited Amount of Use and the Applications of Upper Limits of Receipts” that was published on August 19, 2016 has been in force since December 1, 2017. The notificationsNotifications regarding thethose services with limited amount of use and the applications of upper limits of receipts used to be regulated by separate documents. But with the aforementioned Procedures and Principals, the means, the timing and the content of the notifications regarding the services with limited amount of use and the upper limits of receipts has been consolidated under a regulation. The ICTA’s regulation of these activities could have an adverse effect on our mobile telecommunications business and we may be fined if we do not comply. Furthermore, our compliance with the ICTA’s regulations may increase the costs of doing business and could negatively impact our financial results.

An ICTA decision dated June 21, 2018 favoring subscribers with special needs, veterans, and widows/widowers and orphans of martyrs was published and came to effect on January 1, 2019. The decision requires operators that have more than 200 thousand subscribers to offer their services to these groups that are “in need of social support” withat a 25% discount. The discount is to be offered upon proof of identity and the subscriber’s special need.

w.x.Regulation on Data Privacy in the Electronic Communications Sector

Under Article 51 of the Electronic Communications Law, the ICTA is authorized to determine the principles and procedures related to the processprocessing of personal data and protection of privacy. In this manner, the ICTA had published “Regulations on“Regulation Concerning the Processing of Personal Data and the Protection of Privacy and Processing of Personal Data”in the Electronic Communications Sector”. With its decision rendered on April 9, 2014 and published in the Official Gazette on July 26, 2014, the Turkish Constitutional Court decided that Article 51 of the Electronic Communications Law iswas a violation of Article 20(3) of the Constitution, which stipulates data protection as a constitutional measure and that the measures should be regulated by the laws, and therefore annulled the aforementioned provision (Article 51). The Article 51 of the Electronic Communications Law, which was repealed by the Turkish Constitutional Court, was amended and came into force on April 15, 2015. In the amended Article 51, the main principles of recording and sharing subscribers’ personal data are defined in general.general regarding the electronic communications sector. In addition to that, the ICTA is also authorized

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again to determine the procedures and principles related to the processprocessing of personal data and protection of privacy. A public consultation regarding the draft regulation has been collectedheld by the ICTA, howeveralthough the new regulation has not been adopted so far.yet to be adopted.

Compliance with this regulation will involveinvolves operational expenses and may require further due diligence to process the customerpersonal data and provide segmented offers to our customers. Furthermore,non-compliance with this Regulation may result in the imposition of monetary fines by ICTA, which could have a negative impact on our financial condition and reputation.

x.y.Law on the Protection of Personal Data

Turkey, as a part of its legislative reforms to align with the EU legislations, has adopted an extensive data protection regime. The Law on the Protection of Personal Data (the “Law”), which came into force on April 7, 2016, regulates the personal data of real persons and its protection, processprocessing and transfers.

The Law introduced several obligations for processing and transferring the personal data including but not limited to fair and lawful processing, protection of personal data, consent requirement, providing notice of processing, registration with the Registry of Data Controllers and notification to the Data Protection Authority (the “DPA”(“DPA”) and notification of DPA in case of a data breach. According to the Law, the DPA is authorized to impose sanctions and precautions as well as administrative fines which are determined in the Law.

The Law also determines the rights of the person whose data is processed, such as the right to apply to the Data Controllerdata controller to learn whether the personal data has been processed, to learn if it is being used properly according to the purpose of the processing, to know the third parties to which the personal data is transferred in the countryTurkey or abroad, to request the personal data to be erased or destroyed and the receiving third parties to be notified of that.that erasure or destruction.

As per Article 16 of the Law, the Regulation on the Registry of Data Controllers specifying procedures and principles regarding the Registry of Data Controllers was published on December 30, 2017 and came into force on January 1, 2018. Pursuant to this regulation, data controllers are obliged to register with the registry prior to

processing personal data and the exemptions from the registration requirement is to be determined by the Board ofData Protection of Personal Data.Board. The Company is subject to the obligation regardingof registration until June 30, 2020, the register with the registry untilinitial date was September 30, 2019;2019 but due to public request, it was postponed twice by the DPA. The data controllers that are not established in Turkey also have the responsibility to register with the registryRegistry via their representative that they will assign and data controllers are obliged to prepare a personal data processing inventory that includes the purposes for processing of personal data, data categories, subject groups of the data subjects, the maximum retention period of the data and measures taken regarding the data security.

In addition to the aforementioned regulation, on October 28, 2017 the Regulation Regarding the Deletion, Destruction and the Anonymization of Personal Data was published and came into force on January 1, 2018. The objective of the Regulation is to set forth procedures and principles regarding the deletion, destruction or anonymization of personal data processed wholly or partly by automatic means and otherwise by automatic means which form part of a data recording system. The Regulation applies only to data controllers. Furthermore, the CommuniquéCommunique on the Obligation to Provide Information and the CommuniquéCommunique on Principles and Procedures for Application to Data Controller was published and came into force on March 10, 2018 regulating principles and procedures in relation to informationthe obligation to inform data subjects and rules and processes for data subjects to exercise their rights regarding personal data. With respect to international data transfers, the DPA has not yet published the list of countries, which have an adequate level of protection as of the date hereof.

Failure to comply with the Law on the Protection of Personal Data may result in the imposition of certain civil, criminal and administrative sanctions. As of the date of this annual report, the Company is carrying out a compliance program with regard to compliance matters arising from the Law on the Protection of Personal Data and its secondary legislation.legislation, as well as the General Data Protection Regulation which applies to several products and services of our Company provided to data subjects who are in the European Union.

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Data Protection Officer (DPO) needs to be determined to represent obligated data controllers. In November 2019, Turkcell appointed its DPO based on her expert knowledge of data protection law and practices. By appointing the DPO, Turkcell aims to implement effective and focused management in the field of data protection. Such steps shows the commitment of Turkcell to adopt extensive compliance practices and best practices around the world.

y.z.Regulation on Electronic Commerce

Law No. 6563 on the Regulation of Electronic Commerce published in the Official Gazette on November 5, 2014, amended Article 50 of the Electronic Communications Law, providing that without the prior consent of the subscribers, unsolicited electronic communications for the purposes of direct marketing or messages with adult content is prohibited. An“opt-in” “opt-in” mechanism has been adopted for electronic messages; however, this provision does not apply retroactively to the databases which were established by takingobtaining the data subjects’ consent before the Law No. 6563 on Regulation of Electronic Commerce entered into force on May 1, 2015.

The Electronic Commerce Law and “Commercial Communications Andand Commercial Electronic Messages Regulation” published in accordance with this law exclude theexcludes messages that are sent to the subscribers and users of the operators about their own products and services, and these messages are regulated in “The Principles Andand The Procedures Regarding The Communication With The Purposes Of Advertising And Marketing” which was published by the ICTA on July 9, 2015. According to thiselectronic commerce legislation, thesesending commercial electronic messages areis also subject to the prior consent of the subscribers and users.recipients. Violation of this legislation may result in an administrative fine.

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z.aa.Registered Email Service Regulation

Registered Electronic Mail Service was started in July 2012. Mobile operators cannot provide registered electronic mail service; however, the service may create a new mobile business area with new bundled mobile products, which are able to service our subscribers.

aa.bb.Broadcast License and Broadcast Transmission Authorization for Broadcasting and Transmission of Radio, Television or On-demand Broadcast Services on the Internet

The Regulation on the Presentation of Radio, Television and On-demand Broadcasting Services on the Internet has came into force on September 1, 2019. As per this regulation, media service providers and platform operators broadcasting services on the internet must obtain a broadcasting license and broadcasting transmission authorization respectively from the Radio and Television Supreme Council (“RTUK”). In this respect, a broadcast license for fizy and a broadcasting transmission authorization for the OTT operations of TV+ must be

obtained from RTUK, if no further amendments are enacted. According to the RTUK notification, dated December 26, 2019, the relevant applications (broadcast license for fizy and broadcasting transmission authorization for the OTT operations of TV+) should be made prior to June 19, 2020. We have requested an extension until December 31, 2020.

cc.Turk Telekom, Vodafone and AveaTT Mobil Interconnection Agreements

(i) General

We have interconnection agreements with Turk Telekom, Vodafone, AveaTT Mobil and Fixed Telephony Service Operators whereby they allow us to connect our networks with theirs to enable the transmission of calls to and from our mobile communications system.

The interconnection agreements establish understandings between the parties relating to various key operational areas, including call traffic management, and the agreements contemplateentail that we and the other parties will agree on the contents of various manuals setting forth additional specifications concerning matters that are not specifically covered in the interconnection agreement, such as quality and performance standards and other technical, operational and procedural aspects of interconnection.

The interconnection agreements specify that the parties shall comply with relevant international standards, including standards adopted by the GSM Memorandum of Understanding, the Telecommunications Standards Bureau of the International Telecommunications Union, and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. In the absence of applicable international standards, the interconnection agreements provide that the parties will establish written standards to govern their relationship.

The interconnection agreements outline the applicable interconnection principles and provide the technical basis and rationale for technical specifications and manuals to be agreed to by the parties.

In addition, the parties agree to provide the other party with information that is necessary to enable the performance of their interconnection obligations, the provision of services, or the utilization of equipment and/or buildings as contemplated in the interconnection agreement.

(ii) Interconnection Rates—Turkcell, Vodafone, AveaTT Mobil and Turk Telekom

In accordance with the relevant articles of the Electronic Communications Law and subsequent Access and Interconnection Ordinance, the ICTA regulates both fixed and mobile interconnection rates. In previous years, the interconnection rates have substantially decreased with the interventions of the ICTA.

Mobile interconnection rates are based on the ICTA’s decision on the Interconnection Tariffs issued in June 2013. LastThe latest decision aboutconcerning interconnection rates was published in October 2014 and remainremains in force with no change in the existing rates. The MMS interconnection rates were also introduced in 2014. The evolution of interconnection rates for voice calls between Turkcell, Vodafone, Avea,TT Mobil, Turk Telekom and Alternative Fixed Line Operators is summarized in the table below.

 

  VOICE (TRY Kurus)   VOICE (TRY Kurus) 
              TURK TELEKOM   Alternative
Fixed Line
Operators
               TURK TELEKOM   Alternative
Fixed Line
Operators
 
  TURKCELL   VODAFONE   AVEA   Local   Single   Double   TURKCELL   VODAFONE   TT
Mobil
   Local   Single   Double 

01/10/2004

   15.60    15.60    15.60      4.10    5.90      15.60    15.60    15.60      4.10    5.90   

01/01/2005

   14.80    14.80    14.80      3.40    5.10      14.80    14.80    14.80      3.40    5.10   

01/10/2005

   14.00    14.00    14.00      2.00    3.70      14.00    14.00    14.00      2.00    3.70   

01/01/2007

   14.00    15.20    17.50      2.00    3.70      14.00    15.20    17.50      2.00    3.70   

01/03/2007

   13.60    14.50    16.70      1.89    3.00      13.60    14.50    16.70      1.89    3.00   

01/04/2008

   9.10    9.50    11.20      1.71    2.70      9.10    9.50    11.20      1.71    2.70   

01/05/2009

   6.55    6.75    7.75    1.39    1.71    2.70      6.55    6.75    7.75    1.39    1.71    2.70   

01/04/2010

   3.13    3.23    3.70    1.39    1.71    2.24    3.2    3.13    3.23    3.70    1.39    1.71    2.24    3.2 

01/07/2013

   2.50    2.58    2.96    1.39    1.71    2.24    3.2    2.50    2.58    2.96    1.39    1.71    2.24    3.2 

31/10/2014

   2.50    2.58    2.96    1.39    1.71    2.24    3.2    2.50    2.58    2.96    1.39    1.71    2.24    3.2 

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Effective from July 2013, Turkcell is paid TRY 0.0043 per SMS for SMS termination inon its network. Respective rates for Vodafone are TRY 0.0043 per SMS and for AveaTT Mobil TRY 0.0047.

 

  SMS (TRY Kurus)   SMS (TRY Kurus) 
  TURKCELL   VODAFONE   AVEA TURK
TELEKOM
   TURKCELL   VODAFONE   TT
MOBIL
   TURK
TELEKOM
 

01/04/2010

   1.70    1.73    1.87  1.70    1.70    1.73    1.87    1.70 

01/07/2013

   0.43    0.43    0.47  1.70    0.43    0.43    0.47    1.70 

31/10/2014

   0.43    0.43    0.47  1.70    0.43    0.43    0.47    1.70 

Effective from October 2014, Turkcell is paid TRY 0.0086 per MMS for MMS termination on its network. Respective rates for Vodafone are TRY 0.0086 per SMS and for AveaTT Mobil TRY 0.0094.

 

   MMS (TRY Kurus) 
   TURKCELL   VODAFONE   AVEA 

31/10/2014

   0.86    0.86    0.94 
   MMS (TRY Kurus) 
   TURKCELL    VODAFONE    TT MOBIL 

31/10/2014

   0.86    0.86    0.94 

bb.dd.Agreements Concluded with the Fixed Telecommunication Services Operators

(i) Interconnection/Call Termination Agreements

Turkcell, as an “operator holding significant market power”, entered into interconnection/call termination agreements with fixed telecommunication service operators that applied to Turkcell for an agreement. Interconnection rates are regulated by the ICTA. Turkcell pays fixed-line operators TRY 0.0320 per minute and fixed-line operators pay Turkcell TRY 0.0250 per minute for national voice call traffic.

(ii) International Transit Traffic Services Agreements

Turkcell entered into International Traffic Carrying Services Agreements with operators who applied to Turkcell for an agreement. Under these Agreements, we may carry calls to these operators’ switches for onward transmission to their destinations and these operators should provide the termination of these calls on the relevant network. These operators charge us at various prices identified within the scope of the agreement for the calls directed to numerous networks around the globe. The operators may modify their rates upon a fifteen day advanced written notice and such rates will become applicable upon our approval.

(iii) SMS Termination Agreements

During 2011, Turkcell entered into SMS Termination Agreements with alternative operators who applied to Turkcell for an agreement. In accordance with the ICTA regulations on SMS Termination Rates inon Turkcell’s network, Fixed Telephony Service Operators pay Turkcell TRY 0.0043 per SMS.

cc.ee.MVNO Services

The ICTA designated Turkcell as the operator having significant market power in the mobile access and call origination markets, which had implications such as mandatory MVNO access and cost-oriented call origination and termination rates.

ICTA’sThe ICTA decision dated April 12, 2017, stating that anex-ante regulation was no longer needed for Mobile Access Call Origination Market, and that Turkcell’s SMP designation was to be lifted after a period of one year, has been cancelled following the ICTA’s new decision dated April 4, 2018.

Highly competitive market conditions2018 stating that the transition period had been extended for an additional year until April 12, 2019. A new ICTA decision taken on April 3, 2019 has for the last time extended the transition period until December 31, 2019. Accordingly, Mobile Access and heavy tax burdens have discouraged potential MVNOs from entering the market for years. Nevertheless, commercial negotiations with certain MVNO candidates are in progressCall Origination Market will be deregulated and the ICTA gave signals of its intention to promote the development of MVNOs in the Turkish market by extending Turkcell’s SMP designation on call origination and access market for one additional year.is lifted as of January 1, 2020.

dd.ff.Agreements Concluded with Directory Service Providers

Turkcell entered into agreements relating to the provision of directory services with 11 Directory Service Providers, which are licensed by the ICTA to provide directory services by the ICTA.services. These agreements determine the principles and procedures related to the access of companies to the Turkcell database, the provision of directory services to the

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subscribers and the clearing procedure of the parties. Such agreements are valid and binding for a term of one year. However, if neither party notifies the other party one month before the expiration of the agreement of its request to terminate, the agreement will automatically be renewed for anotherone-year term.

ee.gg.Agreements Concluded with Operators Licensed to Provide Satellite Services

We have executed agreementsan agreement with Globalstar Avrasya Uydu Ses ve Data Iletisim A.S. and Teknomobil Uydu Haberlesme A.S., operatorsan operator licensed to provide satellite services. The scope of such agreementsthis agreement is the interconnection between the networks of the parties and the determination of the principles and procedures of the methods of network operation and clearance.

ff.hh. Other regulations affecting our Company

(i)Recent Amendments to the Turkish Insolvency and Restructuring Regime

The Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law No. 2004 prevents a contractual arrangement by which a contractual event of default clause is stipulated to be triggered in case of any application is made by a Turkish company for debt restructuring upon settlement within the scope of Turkish Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law No. 2004. In addition to this, on March 15, 2018, changes were introduced to the Turkish Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law No. 2004. Among other changes, one of them states that the contractual termination, default and acceleration clauses of an agreement cannot be triggered in case the debtor makes a concordat application and such application does not to constitute a breach of such agreement.

(ii)Communiqués on Management and Audit of Information Systems

The Capital Markets Board’s Communiqué on Information Systems Management numbered VII-128.9 and Communiqué on Independent Audit of Information Systems numbered III-62.2, which entered into force on 5 January 2018, introduced new obligations with regards to information systems for certain legal persons, including our Company.

The Communiqué on Information Systems Management defines the technical procedures for sustainability and secure operation of information systems in a very detailed way. Notably, with regards to data protection; specific measures are to be taken as precautions to protect the secrecy of the data received, processed and stored with regard to information system operations. This Communiqué sets out various methods to be used for physical and environmental safety, network security, identity verification, limited access through authorized persons, data integrity, preserving the confidentiality of the data stored in information systems.

The Communiqué on Independent Audit of Information Systems provides the rules, policies and principles on the independent audit of the information systems. The Communiqué provides that CMB certified independent auditor companies shall audit and report to the entities whether the audited entity is in line with the information system management principles in terms of its operations, equipment and software pursuant to the Communiqué. Frequency of the audits to be conducted by CMB certified independent auditors varies for each entity subject to CMB regulations. The Communiqué on Independent Audit of Information Systems is expected to be applicable to publicly listed companies, such as Turkcell, in 2021.

Although the Communiqués do not include specific penalties in the event of non-compliance, Article 103 (General Principles) of the Capital Markets Law will apply.

ii. Major regulations affecting our Subsidiaries

Financell

Financell is a finance company and is thereby subject to the the Financial Leasing, Factoring, and Financial Institutions Law No. 6361. The objective of this law is to regulate the establishment and operating principles of financial leasing, factoring and financing companies operating as financial institutions as well as the principles and procedures relating to financial leasing, factoring and financing contracts.

The Regulation on the Financial Leasing, Factoring, and Financing Companies Establishment and Operation Principle also regulates the duration of the loan and other financing principles. Although Financell has to abide by the Banking Regulatory and Supervisory Agency’s regulations due to its financing operations, it also has to abide by the Ministry of Trade’s regulations on the Consumer Credit Contract with its contents and essentials for its contracts with consumers.

Turkcell Sigorta Aracılık Hizmetleri A.S.

Turkcell Sigorta is regulated by many regulations pertaining to the insurance sector including the Insurance Law. However, since Turkcell Sigorta A.S. is an insurance agent, it is mainly regulated by the Regulations on Insurance Agents consisting of the specifications of the operations, establishment, structure, authorizations, and responsibilities of the individuals and the corporate entities which are willing to be insurance agents.

Turkcell Energy

The operations of Turkcell Energy are concentrated in the electricity market, which is heavily regulated in Turkey. The governing law is the Electricity Market Law, and the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (“EMRA”) is the central regulatory body issuing licenses, setting tariffs and quality standards. Electricity market activities in Turkey subject to the EMRA licensing regime include power generation, power supply, system operation (at both transmission and distribution level) and market operations for which each activity requires the issuance of a separate license.

Turkcell Energy holds a power supply license issued by EMRA on May 11, 2017 that is valid for 20 years. Its license allows Turkcell Energy to buy and sell electricity capacity and energy in both wholesale and retail markets at unregulated prices.

Paycell

With the enactment of Payment Systems Law No. 6493 in August 2016, Paycell has acquired a Payment Service Provider License from the Banking Regulatory Authority (BRSA). After Paycell was awarded an electronic money payment license in July 2017, it launched prepaid card and utility bill payments through its application and at Turkcell shops. On November 12, 2019, the BRSA’s regulatory powers in this regard were transferred to the Turkish Central Bank and new licenses enabling “open banking” have been introduced. Open banking regulations will enable Paycell to access customer information of banks with direct integration. Thus, Paycell will be able to execute payment transactions and act as a single interface to monitor all banking accounts of customers.

4.C Organizational Structure

The following chart lists each of our key subsidiaries (including our ownership interest in Fintur) and our proportionate direct and indirect ownership interest as of March 7, 2019:20, 2020.

LOGOLOGO

 

(1)

On February 16, 2018, the incorporation of Turkcell Ozel Finansman A.S. under the laws of Republic of Turkey was announced in Trade Registry Gazette of Turkey.

(2)

On April, 9, 2018, the legal title of Global Bilgi Pazarlama Danisma ve Cagri Servisi Hizmetleri A.S. was changed to Global Bilgi Pazarlama Danismanlik ve Cagri Servisi Hizmetleri A.S.

(3)

On June 25, 2018, the incorporation of Turkcell Sigorta Aracilik Hizmetleri A.S. under the laws of Republic of Turkey was announced in Trade Registry Gazette of Turkey.

(4)

On June 28, 2018, the incorporation of Turkiye’nin Otomobili Girisim Grubu Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. under the laws of Republic of Turkey was announced in Trade Registry Gazette of Turkey.

(5)

On July 30, 2018, the incorporation of Sofra Kurumsal ve Odullendirme Hizmetleri A.S. under the laws of Republic of Turkey was announced in Trade Registry Gazette of Turkey.

(6)

On August 14, 2018, the liquidation of Financell B.V was completed.

(7)

On January 9, 2019, the legal title of the company Turkcell Satis ve Dagitim Hizmetleri A.S. was changed to Turkcell Satis ve Dijital Is Servisleri A.S.

(8)(2)

On January 11, 2019, the sale of Azerinteltek QSC shares was completed.

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(9)(3)

On April 2, 2019, the transfer of our shares in Fintur Holdings B.V., in which Turkcell held 41.45% stake, to Sonera Holding, the other shareholder of Fintur, was classified as asset held for salecompleted.

(4)

On May 14, 2019, the acquisition of NTENT Netherlands B.V. was completed and reported as discontinued operations as of October 2016. As disclosed under the Fintur section, Fintur transferred its 100% share in Geocell to Silknet and 51.3% total shareholding in Azertel to Azintelecom in the first quarter of 2018. On December 21, 2018, Fintur’s 51%legal title of the shares in Kcell JSCcompany was transferredchanged to Kazakhtelecom JSC.Yaani Digital B.V.

(5)

On February 28, 2020, Lifecell Dijital Servisler ve Cozumler A.S. was incorporated.

For information on the country of incorporation of our key subsidiaries, see “Item 4.B. Business Overview”.

4.D Property, Plant and Equipment

As of December 31, 2018,2019, we operated 7778 facilities including network data centers, of which 5556 were located in Turkey, the rest in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Belarus and Ukraine.

We have our own and leased buildings in Istanbul, including our headquarters, mobile switching centers, network data centers, customer service offices and warehouses. Our buildings in Turkey and outside of Turkey are used for the purposes of administration, sales and other service centers, as well as marketing and operation of mobile switching centers and network data centers.

As of December 31, 20182019 we also had 156152 owned and 1,3611,200 leased vehicles, used for operational purposes and provided as benefits to somea number of our employees.employees in Turkey.

a.Core Network Infrastructure

Our core network consists of three site Geographically Redundant Next Generation Home Location Register Home Subscriber Server (“NG HLR”/“HSS”), a combined Number Portability Switch Relay Function (“SRF”) and Number Portability Database and Signal Transfer Point (“STP”), Diameter Routing Agent (DRA). The Core Network is common for 2G, 3G, 4.5G radio networks and carries voice over IP, with combined Mobile Switch Centers/Visitor Location Registers (“MSC/VLR”), Media Gateways (“MGW”), Charging Control Node (“CCN”) and Virtual Private Network (“VPN”).

We have an IMS based VoLTEVOLTE (Voice over LTE) network. We are planning to converge Core Voice and IMS Networks. With convergence of the networks, the telco based fixed and mobile services and (OTT based) application services will be givendelivered easier and faster.

Our core packet switching network combined of SGSNs/MME’sSGSNS/MME’S (Serving GPRS Support Node, Mobility Management Entity) and GGSNs/SGW/PGWs (Gateway GPRS Support Node, Serving and PDN Gateway) providing GPRS/EDGE, and HSPA/HSPA+ (High Speed Packet Access) capability for mobile packet traffic and also Policy and Charging Rules Function (“PCRF”) for subscriber policies. In addition, we have already deployed Data Optimization equipment for enhanced customer experience.

We have switches in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Bursa, Diyarbakir, Erzurum, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Malatya, Mersin, Mugla, Samsun, Trabzon, and Van.

In addition, we own switch buildings in different cities in Turkey, such as Istanbul (Mahmutbey, Kartal, Maltepe), Mugla, Izmit, Diyarbakir, and Erzurum. Switch buildings are where the network switching equipment, such as MSC, MGW, BSC and RNC, is located.

b.Access Network Infrastructure

Our Access Network consists ofinfrastructure includes (but not limited to) 2G BTSs, 3G NodeBs and 4.5G e-NodeBs which are located on rooftops and towers, Base Station Controllers (“BSC”) and Radio Network Controllers (“RNC”) at Network Data Centers (“NDC”) and BTS,Node-Bs andeNode-Bs located on rooftops or towers.. Since 2014, we have been callingrefer to our OMCs (Operation Maintenance Centers) as NDCs (Network Data Centers). BTSs, are theNodeBs and e-NodeBs consist of fixed transmitter and transmitter/receiver equipment in a cell, orand the antennas to actualize the coverage area of a cluster of antennas, for avoice and data connections. 2G mobile network that communicates by radio signal with mobile devices. Similarly,Node-BsBTSs and 3G NodeBs are the corresponding equipment for 3G, connected to and controlled by BSC or RNC, in order to realize 3G and HSPA+ coverage for 3G /HSPA-equipped mobile phones andeNode-Bs are the equipment that carry out equivalent functionalities forrespectively. 4.5G with thee-NodeBs have an important difference in that they are directly connected to the 4.5G Core Network. In addition to macro sites that serve large areas, there are sites using small base stations called small cells, thatwhich serve somecertain specific and limited areas. We have been adding small cells to densify our network and meet certain performance objectives (enhanced user experience, higher speeds, higher capacity, improved coverage, etc.). Depending on the suitability and cost-effectiveness of the candidate solution, we are using small cell systems, repeaters or relay systems to augment our service quality.

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In 2009, the ICTA resolved that operators may transfer the right of use of their towers to third parties. In accordance with this resolution, we transferred the rights of somecertain towers to Global Tower.

c.Transmission Network Infrastructure

Turkcell’s mobile backhaul utilizes various transport technologies to provide for an efficient, resilient and cost effective transmission network. Connectivity between sites is provided using Microwave Radio Links and leased lines carried over Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (“SDH”) and Ethernet over DWDM where appropriate. CellIn cell sites, with site connectivity areis mostly served bypoint-to-point

microwave radio links owned and managed by Turkcell, make up more than 90%76% of our network. Interconnections with other Public Land Mobile Networks (“PLMN”), Public Switched Telephone Networks (“PSTN”), Long Distance Telephony Services (“LDTS”) and small operator companies are realized through leased line connections. More than 90%Also 93% of our leased line networkfiber connectivity to our cell sites is currently provided by our subsidiary, Turkcell Superonline.

The rest of the leased lines are provided by the incumbent, Turk Telekom.Telekom and Vodafone. As a result the overall infrastructure capacity usage is fully optimized and a high grade of availability is achieved through topology resiliency and packet base IP mobile backhaul network infrastructure.

 

ITEM 4A.

UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

 

ITEM 5.

OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS

The following discussion and analysis of our management with regard to our financial condition and the results of our operations should be read together with the Consolidated Financial Statements included in this annual report. In addition to historical information, the following discussion contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results and the timing of certain events may differ significantly from those projected in such forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those set forth in “Item 3.D. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this annual report.

I. Overview of the Turkish and International Economy

We witnessed a diversification inIn 2019, global economic growth in 2018. The US economy grew by 2.2%decelerated substantially in the first quarter, 4.1%weakened trade and investment environment due to the import tariff dispute between the U.S. and China, Brexit related political uncertainty in Europe and geopolitical tension in the second quarterMiddle East. For a significant part of 2019, global manufacturing activity slowed markedly and 3.4%global trade in the third quartergoods contracted, while business and 2.6% in the fourth quarter of 2018investor sentiment deteriorated notably. Further, as a result of fiscal stimulus, tax reforms and strong consumer consumption. Global trade has been threatenedweak demand, commodity prices decreased. In the second half of the year, global recession worries triggered monetary policy easing by bilateral import tariffs between US and China following previously imposed US tariffs on steel and aluminum as well as tight global financial conditions. Consequently, investors’ risk appetite have decreased and the most recent indicators indicate Eurozone, China and other emerging markets either slowing significantly from previously high levels or remaining sluggish in 2018. Following long standing quantitative easing programs,major central banks, aroundand in the world have been reversing their monetarysubdued inflation environment, emerging countries cut policy ending or curtailing these programs. Duerates to rising inflation, strengthening economic activity and historically low level of unemployment rate, the US Federal Reserve (“Fed”) raised interest rates four times in 2018 and reduced its balance sheet. Furthermore, atsupport waned growth. At the end of 2018,2019, along with the European Central Bank (“ECB”) ended its purchasesalleviation of governmentBrexit uncertainty and private debt. The Bankdiminished trade tension, financial market sentiment improved notably and global financing conditions eased significantly. Despite weak global investor sentiment, emerging markets’ borrowing costs decreased and debt issues rose.

In the US, due to global recession worries, low levels of England increasedinflation and a diminishing contribution of tax cuts and public spending, the Fed cut its policy rate from 0.50% to 0.75% despite weak growth. The potential for an additional interest rate increase by the Fed, the strengthening of the US dollar, the tightening global liquidity conditions and trade war tensions became catalysts that drew attention75 bps in particular to current account deficit countries, resulting in asell-off period emerging markets beginning at the end of April 2018.

Turkey’s GDP growth remained solid at 7.2% in the first quarter of 2018 and 5.3% in the second quarter of 2018 on the back of robust domestic consumption and investment expenditure.2019. In June 2018, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan became an Executive President for the next five years following the first dual parliamentary and presidential elections in Turkey. The Government’s Party coalition (AKP andMHP) obtained the majority in the Turkish Assembly. Following the election, the Turkish Government terminated the state of emergency in July 2018 which had been declaredEurope, economic activity decreased significantly as a result of diminished global demand, hampered auto sector production, resulting from new emission standards, as well as Brexit uncertainty. The ECB decreased its policy rate to negative levels and restarted quantitative easing. In China, economic growth slowed due to the failed coup attempt in 2016. Turkey’s credit rating was downgraded by Moody’s, S&P and Fitch in March, May and June, respectively. Turkey currently stands two notches below investment grade with regard to Fitch, three notches below with regard to Moody’s, and four notches below with regard to S&P. Alongtrade dispute with the emerging markets equityU.S., country specific economic transformation and currencysell-off,Turkey-U.S political tensions related toweak domestic demand, resulting in monetary and fiscal policies becoming more accommodative.

In Turkey, following a strong rebalancing period with 2.3% and 1.6% year-on-year contractions in the American pastor Andrew Brunson impacted Turkey’s financial markets andfirst two quarters of 2019, the Turkish Lira significantly depreciated againsteconomy grew 0.9% year-on-year in 2019, particularly with the USD ashelp of August. Headlinehousehold and government spending and inventory contribution. The business confidence index, capacity utilization rate, consumer loan growth, manufacturing PMI and retail sales growth have returned to pre-crisis levels. In addition, the pick-up in commercial loan growth is indicating a slow recovery in investment activity following the acceleration in consumption.

Inflation followed a downward trend throughout 2019, slowing from nearly 20.35% year-on-year in January to 11.8% in December. The improvement was driven by a more stable currency, strong base effect, favorable food prices and muted inflation increased to 25.24%expectations. The fiscal outlook deteriorated in October 20182019 due to higher energy prices, exceptional food inflationexpenditures to support the slowing economy and TRY depreciation. Even thoughlower tax revenues. However, this was balanced by non-recurring revenues, most of which are in various forms of transfers from theyear-end inflation was 20.3%, up until the first half of 2019, inflation is expected to be higher due to basis effect. High public spending to avoid a slowdown in the economy,pre-election transfers and extra defense spending have contributed to a deterioration of the fiscal balance to 2% of GDP.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (“CBRT”). The 12-month cumulative budget deficit widened to around 2.9% and according to the national definition, the primary deficit was approximately 0.5% of GDP in December 2019.

The CBRT and the Turkish Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (“BRSA”) eanctedenacted a series of measures and rules to ensure financial and economic stability and support the Turkish Lira amid the high volatility.Lira. In 2018,2019, the CBRT hikedcut its policy rate by 625 bps1200 basis points and providedstarted to fund banks via swap facilities instead of the existing one-week repo channel and changed banks’ reserve requirement regulations to encourage them to grow their Lira loan books. Further, the CBRT made a commitment to grow its’ holding of government bonds from about TRY 20 billion currently to at least TRY 32 billion over the course of 2020.

The recent global outbreak of the Coronavirus (“COVID-19”) has caused and FX liquiditymay cause additional slowdown in the global economy, as is evidenced by the ongoing sharp fall in investments, exports and industrial production. On March 27, 2019, the International Monetery Fund officially declared that the global economy has entered recession as a result of the spread of COVID-19. As COVID-19 spreads globally, financial markets are factoring in higher risk in their prices and experiencing historical levels of volatility and selloffs. Turkey has been and will continue to the banking

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system. Additionally, in 2018, the average costbe affected. A series of funding increased by 1,125 bps. To prevent a sudden halt in economic activity, tax cuts weremeasures have been announced in several sectors. The Turkish economy startedTurkey to rebalance incombat the second halfeffects of the year on the back of strong CBRT action and the currency shock. Loan growth entered into negative territory, with strength in exports coupled with a sharp decrease in import demand12-month rolling current account deficit rapidly improved and reached USD 27.6 billion at the end of the year from USD 58 million in May. GDP growth slowed to 1.6% in the third quarter of 2018 and contracted 3.0% in the fourth quarter of 2018, following the decline in investor and consumer confidence, the surge in financial market volatility and increase in bank loan rates.

Ongoing military operations in Syria, anticipated Turkish military operations where militant organizationsCOVID-19, such as the PKK, YPG or PYD dominate in North SyriaCentral Bank of Turkey’s targeted additional liquidity facilities to banks aimed at securing uninterrupted credit flow to the corporate sector, tax cuts and the upcoming local elections in March 2019 are key sources of uncertainty and could increase the volatility in FXprimary debt and interest rate markets. Furthermore,payments deferments. However, we cannot predict the announced departureimpact, if any, of U.S. troops from Syriathese measures on the Turkish economy. In addition, these measures will be costly and will thus add to Turkey’s state debt and may cause uncertainty for the region’s future and this situation mayeventually result in higher risks relatedadditional pressure on the value of the TRY relative to budget deficit if the Syria operation lasts longer than anticipated.other currencies.

II. Taxation Issues in the Telecommunications Sector and Other Sectors in which the Company Operates

Under current Turkish tax laws, there are several taxes imposed on the services provided by telecommunications operators in Turkey. TheseTurkey and other sectors in which the Company operates. With regard to the taxes specific to the telecommunications sector, these taxes are charged to subscribers by mobile operators and remitted to the relevant tax authorities. They may be charged upon subscription, on an annual basis or on anad valorem basis on the service fees charged to subscribers.

The following are the most significant taxes imposed on our telecommunications services:services and on other sectors where we operate:

a.Special Communications Tax

The Turkish government imposed a 25% special 25% communications tax (“SCT”) on mobile telephone services as part of a series of new taxes levied to finance public works required to respond to the earthquakes that struck Turkey’s Marmara region in 1999. As ofStarting in August 2004, other telecom services (i.e., fixed lines and TV/radio transmission) are also included within the scope of the special communication tax (“SCT”).SCT.

As of March 1, 2009, the SCT rate for wireless and mobile internet service providers was set to 5% (previously such tax was 25% on mobile and 15% on fixed lines). Other than mobile internetbroadband services, all mobile telecommunication services were subject to 25% and other telecommunication services (i.e., fixed lines and TV/radio transmission) were subject to a 15% SCT sinceup until December 31, 2017. As of January 1, 2018, the SCT rate for all services within the scope of the tax has been set to 7.5%.

The tax collected from subscribers in one calendar month is remitted to the tax authorities within the first 15 days of the following month.

The SCT on new mobile subscriptions was TRY 53, TRY 47 and TRY 46 in 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. As of January 1, 2019, the SCT on new subscriptions levied is TRY 65. The tax has had a correlative negative impact on mobile usage. As of Since January 1, 2018, only themark-up amount on subscribers’ invoices for roaming services is subject to the SCT.

Under Law No. 6322, effective July 1, 2012, new mobile subscriptions for Machine to Machine (M2M) simcards(“M2M”) SIM cards are not subject to the SCT levied upon new subscriptions.

The SCT on new mobile subscriptions was TRY 65, TRY 53 and TRY 47 in 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. As of January 1, 2020, this has been increased to TRY 79. The tax has had a correlative negative impact on mobile usage.

As of January 1, 2018, the SCT is calculated for TRY and bundle package sales and also calling cards sales by including the margin of the distributor or/and retailer and these amounts. Mobile electronic telecommunication operators and authorized fixed telecommunication operators are responsible for the calculation and self-reporting to the tax authorities of the SCT amount on thesepre-paid sales.

The tax collected from subscribers in one calendar month is remitted to the tax authorities within the first 15 days of the following month.

b.Value Added Tax (“VAT”)

Like all services in Turkey, services provided by GSM operators are subject to VAT. The general VAT rate for telecom services is 18% and 1%(1% rate for digital services (digital publishing rate was set at 18% for 2019 and subsequent years). We declare VAT to the Ministry of Treasury and Finance within 2426 days and remit VAT paid by our subscribers within the first 26 days of the month following whenwhich the tax was incurred, after the offset of input VAT incurred by us.

VAT for roaming services was, until November 3, 2009, calculated solely on themark-up amount on subscribers’ invoices for roaming services. Following the Ministry of Treasury and Finance’s declaration of a change in its position regarding roaming charges, we began imposing VAT and the special communications tax on the entire amount of roaming charges, starting from November 3, 2009, to comply with this change in position. As of January 1, 2018, the VAT mechanism on roaming charges prior to November 3, 2009 was restored, and since then only themark-up amount on subscribers’ invoices for roaming services has been subjectedis subject to VAT.

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As of January 1, 2018, reverse charge VAT exemption will beis applied on the invoices which are related to roaming services issued by foreign GSM operators.

Also new VAT requirements have been published in Official Gazette on January 31, 2018. Due to new legislation,Additionally, as of January 1, 2018, if a nonresidentnon-resident e-service provider performse-services from abroad to real persons who are located in Turkey, the service providersprovider must be a VAT tax payer in Turkey.E-service providers have to declare VAT over the sales amount ofe-services, with a VAT Return (Serial No.3)return within 2426 days and paidpay within the first 26 days of the month following. Alsofollowing month. Further, service providers can consider as deductible VAT which they have paid as a VAT amount to the Turkish entities related to thesee-services.

As of January 1, 2018, VAT is calculated for TLTRY and bundle package sales and also calling cardscard sales by including the margin of the distributor or/andand/or retailer and these amounts. Mobile electronic telecommunication operators and authorized fixed telecommunication operators are responsible for the calculation and self-reporting to the tax authorities of the VAT amount on thesepre-paid sales.

c.License and Annual Utilization Fees

According to Article numberNo. 46 of the Electronic Communications Law, subscribers registered in the system are subject to both license and annual utilization fees. As of January 1, 2018, subscriptions for machine to machine (M2M) simcards are no longer subject to license and annual utilization fees.

GSM operators are charged with the duty of collecting these fees.

The license fee is paid once on the subscription per subscriber. The license fee was TRY 27.86, TRY 22.52 and TRY 19.68 in 2019, 2018 and TRY 18.95 in 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively. As of January 1, 2019,2020, the license fee is TRY 27.86.34.15. Since January 1, 2018, subscriptions for machine to machine (M2M) SIM cards are not subject to license and annual utilization fees.

The payment of the annual utilization fee to the government depends on whether a subscriber is postpaid or prepaid. For postpaid subscribers, the monthly utilization fee was TRY 2.32, TRY 1.88 and TRY 1.64 in 2019, 2018 and TRY 1.58 in 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively, and is charged to subscribers monthly. As of January 1, 2020, the monthly utilization fee is TRY 2.85. For prepaid subscribers, the annual utilization fee is calculated by multiplying the number of registered prepaid subscribers at the previous year end bywith the annual utilization fee, and the calculated bulk annual utilization fee is paid by mobile operators the following year on the last business day in February. As of January 1, 2019, the monthly utilization fee is TRY 2.32. We decided to collectSince June 2011, we have collected utilization fees from most of our prepaid subscribers starting from June 2011 and we are collecting since then.subscribers.

Other than subscribers’ license and annual utilization fees, operators must pay license and annual utilization fees for the wireless equipment to the ICTA. BeforePrior to January 1, 2018, thesuch fee amount to be paid was calculated with respect to the amount per unit of wireless equipment (TRx); however, following a legislation shift, as oflegislative change, since January 1, 2018 the fee is being calculated as 5% of the monthly net sales amount, and willis to be paid within the last working day of the following month.

d.Special Consumption Tax

The Special Consumption Tax (“SCT”) is a tax on prescribed goods, which includes mobile phones. The Special Consumption Tax is charged on mobile phones (mobile phones are legally defined as “transmitter/receiver cellular phones”) either when they are imported or when they are sold by Turkish manufacturers. As of May 1, 2019, the SCT rates are set as provided in the table below and cannot be less than TRY 160 per cellular phone device.

SCT Tax
rate
Cellular wireless phone devices with a receiver

- With SCT base up to TRY640

25

- With SCT base between TRY 640 and TRY 1,500

40

- With SCT base above TRY 1,500

50

e.Digital Services Tax

On March 1, 2020, the Digital Services Tax (“DST”) to be paid through certain digital services, particularly all advertising services delivered in the digital environment, was introduced. The Special Consumption tax is to be paid at a rate of 7.5% per month over the revenues generated from the following digital services performed in Turkey:

Digital advertising services (including services such as advertisement control and performance measurement services, services for data transmission and management of users, and technical services related to the presentation of advertisements),

Sales of any audio, visual or digital content in a digital environment, and services provided in a digital environment for listening, watching, playing or recording or using such content (including computer programs, applications, music, video, games, in-game applications, etc. Under the draft Communique provisions, cloud service revenues are not subject to DST.),

Services relating to the providing and operating of a digital environment in which users may interact with each other (including platforms enabling the sale of goods or services among users), and

Intermediary services provided by digital service providers in the digital environment relating to the services listed above.

Tax payers exceeding a revenue threshold of €750 million in global revenues (under the draft Communique provisions, local revenues are also considered under global revenues) and TRY 20 million in local revenues are subject to DST.

DST returns must be declared through monthly basis payments, and made by the end of the following month. No deductions are allowed and taxpayers may not separately disclose DST on invoices. The DST amount which is paid by taxpayers is deductible from the income or corporate tax base.

The President has the authority to reduce the rate to a minimum of 1%, or increase it to a maximum of 7.5%, based on mobile phones (mobile phonesservice type, separately or collectively.

Digital service taxpayers are legally defined as “transmitter/receiver cellular phones”) was set at 20% prior to October 13, 2011,digital service providers. Their state of being fully liable, or not, as per the Income Tax Law No. 193 and the Special ConsumptionCorporation Tax calculatedLaw No. 5520, under limited liability status, does not affect the tax liability for digital services. Neither does the question of whether they are performing with the related activities through a place of business or through permanent representatives in Turkey which affects the digital service tax liability.

In cases where the taxpayer has no residency, legal entity and/or business center in Turkey and other cases where it is deemed appropriate, the Ministry of Treasury and Finance may determine the taxpayer to be the parties to the transaction which is subject to taxation or the ones who mediate the transaction and payment.

Revenues generated from the provision of the following services are exempt from DST:

Services that are subject to “treasury share” paid in accordance with the 20% rate must not fall below TRY 40 per cellular phone device (TemporaryTelegram and Telephone Law,

Services that are subject to the SCT,

Services performed to carry out banking transactions within the scope of Article 6 of Special Consumption Tax Code).

The Special Consumption Tax rates were raised on some motor vehicles, mobile phones, alcoholic beverages and tobacco products by a decision4 of the BoardBanking Law No. 5411,

Payment services within the scope of Ministers, which was publishedArticle 12 of the Law on Payment and Securities Settlement Systems, Payment Services and Electronic Money Institutions, and

Sales of products and services provided exclusively through these products developed as a result of research and development (“R&D”) activities in R&D centers that are defined under Article 2 of the Law on Supporting Research, Development and Design Activities dated No. 5746.

Revenues generated from some services provided by Turkcell Group are subject to DST; however, the total of those revenues do not exceed the stated thresholds as at March 20, 2020. We will continue to monitor such revenues and any updates in the Official Gazette on October 13, 2011. The Special Consumption Tax rate over cellular phones was increased from 20% to 25% and the minimum Special Consumption Tax amount to be calculated was increased to TRY 100 (previously the minimum Special Consumption Tax amount was TRY 40) effective from October 13, 2011.related legislation.

The Special Consumption Tax rates on some motor vehicles, mobile phones and alcoholic beverages were raised by a decision of the Board of Ministers, which was published in the Official Gazette on January 1, 2014. The minimum Special Consumption Tax amount to be calculated over cellular phones was increased to TRY 120 effective from January 1, 2014. By a decision of the Board of Ministers, which was published in the Official Gazette on January 1, 2016, the minimum Special Consumption Tax amount to be calculated over cellular phones was increased to TRY 160 effective from January 1, 2016. The said decision of the Board of Ministers has been cancelled in 2016 by the Supreme Court. Finally, a new article has been added to the Special Communication Tax Law (Temporary Article 6) on September 9, 2016 and the minimum Special Consumption Tax amount to be calculated over cellular phones was set at TRY 160 effective from September 9, 2016. There is a possibility that such tax may increase in the near future.

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e.f.Turkish Radio and Television (“TRT”) Association Banderol Fee

According to Article numberNo. 4 of the Law on TRT Revenues, mobile phones are subject to the TRT banderol fee over (i) VAT base (excluded special consumption tax)(excluding SCT) related to the sales amount for produced products (ii) VAT base (excluded special consumption tax)(excluding SCT) of Customs Declarationthe customs declaration amount for import products. Before June 2016, mobile phones which can receive radio or television broadcasts via integrated tuner, were subjected to TRT banderol fee at the rate of 6%. As ofSince June 2016, the following rates were applied:

have been applied for this purpose: (i) 7% for mobile phones which can receive radio or television broadcasts via integrated tuner, and (ii) 6% for mobile phones which can receive radio or television broadcasts via internet connection. As of July 2017, all mobile phones which have 8517.12.00.00.11 customs tariff statistics position,status, are subject to a TRT banderol fee at the rate of 10%.

f.g.Treasury Share, Universal Service Fund Contribution

Due to our licenses (2G and 3G) and Authorization Certificate (4.5G), we are required to pay a treasury share equal to 15% of our gross revenue including some exemptions. 10% of the treasury share is paid as a universal service fund contribution. In addition, we must pay annual contributions in an amount equal to 0.35% of our net revenue totowards the ICTA’s expenses.

Since 2005, we are required to pay 90% of the treasury share to the Turkish Treasury and 10% to the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure as a universal service fund contribution.contribution as mentioned above. As of January 1, 2018, all of our treasury share will beis paid to the ICTA, which will then transfertransfers it to the Turkish Treasury and the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure as detailed above. The calculation method for the Treasury Sharetreasury share has also been revised and accordingly, the following will consequentlyare not to be considered in the calculation of the Treasury Share:treasury share: (i) overdue interests which are accrued to the subscribers for any unpaid balance, (ii) accrual amounts for the purpose of reporting, (iii) reflecting the installation and maintenance costs of the mobile radio stations to other mobile operators and finally and (iv) amounts for the purpose of correction accounting records which occur in the same year due to errors (such as customer information, type of business, amount and price).

Also, we are required to pay a Universal Service Fund Contribution equal to 1% of net sales revenue for Turkcell Superonline, Global Tower and Rehberlik.Rehberlik Hizmetleri Servisi A.S. (“Rehberlik Hizmetleri”). These amounts are paid annually within the month of June of each following year.

In addition, we must pay annual contributions in an amount equal to 0.35% of our net revenue to the ICTA’s expenses for all companies.

g.h.Other Tax Legislations

Amendments to the tax laws and the latest taxes introduced through the Law No. 7194 published in the Official Gazette dated December, 7, 2019 are summarized as follows:

As per the new bracket added to the income tax tariff for the income exceeding TRY 500,000 (including wages), these incomes will be taxed at a rate of 40%. On the other hand, the wages which are received from a single employer, exceeding the amount TRY 500,000 in the fourth bracket of the income tax tariff, will be submitted by the employer (TRY 500,000 has been increased to TRY 600,000 for the year 2020).

The rate for the banking and insurance transaction tax applied as 1 per thousand relating to foreign exchange transactions since May 15, 2019 has increased to 2 per thousand.

On December 7, 2019, Article 376 of the Tax Procedural Law regulating the deduction of tax penalties was amended, and the discount rate set at 50%.

An article titled “abandonment of legal remedy” was added to the Tax Procedure Law in order to resolve the tax disputes between the taxpayer and the administration.

As of January 1, 2019, the VAT rate is set as 18% for the sale of newspapers, magazines, electronic books and similar publications within the electronic environment.

The late fee rate was set at 2.5% per month for the period of July 1, 2019 and October 1, 2019, and then set at 2% per month from October 1, 2019 onwards.

Through adding foreign exchange differences to the components included in VAT base, in deliveries and services performed based on foreign currency domestically as in imports, a legal basis for the VAT subjection of exchange differences arising when the price is fully or partially collected afterwards is ensured.

Pursuant to the section within the Act of Fees Tariff No. 8 “Passenger phone usage fee”, the utilization permit for cellular wireless phone devices with a receiver brought by passengers for self-usage with non-commercial purpose is subject to a fee. The amount of the fee applied for 2019 was set at TRY 618.60. This amount was then increased to TRY 1,500 for 2019 and stands at TRY 1,838 for 2020.

The Cultural Fund for mobile phones (imported or manufactured mobile phones which have voice recording qualifications) will be paid as of March 19, 2020. The Cultural Fund is set at 1% over, (i) the custom value for imported devices and (ii) the production value for the devices which are manufactured in Turkey. This fund will be considered as a cost of goods item and will not be reflected directly as a tax to the customers on the invoices.

i.Tax disputes

Changes in the Ministry of Treasury and Finance’s interpretation of the taxation codes, especially changes regarding consumption taxes (Value Added Tax(VAT and Special Communication Tax)SCT), may adversely affect consumer prices. In addition to the prospective financial impact of such changes, unanticipated tax liabilities and fines may also be levied against our financial results in prior years, since a Turkish company’scompanies’ operations in the previous five years may be subject to financial investigation. Regulations that became effective from July 1, 2010, however, have strengthened our rights with regards to this risk, particularly with regards to the following:

 

Tax inspectors shall not issue tax audit reports that contradict Decrees, Public Acts, Statutory Rules, General CommuniquésCommuniques and Circulars promulgated;

 

In the event that the tax authority differentiates previous interpretations of the taxation codes via promulgated General CommuniquésCommuniques and Circulars, the new interpretation shall not be applied to previous transactions; and

 

Transactions that are compliant with rulings taken from the Tax Office shall beare relieved from both tax penaltypenalties and overdue interest.interests. Such shelterrelief is valid only for a taxpayertaxpayers that hashave applied for the ruling.

For a description of various tax related disputes to which we are party, see “Item 8.A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information—Legal Proceedings”.

III. Critical Accounting Policies

Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based upon our Consolidated Financial Statements, which have been prepared in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates, judgments and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the

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financial statements and for the period then ended. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate the estimates used. We base our estimates on historical experience, actuarial estimates, current conditions and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. These estimates form the basis for making judgments abouton the carrying values of assets and liabilities, and are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates. Our critical accounting policies are disclosed in Note 2 (Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies) to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this annual report on Form20-F.

IV. Reportable Segments and Reporting Currency

Our operations are aggregated under two main reportable segments, Turkcell Turkey and Turkcell International:

 

The Turkcell Turkey segment comprises mainly our telecommunication and technology services activities in Turkey and includes the operations of Turkcell, Turkcell Superonline, Turkcell Satis, group call center operations of Turkcell Global Bilgi, Turktell, Turkcell Teknoloji, Global Tower, Rehberlik Turkcell OdemeHizmetleri and Turkcell Gayrimenkul.

 

The Turkcell International segment comprises mainly our telecommunication and technology services activities outside ofbeyond Turkey and includes the operations of lifecell, Belarusian Telecom, Kibris Telekom, Eastasia, Lifecell Ventures, Beltel, UkrTower, Global LLC, Turkcell Europe, Lifetech, LLC, Beltower and Lifecell Digital Limited and Fintur.Digital.

Our “Other” reportable segment is comprised mainly of information and entertainment services inin: (i) Turkey and Azerbaijan, (ii) non-group call center operations of Turkcell Global Bilgi, (iii) consumer financing service operations of Financell, Turkcell Odeme, Paycell LLC and TOFAS, (interest free),(iv) electricity energy trade operations of Turkcell Enerji, (v) insurance agency activities of Turkcell Sigorta as well as (vi) the development and production of electric passenger cars and (vii) the carrying out of trading activities of Turkiye’nin Otomobili and Sofra Kurumsal.Sofra. The accounting policies of our reportable segments are the same as those described in the summary of significant accounting policies.

The Group has transferred its total shareholding in Azerinteltek, controlled by Inteltek, to another shareholder of Azerinteltek, Baltech Investment LLC (“Baltech”).Baltech. The share purchase agreement was signed on November 15, 2018 and the transfer of proceeds to Inteltek was completed on December 27, 2018. The Group has lost the control over the subsidiary unconditionally on December 27, 2018 following the transfer of money. The transfer of shares to Baltech was completed subsequently on January 11, 2019. See Note 39 to our audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in “Item 18. Financial Statements” of this annual report on Form20-F for additional details.

Starting from October 1, 2016, Fintur was classified as held for sale and reported as discontinued operations, theoperations. The Group has signed the definitive agreement on December 12, 2018 to transfer its total shareholding in Fintur to another shareholder of Fintur, Sonera Holding B.V. (“Sonera Holding”).Holding. The transfer to Sonera Holding will bewas completed subsequently to the obtainment of regulatory approvals, and theon April 2, 2019 for a final value of the transaction will be finalized on the closing date of the transaction, which is expected to take place in 2019.EUR 352.9 million. See Note 16 to our audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in “Item 18. Financial Statements” of this annual report on Form20-F.

Our financial statements are presented in TRY only, the currency in which we recognize the majority of our revenues and expenses.

5.A Operating Results

Our audited Consolidated Financial Statements as atof December 31, 20182019 and December 31, 20172018 and for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 20182019 included in this annual report have been prepared in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB.

I. Overview of Business

Turkcell, a joint stock company organized and existing under the laws of the Republic of Turkey, was formedincorporated in 1993 and commenced its operations in 1994. We operate under a25-year GSM license (the “2G License”) and a20-year GSM license (the “3G License”). We were granted the 2G License in April 1998 upon payment of an upfront license fee of $500 million. On April 30, 2009, we signed a license agreement with the ICTA, which provides authorization for providing IMT 2000/UMTS services and infrastructure. We acquired theA-type license providing the widest frequency band for a consideration of EUR 358 million (excluding VAT). The 3G License is effective for 20 years starting from April 30, 2009. Pursuant to the agreement, we started to provide IMT 2000/UMTS services as of July 30, 2009.

In accordance with our 3G license agreement, we are required to cover the population within the borders of all metropolitan municipalities and within the borders of all cities and municipalities in three and six years, respectively. Moreover, we are required to cover the population in all settlement areas with a population higher than 5,000 and 1,000 in eight and ten years, respectively, following the date of the agreement.

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In 2013, we won an auction held by the Turkish Ministry related to universal service, which requires installing sufficient infrastructure to uncovered areas with a population of less than 500, as well as the operation of the service for three years. Since its signature in 2013, its scope was increased in 2017 to encompass mobile broadband services on top of existing 2G services under the Universal Service Law, and recently it was granted an extension until December 31, 2019 to operate both networks as per the same conditions defined under the contract.

In the 4.5G auction held on August 26, 2015, we agreed to purchase the usewere awarded a total frequency band of technology agnostic 172.4 MHz, the largest amount of spectrum of any operator for EUR 1,623.5 million (excluding VAT and interest payable on the installments). The license fee is being paid in four equal semi-annual installments. We agreed to purchase the use of widest frequency bands on 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz. We believe that these will allow us to offer high quality 4.5G services.Turkey. We commenced offering 4.5G services from April 1, 2016. The 4.5G Licenselicense is effective for 13 years until April 30, 2029.

Other than our 2G, 3G The total fee of EUR 1,623.5 million (excluding VAT and 4.5G licenses, we also operate under interconnection agreements with other operators that allow us to connect our networks with those operators to enable the transmission of calls to and from our mobile communications system and fixed line networks through existing digital fixed telephone switches. For example, we have an interconnection agreement with Turk Telekom that provides for the interconnection of our network with Turk Telekom’s fixed-line network. Under our agreement with Turk Telekom, as amended, we pay Turk Telekom an interconnection fee per call basedinterest payable on the type and length of the call for calls originating on our network and terminating on Turk Telekom’s fixed-line network, as well as fees for other services. We also collect an interconnection fee from Turk Telekom for calls originating on their fixed-line network and terminating on ours. We also have interconnection agreements with Vodafone and Avea pursuant to which we have agreed, among other things, to pay interconnection fees to them for calls originating on our network and terminating on theirs, and they have agreed to pay interconnection fees for calls originating on their networks and terminating on our networks.

In 2015, Turkcell positioned itself as a converged playerinstallments) was paid in the total telecommunication market by leveraging its brand, extensive customer base, technological capabilities and strong distribution channel. We shifted our organizational structure with the aim of increasing efficiency and simplification in our business processes.four installments.

Our services portfolio includes high-quality mobile and fixed voice, data, TV and digital services over our network. We continue to focus on our customer-oriented approach and our ability to provide quick and differentiated solutions to meet our customers’ needs through lifestyle segments and usage habits.

In 2016, we invested in the broadest 4.5G spectrum in Turkey and established what we believe to be the most advanced mobile and fiber network in Turkey. Post 4.5G launch, we realigned our strategy to focus on providing innovative and pioneering digital services, aiming to become more present and relevant in our customers’ daily lives. Turkcell develops and manages digital services and solutions to address the diverse needs of both consumers and corporate customers, thereby enriching their lives. Thus, Turkcell defines itself as a digital operator.

Due to our digital services strategy, one of our main targets is to increase digital services penetration, therefore increasing mobile and fixed multi-play customers, which in our experience generates higher ARPU and greater customer loyalty. For instance, in 2018, a mobile triple play customer generated 3 times the ARPU of a single play customer and had 30% less churn on average.

Our subscriber base has grown substantially since we began operations in 1994. Atyear-end 1994, we had 63,500 subscribers, and byyear-end 2018, 2019, that number for the Group had grown to 48.946.7 million including subscribers of subsidiaries.

In the mobile segment, we increased our postpaid subscriber base from 54% in 2017 to 56% in 2018 to 62% in 2019 due to our focus on value. As of December 31, 2018,2019, we had approximately 12.4 million prepaid subscribers and 20.4 million postpaid subscribers, compared to approximately 14.9 million prepaid subscribers and 18.8 million postpaid subscribers compared to approximately 15.6 million prepaid subscribers and 18.5 million postpaid subscribers as of December 31, 2017.2018.

Our average minutes of usage (MoU) in Turkey increased 4%16% to 415 minutes in 2019 from 359.5 minutes in 2018 from 347.1 minutes in 2017, as a result of high bundle packages utilization. Our mobile ARPU in Turkey increased to TRY 33.939.8 in 20182019 compared to TRY 29.833.9 in 20172018 mainly driven by our upsell strategy, favorable change in customer mix, focus on high value customer groups,increasing data consumption and data and digital service growth.price adjustments.

Our revenues are generated in large part from interconnection fees and retail tariffs. Regulatory decisions have had and may continue to have the effect of decreasing interconnection rates and imposing minimum and maximum prices on our retail tariffs. For a more detailed discussion of these factors, please see “Item 4.B. Business Overview—Regulation of the Turkish Telecommunications Industry” and “Item 5.D. Trend Information”.

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Churn rate is the percentage calculated by dividing the total number of subscriber disconnections during a period by the average number of subscribers for the same period. For these purposes, we define the “average number of subscribers” as the number of subscribers at the beginning of the period plus one half of the total number of gross subscribers acquired during the period. Churn refers to subscribers that are both voluntarily and involuntarily disconnected from our network. For a more detailed discussion, please see “Item 4.B. Business Overview – V. Churn”.

In the fixed segment, we increased our subscriber base from 2.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, towas at 2.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. 60%2019. 1.5 million of the subscriberthis base are fiber customers (1.4 million subscribers).customers.

We providedbooked an impairment provision for contract assets, other assets and receivables from financial services in our Consolidated Financial Statements amounted toat the amount of TRY 938.5795.8 million and TRY 778.4938.5 million as of December 31, 20182019 and 20172018 respectively, which we believe isto be adequate. The main reasonreasons for the change in impairment losses isinclude collections made in 20182019 amounting to TRY 262.9283.7 million and awrite-off of overdue receivables amounting to TRY 118.6493.1 million which was netted of with an impairment loss recognized amounting to TRY 609.3622.6 million. Moreover, the Company signed a transfer of claim agreement with a debt management company to transfer some of its doubtful receivables amounting to TRY 73.0 million stemming from the years between 1998 and 2016, excluding the amount from financial services which amounted to TRY 19.9 million stemming from the year 2017. Transferred doubtful receivables comprise of balances that the Company started legal proceedings.

II. International and Other Domestic Operations

In addition to our businesses in Turkey, we have telecommunications operations in Ukraine, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Belarus and Germany. For a description of, and additional information regarding, our international and other domestic operations, see “Item 4.B. Business Overview”.

III. Revenues

Revenues include telecommunication services, which is comprised ofequipment revenues, revenue and commission fees on betting business, call center revenues and revenues from financial services. Telecommunication service revenues mainly include voice, data, messaging, digital services and solutions, interconnect, roaming, wholesale and other revenues. Other revenues mainly consist of revenues from our retail business, call center business, information and entertainment services, tower business and financial services.wholesale.

IV. Operating Costs

a.Cost of Revenues

Cost of revenues includes payments for our treasury shares,share and universal service fund, transmission fees, radio expenses,costs, billing and archiving costs, cost of goods sold, depreciation and amortization charges, funding costs forcost of revenues from financial services, roaming charges paid to foreign mobile communicationsinternational operators for calls made by our subscribers while outside Turkey, interconnection and termination fees mainly paid to Turk Telekom and Vodafone, and wages and salaries andemployee benefit expenses for technical personnel.personnel and frequency fee.

b.Administrative Expenses

Administrative expenses consist of fixed costs, including company cars, officeemployee benefit expenses for non-technical, non-marketing, and non-sales employees’ maintenance and repair expenses, travel consulting,and entertainment expenses, consultancy expenses, collection charges, wages, salaries and personnel expenses, fornon-technical,non-marketing, andnon-sales employees, and other overhead charges.

c.Selling and Marketing Expenses

Selling and marketing expenses consist of dealer and distributor commissions, advertising, wages, salaries and personnelemployee benefit expenses of sales and marketing related employees, and other expenses, including travel expenses, office expenses, insurance, company car expenses, and training and communication expenses.

d.Net impairment lossesImpairment Losses on financialFinancial and contract assetsContract Assets

Net impairment losses on financial and contract assets consist of impairment losses incurred through assessment of the Group at the end of each reporting period to consider whether there is objective evidence that a financial asset or group of financial assets was impaired. A financial asset or a group of financial assets was impaired and impairment losses were incurred only if there was objective evidence of impairment as a result of one or more events that occurred after the initial recognition of the asset (a ‘loss event’) and that loss event had an impact on the estimated future cash flows of the financial asset or group of financial assets that could be reliably estimated. In the case of equity investments classified asavailable-for-sale, a significant or prolonged decline in the fair value of the security below its cost was considered an indicator that the assets were impaired.

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e.Results of Operations

The following table shows information concerning our consolidated statements of operations for the years indicated:

 

  For the years ended December 31,   For the years ended December 31, 
  2018   2017   2016   2019 2018 2017 
  (in TRY millions)   (in TRY) millions 

Revenues

   20,350.6    17,026.4    14,100.9 

Revenue

   23,996.3  20,173.4  16,917.1 

Revenue from financial services

   941.9    605.7    184.7    1,140.9  1,119.1  715.0 

Total revenue

   21,292.5    17,632.1    14,285.6    25,137.1   21,292.5   17,632.1 

Cost of revenue

   (13,785.4   (11,073.5   (9,166.4   (16,816.7 (13,751.2 (11,058.3

Cost of revenue from financial services

   (360.5   (276.7   (70.2   (266.8 (394.8 (291.8

Total cost of revenue

   (14,146.0   (11,350.2   (9,236.6   (17,083.5  (14,146.0  (11,350.2

Gross profit

   7,146.5    6,281.9    5,049.0    8,053.7   7,146.5   6,281.9 

Administrative expenses

   (673.4   (645.2   (721.8   (779.8 (673.4 (645.2

Selling and marketing expenses

   (1,626.7   (2,005.4   (1,910.9   (1,555.2 (1,626.7 (2,005.4

Net impairment loses on financial and contract assets

   (346.4   —      —   

Other income/(expense), net

   (140.1   (698.9   (234.2

Net impairment losses on financial and contract assets

   (338.9 (346.4  —   

Other operating income/(expenses), net

   (346.6 (140.1 (698.9

Operating profit

   4,359.9    2,932.4    2,181.9 

Operating Profit

   5,033.3   4,359.9   2,932.4 

Finance costs

   (3,619.1   (1,141.3   (1,134.4   (2,025.1 (3,364.1 (920.1

Finance income

   1,932.1    818.4    961.6    297.5  1,677.1  597.2 

Net finance (costs)/income

   (1,687.0   (322.9   (172.8   (1,727.7  (1,687.0  (322.9

Share of loss of equity accounted investees

   (0.1   —      —      (15.7 (0.1  —   

Profit before income taxes

   2,672.8    2,609.5    2,009.1   3,289.9 2,672.8 2,609.5 

Income tax expense

   (495.5   (571.8   (423.2   (785.6 (495.5 (571.8

Profit from continuing operations

   2,177.3    2,037.8    1,586.0    2,504.3   2,177.3   2,037.8 

Profit/ (loss) from discontinued operations

   —            (42.2) 

Gain from discontinued operations

   772.4       

Profit for the year

   2,177.3    2,037.8    1,543.8    3,276.7   2,177.3   2,037.8 

Attributable to:

          

Equity holders of the Company

   2,021.1    1,979.1    1,492.1 

Non-controlling interest

   156.3    58.6    51.7 

Owners of the Company

   3,246.5  2,021.1  1,979.1 

Non-controlling interests

   30.2  156.3  58.6 

Profit for the year

   2,177.3    2,037.8    1,543.8    3,276.7   2,177.3   2,037.8 

The following table shows certain items in our consolidated statement of operations as a percentage of revenue:

 

   For the years ended December 31, 
   2018   2017   2016 

Results of Operations (% of revenue)

      

Revenues

   100.0    100.0    100.0 

Cost of revenues

   (66.4   (64.4   (64.7

Gross margin

   33.6    35.6    35.3 

Administrative expense

   (3.2   (3.7   (5.1

Selling and marketing expenses

   (7.6   (11.4   (13.4

Net impairment loses on financial and contract assets

   (1.6   —      —   

Other operating income/(expense), net

   (0.7   (4.0   (1.6

Operating Profit

   20.5    16.6    15.3 

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   Year ended December 31, 
   2019   2018   2017 
Results of Operations (% of revenue)            
Revenue  100.0   100.0   100.0 

Cost of revenue

   (68.0   (66.4   (64.4

Gross margin

   32.0    33.6    35.6 

Administrative expenses

   (3.1   (3.2   (3.7

Selling and marketing expenses

   (6.2   (7.6   (11.4

Net impairment losses on financial and contract assets

   (1.3   (1.6    

Other operating income/(expenses), net

   (1.4   (0.7   (4.0

Operating Profit

   20.0    20.5    16.6 

V. Segment Overview

Our operations are aggregated under two main reportable segments, Turkcell Turkey and Turkcell International:

 

The Turkcell Turkey segment comprises mainly our telecommunication and technology services activities in Turkey and includes the operations of Turkcell, Turkcell Superonline, Turkcell Satis, group call center operations of Turkcell Global Bilgi, Turktell, Turkcell Teknoloji, Global Tower, Rehberlik, Turkcell Odeme and Turkcell Gayrimenkul.

group call center operations of Turkcell Global Bilgi, Turktell, Turkcell Teknoloji, Global Tower, Rehberlik Hizmetleri and Turkcell Gayrimenkul.

 

The Turkcell International segment comprises mainly our telecommunication and technology services activities outside of Turkey and includes the operations of lifecell, Belarusian Telecom, Kibris Telekom, Eastasia, Lifecell Ventures, Beltel, UkrTower LLC, Global LLC, Turkcell Europe, Lifetech, LLC, Beltower and Lifecell Digital Limited and Fintur.Digital.

Our “Other” reportable segment is comprised mainly of information and entertainment services in Turkey and Azerbaijan,non-group call center operations of Turkcell Global Bilgi, consumer financing service operations of Financell, Turkcell Odeme, Paycell LLC, TOFAS, (interest free), electricity energy trade operations of Turkcell Enerji, insurance agency activities of Turkcell Sigorta, as well as the development and production of electric passenger cars and to the carrying out of trading activities of Turkiye’nin Otomobili and Sofra Kurumsal.Sofra. The accounting policies of our reportable segments are the same as those described in the summary of significant accounting policies.

Until and including December 31, 2018 in the consolidated financial statements, Turkcell Odeme had been reported under the Turkcell Turkey segments because of its revenue and operational structure. As of December 31, 2019 in the consolidated financial statements, Turkcell Odeme is classified under “Other” segment given that a significant portion of its revenue consists of non-group and consumer financing services. The Company has presented financials of December 31, 2018 accordingly in the consolidated financial statements.

The Group has transferred its total shareholding in Azerinteltek, controlled by Inteltek, to another shareholder of Azerinteltek, Baltech Investment LLC (“Baltech”).Baltech. The share purchase agreement was signed on November 15, 2018 and the transfer of proceeds to Inteltek was completed on December 27, 2018. The Group has lost the control over the subsidiary unconditionally on December 27, 2018 with transfer of money. The transfer of shares to Baltech was completed subsequently on January 11, 2019. See Note 39 to our audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in “Item 18. Financial Statements” of this annual report on Form20-F for additional information.

Starting from October 1, October 2016, Fintur was classified as held for sale and reported as discontinued operations. The Group has signed the definitive agreement on December 12, 2018 to transfer its total shareholding in Fintur to the otheranother shareholder of Fintur, Sonera Holding B.V. (“Sonera Holding”).Holding. The transfer to Sonera Holding will bewas completed subsequently to the obtainment of regulatory approvals and theon April 2, 2019 for a final value of transaction will be finalized on closing date of the transaction, which is expected to take place in 2019.EUR 352.9 million. See Note 16 to our audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in “Item 18. Financial Statements” of this annual report on Form20-F.

 

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  Turkcell Turkey Turkcell
International
 Other Intersegment
Eliminations
 Consolidated  Turkcell Turkey Turkcell
International
 Other Intersegment
Eliminations
 Consolidated 
  2018 2017 2018 2017 2018 2017 2018 2017 2018 2017  2019 2018 2019 2018 2019 2018 2019 2018 2019 2018 
  (in TRY millions)  (in TRY millions) 

Total segment revenue

   18,265.8  15,450.1  1,457.0  1,067.1  1,933.8  1,187.5  (364.1 (72.6 21,292.5  17,632.1  21,487.2  18,092.6  2,002.8  1,457.0  2,218.0  2,113.7  (570.8 (370.8 25,137.1  21,292.5 

Inter-segment revenue

   (42.3 (31.7 (69.7 (40.9 (252.1 (0.0 364.1  72.6   —     —    (79.3 (46.4 (94.7 (69.7 (396.8 (254.8 570.8  370.8       

Revenues from external customers

   18,223.4   15,418.4   1,387.3   1,026.2   1,681.7   1,187.4   —     —     21,292.5   17,632.1   21,407.8   18,046.2   1,908.1   1,387.3   1,821.2   1,859.0         25,137.1   21,292.5 

Adjusted EBITDA*

   7,534.3  5,593.8  612.7  264.0  665.5  374.3  (24.5 (3.9 8,788.0  6,228.3  8,789.2  7,403.8  903.9  612.7  765.8  801.7  (32.5 (30.2 10,426.4  8,788.0 

Bad debt expense

   (248.2 49.5  (4.1 (6.1 (94.1 (79.7      —    (346.4 (36.3

Net impairment losses on financial and contract assets

 (223.9 (248.2 (5.1 (4.1 (109.9 (94.1       (338.9 (346.4

 

  Turkcell Turkey Turkcell
International
 Other Intersegment
Eliminations
 Consolidated  Turkcell Turkey Turkcell
International
 Other Intersegment
Eliminations
 Consolidated 
  2017 2016 2017 2016 2017 2016 2017 2016 2017 2016  2018 2017 2018 2017 2018 2017 2018 2017 2018 2017 
  (in TRY millions)  (in TRY millions) 

Total segment revenue

   15,450.1  12,787.6  1,067.1  874.7  1,187.5  661.9  (72.6 (38.6 17,632.1  14,285.6  18,092.6  15,340.9  1,457.0  1,067.1  2,113.7  1,297.5  (370.8 (73.4 21,292.5  17,632.1 

Inter-segment revenue

   (31.7 (19.7 (40.9 (19.0 (0.0 (0.0 72.6  38.6   —     —    (46.4 (31.8 (69.7 (40.9 (254.8 (0.8 370.8  73.4       

Revenues from external customers

   15,418.4   12,767.9   1,026.2   855.7   1,187.4   661.9    —     —     17,632.1   14,285.6   18,046.2   15,309.1   1,387.3   1,026.2   1,859.0   1,296.8         21,292.5   17,632.1 

Adjusted EBITDA*

   5,593.8  4,160.9  264.0  235.3  374.3  222.8  (3.9 0.5  6,228.3  4,619.5  7,403.8  5,504.1  612.7  264.0  801.7  467.6  (30.2 (7.4 8,788.0  6,228.3 

Bad debt expense

   49.5  (195.5 (6.1 (6.0 (79.7 (10.0  —     —    (36.3 (211.4

Net impairment (losses)/ gains on financial and contract assets

 (248.2 49.5  (4.1 (6.1 (94.1 (79.7       (346.4 (36.3

 

*

For a definition of adjusted EBITDA, please see footnote 9 of the table in “Item 3.A. Selected Financial Data”.

Turkcell Turkey

a.20182019 compared to 20172018

Total revenues generated by Turkcell Turkey increased 18.2%18.8% to TRY 18,265.821,487.2 million in 20182019 from TRY 15,450.118,092.6 million in 2017,2018, mainly due to a 16.4% growth in data and digital services revenuessolid ARPU performance driven by the increasea favorable change in mobile data and fixed data revenues impacted bycustomer mix towards a higher number of data users, increasedpostpaid subscribers, increasing data consumption, per userprice adjustments and higher penetration of digital services, a larger postpaid subscriber base as well as our ability to upsell to higher tariffs in mobile business coupled with a larger subscriber base in fixed business and higher ratio of multiplay subscribers with TV.strategy. In 2018,2019, postpaid ARPU excluding M2M subscribers was TRY 54.964.1 whereas prepaid average revenue per user was TRY 16.9,18.3, approximately 3.23.5 times higher. Additionally, voice and SMS revenues grewThis solid performance is a result of our microsegment layered approach enabled by 10.4%.strong data analytics capabilities. For a more detailed discussion of the factors affecting our revenues, please see “Item 4.B. Business Overview—Regulation of the Turkish Telecommunications Industry” and “Item 5.D. Trend Information”.

Turkcell Turkey’s Adjusted EBITDA increased 34.7%18.7% to TRY 7,534.38,789.2 million in 20182019 from TRY 5,593.87,403.8 million in 2017,2018, mainly due to an increase in revenues and a decrease in selling and marketing expenses which was partially offset by an increase in cost of revenues, administrative expenses and net impairment losses. The increase in the cost of revenues mainly resulted from an increase in treasury share expenses, interconnection cost, radio cost, wages, salaries and personnel,employee benefit expenses, cost of goods sold, transmission costfrequency expenses and network related expenses. Decrease in selling and marketing expenses is mainly due to IFRS standardsthe IFRS15 standard effect, which includes the capitalization of subscriber acquisition costs, according to IFRS15, the capitalization of lease expenses according to IFRS16 and reclassification of frequency usage fees related to prepaid subscribers under net impairment losses on financial and contract assets according to IFRS 9 standard.our effective cost management.

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b.20172018 compared to 20162017

Total revenues generated by Turkcell Turkey increased 20.8%Please refer to TRY 15,450.1 million in 2017 from TRY 12,787.6 million in 2016, mainly due to a 51.2% growth in data and digital services revenues driven by the increase in mobile data and fixed data revenues impacted by increased smartphone penetration, higher subscriber numbers, a rise in data consumption, price adjustments and higher digital services subscribers. This was partially offset by a 36.5% decrease in voice and SMS revenues. For a more detailed discussionpage 94 of the factors affecting our revenues, please see “Item 4.B. Business Overview—Regulation of the Turkish Telecommunications Industry” and “Item 5.D. Trend Information”.2018 annual report on Form 20-F.

Turkcell Turkey’s Adjusted EBITDA increased 34.4% to TRY 5,593.8 million in 2017 from TRY 4,160.9 million in 2016, mainly due to an increase in revenues and decrease in administrative expenses which was partially offset by an increase in cost of revenues. The increase in the cost of revenues mainly resulted from an increase in treasury share expenses, interconnection cost, wages, salaries and personnel, cost of goods sold and network related expenses. The decrease in administrative expenses mainly resulted from a decrease in bad debt expenses as opposed to increase in consultancy expenses and wages, salaries and personnel expenses.

Turkcell International

a.20182019 compared to 20172018

Total revenues generated by Turkcell International increased by 36.5%,37.5% to TRY 2,002.8 million in 2019 from TRY 1,457.0 million in 2018 from TRY 1,067.1 million in 2017 mainly due to the continued strong ARPU growth of lifecell subscribers and the currency appreciation in Ukraine and Belarus against the Turkish Lira in 2018.2019. The annual growth rates in terms of local currency of our major subsidiaries, lifecell and Belarusian Telecom were 8.1%13.6% and 11.7%8.0%, respectively. The revenue growth in lifecell which operates in Ukraine, was mainly driven by 20.1% higher blended ARPU (three-month active)growing mobile data revenues due to higher mobile broadband usage which was partially offset by the increase in the three-month active subscriber base to 8.0 million from 7.3 million.increasing data consumption of subscribers. The revenue growth in Belarusian Telecom in Belarus was mainly due to the higher data revenues onas a result of the back of a rise in 4G users coupled with a higher data consumption . The penetration of its digital services in Belarusian Telecom continuedconsumption. Digital service revenues also contributed to increase in accordance with Turkcell’s digital services strategy.revenue growth.

Turkcell International’s Adjusted EBITDA increased by 132.1%47.5% to TRY 903.9 million in 2019 from TRY 612.7 million in 2018, from TRY 264.0 million in 2017 mainly due to the positive impact of new IFRS standards which included capitalization of lease expenses under IFRS16 and capitalization of subscriber acquisition costs according to IFRS15 as well as the currency appreciation in Ukraine and Belarus against the Turkish Lira. The increase in Turkcell International’s Adjusted EBITDA was mainly due to an increase in lifecell’s Adjusted EBITDA by 170.9%45.4% in terms of Turkish Lira. lifecell’s Adjusted EBITDA increased by 108.2%17.4% in terms of local currency, mainly due to an increase in revenue and the effective cost control measures as well as the positive impact of the capitalization of its radio frequency usage costs starting in the fourth quarter of 2018 in accordance with IFRS16.measures.

b.20172018 compared to 20162017

Total revenues generated by Turkcell International increased by 22.0%,Please refer to TRY 1,067.1 million in 2017 from TRY 874.7 million in 2016 mainly due to currency appreciation in Ukraine and Belarus against the Turkish Lira in 2017. The annual growth rates, in terms of local currency,page 95 of our major subsidiaries, lifecell and Belarusian Telecom were 0.8% and 13.4%, respectively. The revenue growth in lifecell, which operates in Ukraine, was mainly driven by 17% higher blended ARPU (three-month active) due to higher mobile broadband usage which was partially offset by the decrease in the three-month active subscriber base to 8.0 million from 9.2 million. The revenue growth in Belarusian Telecom, which operates in Belarus, was mainly due to increased number of 4G users, and higher data consumption led to increased data revenues. Meanwhile, BeST continued to increase the penetration of its digital services within its customer base in accordance with Turkcell’s digital services strategy.2018 annual report on Form 20-F.

Turkcell International’s Adjusted EBITDA increased by 12.2% to TRY 264.0 million in 2017 from TRY 235.3 million in 2016 due to the positive impact of currency appreciation in Ukraine and Belarus against the Turkish Lira. The increase in Turkcell International’s Adjusted EBITDA was mainly due to increase in lifecell’s Adjusted EBITDA by 13.0% in terms of TRY, which was decreased by 2.2% in terms of local currency mainly due to higher network related costs resulting from the 3G+roll-out.

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VI. Year Endedended December 31, 2018 Compared2019 compared to the Year Endedyear ended December 31, 20172018

We had 32.7 million mobile subscribers in Turkey, including 20.4 million mobile postpaid subscribers, as of December 31, 2019, compared to 33.7 million mobile subscribers in Turkey, including 14.9with 18.8 million mobile prepaidpostpaid subscribers, as of December 31, 2018, compared to 34.1 million mobile subscribers in Turkey, with 15.6 million mobile prepaid subscribers, as of December 31, 2017.2018. During 2018,2019, we recorded a net decrease of 0.41.0 million Turkish mobile subscribers. This is mainly due to a 2.6 million decrease in prepaid customers on the back of 1.9 million disconnections resulting from the new ICTA regulation that requires deactivation of prepaid lines which lack residency documents by the sixth month of subscription, and deactivation of 580 thousand inactive prepaid customers in line with our churn policy.

In the fixed segment, we increased our subscriber base from 2.1remained at 2.3 million of which 1.2 million were fiber customers, for the year ended December 31, 2017, to 2.3 million,2019, of which 1.5 million were fiber customers, compared to 1.4 million were fiber customers for the year ended December 31, 2018.

In Ukraine, we had 9.99.0 million and 11.19.9 million registered subscribers as of December 31, 20182019 and 2017,2018, respectively. During 2018,2019, we lost approximately 1.20.9 million Ukrainian registered subscribers similarly 3 monthsfrom Ukraine, where three-month active subscribers decreasedincreased from 8.07.3 million to 7.37.4 million. ThisThe increase in three-month active subscribers was primarily due to decreasing multiple SIM card usage.the attractive offers and a focus on customer retention.

a.RevenuesTotal Revenue

Total revenues for the year ended December 31, 20182019 increased 20.8%18.1% to TRY 25,137.1 million in 2019 from TRY 21,292.5 million in 2018 from TRY 17,632.1 million in 2017.2018.

Total revenues generated by Turkcell Turkey increased 18.2%18.8%, to TRY 18,265.821,487.2 million in 20182019 from TRY 15,450.118,092.6 million in 2017,2018, mainly due to a 16.4% growth in data and digital services revenues and 10.4% growth in voice & SMS revenuessolid ARPU performance driven by higher numberan increase in the proportion of data users, increasedpostpaid subscribers, increasing data consumption, per userprice adjustments and higher penetration of digital services as well as our ability to upsell in mobile business coupled with a larger subscriber base in fixed business and higher ratio of multiplay subscribers with TV.strategy. This solid performance results from our microsegment layered approach enabled by strong data analytics capabilities.

Postpaid subscriber usageARPU is generallyconsiderably higher than that of a prepaid subscriber.subscriber with a comparatively lower churn rate. In Turkey, during 2018,2019, we maintained our focus on the postpaid segment with newlyand launched new campaigns, offers and promotions to motivate customers to switch customers from the prepaid to the postpaid segment. We focus onsegment as well as attracting new subscribers. Accordingly, our postpaid subscribers because there is,mobile subscriber base increased by 1.5 million net annual additions, and the postpaid ratio increased from 56% in general, higher average revenue per postpaid subscriber and a lower churn rate.2018 to 62% in 2019. In 2018,2019, postpaid ARPU excluding M2M subscribers was TRY 54.964.1 whereas prepaid average revenue per user was TRY 16.9.18.3. These figures indicate that postpaid average revenue per user is approximately 3.23.5 times that of the prepaid average revenue per user.prepaid. Therefore, the increase in the number of postpaid subscribers has had a positive effectimpact on the blended mobile average revenue per user.

Total revenues generated by Turkcell International increased by 36.5%37.5%, to TRY 2,002.8 million in 2019 from TRY 1,457.0 million in 2018, from TRY 1,067.1 million in 2017 mainly due to growth in our Ukraine and Belarus business in addition tobusinesses, mainly through higher ARPU levels and the appreciation of UAH and BYN against TRY during the period. The annual growth rates of lifecell and Belarusian Telecom, in terms of local currency were 8.1%13.6% and 11.7%8.0%, respectively.

Other subsidiaries’ revenues, mainly comprised of our revenues from information and entertainment services, call center services and financial services, grew by 62.8%4.9% to TRY 1,933.82,218.0 million in 20182019 from TRY 1,187.52,113.7 million in 2017. The increase2018. Significant factors that impacted our revenues from other subsidiaries in revenue isthe year 2019 include the following: (i) the sale of our sports betting in Azerbaijan was completed as of January 11, 2019 and hence, we did not report any revenues from this business in the year 2019, (ii) our contract to carry out sport betting operations in Turkey ended in August 28, 2019 and hence, the year 2019 figures includes revenues from this business until this date and (iii) Financell revenues were impacted by the decline in the consumer loan portfolio from TRY 4.2 billion as at the year end of 2018 to TRY 2.4 billion as at the year end of 2019, mainly attributabledue to Financell, our consumer finance business despite the negative impact of the introduction of a regulatoryinstallment limitation on the number of installments for consumer loans for smartphones in August 2018.telecom devices. Meanwhile, the revenue growth of our energy business and the expansion of Paycell positively contributed to our revenues from other subsidiaries.

b.Cost of revenuesrevenue

Cost of revenues,revenue, including depreciation and amortization, increased by 24.6%20.8% to TRY 17,083.5 million in 2019 from TRY 14,146.0 million in 2018, from TRY 11,350.2 million in 2017, due to an increase in depreciation and amortization charges, payments for our treasury sharesshare and universal funds paid,service fund, interconnection and termination fees, network related expenses, wages, salariesemployee benefit expenses and personnel expenses, funding costs for financial services and other items and the impact of new IFRS standards which includes amortization charge of subscriber acquisition cost according to IFRS15 and capitalization of lease expenses, depreciation and amortization charges of right of use assets according to IFRS16. TRY depreciation and rising inflation resulted in an increase in the overall cost of revenues.frequency expenses.

Depreciation and amortization charges (including impairment charges) increased by 65.1%17.7%, to TRY 5,046.6 million in 2019 from TRY 4,288.0 million in 2018 from TRY 2,597.0 million in 2017. The effect of current year addition of IFRS standards is TRY 1,173.4.2018. The amortization expense for our GSM license and other telecommunication operating licenses was TRY 611.2 million in 2019, mainly attributable to lifecell’s 4G license, up from TRY 533.3 million in 2018 mainly attributable2018.

Cost of goods sold increased 77.4% to our 4.5G license and TRY 537.22,278.3 million in 2017.2019, from TRY 1,284.2 million in 2018, due to the increased volume in our equipment business, universal service project and higher cost of energy sold as a reflection of higher revenues from our energy business.

Treasury sharesshare and universal service funds onfund over our mobile revenues paid to the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure increased 13.2%,16.2% to TRY 2,488.5 million in 2019, from TRY 2,141.0 million in 2018, from TRY 1,891.2 million in 2017 which was mainly due to the increase in mobile revenues.

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Interconnection and termination costsfees increased 9.7%8.3%, to TRY 1,909.6 million in 2019 from TRY 1,763.4 million in 2018, from TRY 1,607.1 million in 2017 mainly due to the increase inoff-net interconnection traffic.

Wages, salaries and personnelEmployee benefit expenses for technical personnel increased 14.9%by 25.8%, to TRY 1,202.51,501.6 million in 20182019 from TRY 1,046.51,194.0 million in 2017,2018, mainly due to the periodicannual increase in wages and salaries. Employee benefit expenses of financial services have been excluded from wages, salaries and personnel expenses which is also reflected in the 2018 and 2017 results. The amounts are TRY 8.5 million and TRY 4.8 million, respectively. These values are now under cost of revenues from financial services.

Frequency expenses increased by 29.0%, to 803.0 million in 2019 from TRY 622.4 million 2018, due to increase in numberrevenues, as 5% of personnel which was partially offset by the decreasing impact of new IFRS standards which were capitalization of subscriber acquisition costs according to IFRS15 and capitalization of lease expenses according to IFRS16.net revenue is paid as a frequency fee.

Radio cost decreasedincreased by 39.8%44.4%, to TRY 734.6 million in 2019 from TRY 508.9 million in 2018, from TRY 844.9 million in 2017 mainly due to impact of new IFRS16 standard.

Frequency expense increased by 123.3% to 622.4 millionincreases in 2018 from TRY 278.7 million 2017 due to a change in calculation method. Before January 1, 2018, the fee amount to be paid was calculated with respect to the amount per unit of wireless equipment (TRX); however, following a legislation shift, as of January 1, 2018 the fee is being calculated as 5% of monthly net sales amount.energy prices and roll out expenses.

Transmission costs increased by 49.4%3.0%, to TRY 336.0 million in 2019 from TRY 326.1 million in 2018, from TRY 218.2 million in 2017 mainly due to increases in roll out, capacity and effect of depreciation in TL.Turkish Lira.

Cost of revenue from financial services decreased 36.5% to TRY 240.3 million in 2019 from TRY 378.5 million in 2018, mainly due to the installment limitation on consumer loans for smartphones which have led to a decline in the loan portfolio of Financell.

Roaming expenses increased 28.0%,5.0% to TRY 238.1 million in 2019 from TRY 226.8 million in 2018, from TRY 177.3 million in 2017, mainly due to the depreciation of the TRY against the EUR and the increase in overall mobile network traffic increase.

Billing and archiving costs decreased 7.7% to TRY 50.9 million in 2018 from TRY 55.2 million in 2017, mainly due to the increase in the usage of the electronic and SMS invoices for billing.

Cost of revenue from financial services increased 28.9% to TRY 348.5 million in 2018 from TRY 270.4 million in 2017, due to the increased activities of Turkcell Finansman, which received official authorization in January 2016. Other costs in cost of revenues increased 12.9% to TRY 2,667.5 million in 2018 from TRY 2,363.6 million in 2017 due to increased contribution of our subsidiaries to our revenues, particularly in the fixed broadband and retail businesses, and universal service project.traffic.

As a percentage of revenues, cost of revenues increased 2.01.6 percentage points, to 68.0% in 2019 from 66.4% in 2018, from 64.4% in 2017, mainly as a result of increasesan increase in depreciation and amortization expensescost of 5.4goods sold of 3.0 percentage points, radio cost of 0.5 percentage points, frequency expense of 1.3 percentage points and transmission cost of 0.3 percentage points, employee benefit expenses of 0.4 percentage points, as opposed to decreaseswell as a decrease in cost of revenue from financial services of 0.8 percentage points, interconnection costs of 0.80.7 percentage points, treasury share and universal fund 0.6of 0.2 percentage points and radioother cost 2.4of revenue 0.6 percentage points.

Gross profit margin decreased 2.01.6 percentage points from 35.6% in 2017 to 33.6% in 2018.2018 to 32.0% in 2019.

c.Administrative expenses

Administrative expenses increased 4.4%15.8%, to TRY 779.8 million in 2019 from TRY 673.4 million in 2018, from TRY 645.2 million in 2017, mainly due to a decrease in consultancy expenses, the impact of new IFRS standards and showing impairment losses incurred in 2018 under net impairment losses on financial and contract asset partially offset by an increase in wages, salaries and personnelemployee benefit expenses, collection expense and travelconsultancy expenses, service expenses and entertainmenttraining expenses. As a percentage of revenues, general and administrative expenses decreased slightly to 3.1% for the year ended December 31, 2019, from 3.2% for the year ended December 31, 2018, from 3.7% for the year ended December 31, 2017.2018.

Wages, salaries and personnelEmployee benefit expenses fornon-technical andnon-marketing employees increased 23.0%13.6%, to TRY 483.4 million in 2019 from TRY 425.7 million in 2018, from TRY 346.2 million in 2017, primarily due to periodic increases in wages and salaries andas well as the increase in the number of personnel and the impact of new IFRS standards.personnel.

Other administrative expenses including collection and consulting expenses, decreased 5.7%increased 19.6%, to TRY 296.3 million in 2019 from TRY 247.7 million in 2018, from TRY 262.8 million in 2017 with the impact of the capitalization of leasecollection expenses, according to IFRS 16.

Starting from the fourth quarter of 2018, bad debtconsultancy expenses, for the full year were reclassified as impairment losses under the new item called “net impairment losses on financialservice expenses and contract assets” according to IFRS 9.training expenses.

d.Selling and marketing expenses

Selling and marketing expenses decreased 18.9%4.4%, to TRY 1,555.2 million in 2019 from TRY 1,626.7 million in 2018, from TRY 2,005.4 million in 2017, mainly due to the decrease in selling expenses, and the effect of showing prepaid subscribers’ uncharged frequency

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usage fees under net impairment losses on financial and contract asset, which was partially offset by the increase in wages, salaries, personnelemployee benefit and marketing expenses. As a percentage of revenues, selling and marketing expenses decreased from 11.4% for the year ended December 31, 2017 to 7.6% for the year ended December 31, 2018.2018 to 6.2% for the year ended December 31, 2019, driven by the decline in selling expenses by 1.2 percentage points and other cost items by 0.2 percentage points.

Selling expenses, which consist of distributor and dealer commissions and other selling expenses decreased 38.2%37.1%, to TRY 349.3 million in 2019 from TRY 555.2 million in 2018, from TRY 898.9 million in 2017, mainly due to the TRY 664.7 million impact of the new IFRS standards which included capitalization ofadditional subscriber acquisition costs according to IFRS15 and the effect of reclassifying prepaid subscribers’ uncharged frequency usage fees under net impairment losses on financial and contract assets according to IFRS 9.being capitalized in accordance with IFRS15.

Marketing expenses, which consist of advertising, market research and sponsorships expenses, increased 3.4%0.6%, to TRY 554.5 million in 2019 from TRY 551.1 million in 2018, from TRY 533.0 million in 2017 mainly due higher advertising expenses partially offset by the capitalization of lease expenses according to IFRS16.expenses.

Wages, salaries and personnelEmployee benefit expenses for selling and marketing employees increased 11.8%25.1%, to TRY 551.8 million in 2019 from TRY 441.0 million in 2018, from TRY 394.4 million in 2017, primarily due to the periodic increase in wages and salaries.

Prepaid subscribers’ uncharged frequency usage fee expenses amounting to TRY 141.5 million reclassified from Sellingsalaries and Marketing expenses to net impairment losses on financial and contract assets.the increase in the number of personnel.

e.Net impairment losses on financial and contract assets

According to IFRS 9, “Net impairment expense recognized on receivables”, previously presented in administrative expenses, are now to be shown under “NetNet impairment losses on financial and contract assets” and impairment losses incurred in 2018 amountedassets decreased 2.2%, to TRY 338.9 million in 2019 from TRY 346.4 million. Additionally, “Prepaid subscribers’ unchargedmillion in 2018. This decrease was mainly driven by better collection performance as well as a change in assumption for bad debt provisioning in relation to frequency usage fees” amounting to TRY 141.5 million are reclassified from Selling and Marketing expenses.fees paid on behalf of customers in line with IFRS9.

We providedbooked an impairment provision of TRY 938.5795.8 million and TRY 778.4938.5 million for contract assets, other assets and receivablereceivables from financial services for the years ended December 31, 20182019 and 2017,2018, respectively, depending on the evidence of impairment as a result of one or more events that occurred following the initial recognition of the asset and that loss event had an impact on the estimated future cash flows of the asset.

f.Other operating income/ (expense)(expenses)

Other net operating expenses decreasedincreased to TRY 346.6 million in 2019 from TRY 140.1 million in 2018, from TRY 698.9 million in 2017, mainly due to donationsrestructuring costs and litigation expensestax settlements as explained in Note 3738 (Commitments and Contingencies) to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this annual report on Form20-F, partially offset by Azerinteltek share sales income. 20-F.

g.Operating Profitprofit

Operating profit increased by 48.7%15.4%, to TRY 5,033.3 million in 2019 from TRY 4,359.9 million in 2018 from TRY 2,932.4 million in 2017.2018. As a percentage of revenues, operating profit also increaseddecreased from 16.6% in 2017 to 20.5% in 2018 to 20.0% in 2019, mainly due to aan increase in cost of revenue and other operating expenses which was partially offset by the decrease in administrative expenses and selling and marketing expenses as a percentage of revenues.and net impairment losses on financial and contract assets.

h.Net finance income/cost(costs)

Net finance costcosts increased to a TRY 1,727.7 million net expense in 2019 from a TRY 1,687.0 million net expense in 2018, from a TRY 322.9 million net expense in 2017, due to an increase in finance cost to TRY 3,619.1 million in 2018 from TRY 1,413.3 million in 2017, which was partially offset by the increasea decrease in finance income to TRY 1,932.1297.5 million in 2019 from TRY 1,677.1 million in 2018. Lower interest income on bank deposits and higher interest expenses resulting from borrowings and lease obligations despite lower foreign exchange losses after hedging were instrumental in this trend. As of December 31, 2019, interest income and expense on financial assets measured at amortized cost are shown netted of in our consolidated statement of profit or loss. The Company has presented financials as of December 31, 2018 accordingly, which amount is TRY 255.0 million.

Finance income decreased by 82.3%, to TRY 297.5 million in 2019 from TRY 1,677.1 million in 2018, from TRY 818.4 million in 2017.

Finance income increased by 136.1% to TRY 1,932.1 million in 2018 from TRY 818.4 million in 2017, mainly due to an increase in gain from changes in the fair value of derivative instruments, cash flow hedges-reclassified to profit or loss and lower interest income on bank deposits. The decrease interest income on bank deposits are mainly due to the decrease in interest rates. As of December 31, 2019, the average effective interest rates of TL, USD and EUR deposits were 10.7%, 2.3% and 0.4% (as of December 31, 2018: 22.5%, 5.9% and 3.3%), respectively.

Finance costs decreased by 39.8%, to TRY 2,025.1 million in 2019 from TRY 3,364.1 million in 2018, mainly due to the decrease in net foreign exchange losses, changes in the fair value of derivative instruments and cash flow hedges being reclassified to profit or loss.

Finance cost increased by 217.1% to TRY 3,619.1 million in 2018 from TRY 1,141.3 million in 2017, mainly due to the increase net foreign exchange losses and interest expenses for financial liabilities measured at amortized cost, Net foreign exchange losses increaseddecreased from TRY 718.5 million in 2017 to TRY 2,695.0 million in 2018 to TRY 1,039.6 million in 2019. The change in the fair value of derivative instruments and cash flow hedges being reclassified to profit or loss are due to the appreciation of Turkish Lira and decline in interest rates compared to 2018.

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i.Income tax expense

Income tax expense decreased 13.3%increased 58.6%, to TRY 785.6 million in 2019 from TRY 495.5 million in 2018, from TRY 571.8 million in 2017 mainly due to the tax exemption effect of Fintur.an increase in profit from operations.

The effective tax rate was 18.5%19.3% and 21.9%18.5% for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, and 2017, respectively.

Our domestic

Entities incorporated in Turkey are subject to corporate tax rate isof 20%. OnPublished in the Official Gazette on December 5, 2017, Turkey’s Law No. 7061 on the Amendment of Some Tax Laws and Some Other Laws which was adopted on November 28, 2017, was published in the Official Gazette. The Law increasesincreased the corporate tax rate under the Corporate Tax Law, No. 5520, from the current 20% rate to 22% for tax years 2018, 2019, and 2020; the change took effect on the Law’s date of publication. It2020. The corporate tax rate is expected to be set atdecrease to 20% afterwards.from 2021 onwards.

Differences between the effective tax rate and our domesticcorporate tax rate include, but are not limited to, the effect of allowance for deferred tax assets, tax rates in foreign jurisdictions,tax-exempt income andnon-deductible expenses. The main driver of the declineincrease in the effective tax rate in 20182019 is the tax exemption effect of Fintur. The high effective tax rate in 2017 is mainly due to the fact that since it is not probable that taxable profit will be available against which the unused tax losses or unused tax credits of lifecell and Belarusian Telecom can be utilized, no deferred tax asset is recognized on any loss incurred in lifecell and Belarusian Telecom.Fintur sale.

j.Profit/ Gain/(loss) from discontinued operations

Starting from 1 October 2016, Fintur has beenwas classified as held for sale and was reported as a discontinued operation (Note 16). Fintur is therefore disclosed separately as discontinued operations in our Consolidated Financial Statements in this annual report on Form20-F. Comparative periods in the Consolidated Financial Statements are restated to reflect the classification of Fintur as discontinued operations.

LossThe Company signed the definitive agreement on December 12, 2018 to transfer its total shareholding in Fintur to the other shareholder of Fintur, Sonera Holding. The deal was completed on April 2, 2019 subsequent to obtaining the regulatory approvals on March 29, 2019. The final transaction value is realized as TRY 2,229.6 million (EUR 352.9 million). The share transfer was completed in 2019, and the gain on this transaction, amounting to TRY 772.4 million, is recognized under gain from discontinued operations was TRY 42.2 million in 2016 while there is nothe consolidated financial statements.

No loss are recorded from discontinued operations for the years 20172018 and 2018.2019.

k.Non-controlling interests

Non-controlling interests in the net profit of our consolidated subsidiaries is classified separately in the consolidated financial statements of operations under“non-controlling “non-controlling interests”. Profit allocated tonon-controlling interests amounted to TRY 58.630.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2017,2019, compared to a TRY 156.3 million for 2018.

Profit allocated tonon-controlling interests from net profit generated by Inteltek for the years ended December 31, 20182019 and 20172018 amounted to TRY 105.130.2 million and TRY 35.9105.1 million, respectively.

l.Profit for theyear attributable to equity holdersowners of the Company

Profit for the year attributable to equity holdersowners of the Company increased to TRY 3,246.5 million in 2019, from TRY 2,021.1 million in 2018, from TRY 1,979.1 million in 2017, mostly due to an increase in results from operating activities increaseand a decrease in interest income earned on time deposits, and increase in fair value gains on derivative financial instrumentsforeign exchange losses which was partially netted off with decreasean increase in interest income onexpense financial assets measured at amortized cost and increase in interest expenses fornet fair value losses on derivative financial instruments.instruments and interest, cash flow hedges—reclassified to profit or loss and sale of subsidiaries (Fintur).

VII. Year Endedended December 31, 2017 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2016

We had 34.1 million mobile subscribers in Turkey, including 15.6 million mobile prepaid subscribers, as of December 31, 2017,2018 compared to 33.0 million mobile subscribers in Turkey, with 15.7 million mobile prepaid subscribers, as of December 31, 2016. During 2017, we recorded an increase of 1.1 million Turkish mobile subscribers.

In the fixed segment, we increased our subscriber base from 1.9 million, of which 1.0 million were fiber customers, for the year ended December 31, 2016,2017

Please refer to 2.1 million, of which 1.2 million were fiber customers, for the year ended December 31, 2017.

In Ukraine, we had 11.1 million and 12.4 million registered subscribers as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. During 2017, we lost approximately 1.3 million Ukrainian registered subscribers, similarly 3 months active subscribers decreased from 9.2 million to 8.0 million. This was primarily due to decreasing multiple SIM card usage.

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a.Revenues

Total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2017 increased 23.4% to TRY 17,632.1 million in 2017 from TRY 14,285.6 million in 2016.

Total revenues generated by Turkcell Turkey increased 20.8%, to TRY 15,450.1 million in 2017 from TRY 12,787.6 million in 2016, mainly due to a 51.2% growth in data and digital services revenues driven by the increase in mobile data and fixed data revenues impacted by increased smartphone penetration, higher subscriber numbers and a rise in data consumption; which was partially offset by a 36.5% decrease in voice and SMS revenues.

Postpaid subscriber usage is generally higher than prepaid subscriber. In Turkey, during 2017, we maintained our focus on the postpaid segment, with newly launched campaigns, offers and promotions to switch customers from the prepaid to the postpaid segment. We focus on postpaid subscribers because there is, in general, higher average revenue per postpaid subscriber and a lower churn rate. In 2017, postpaid ARPU excluding M2M subscribers was TRY 48.5 whereas prepaid average revenue per user was TRY 14.9. These figures indicate that postpaid average revenue per user is approximately 3.3 times the prepaid average revenue per user. Therefore, the increase in the number of postpaid subscribers has a positive effect on blended average revenue per user.

Total revenues generated by Turkcell International increased by 22.0%, to TRY 1,067.1 million in 2017 from TRY 874.7 million in 2016 mainly due to growth in Ukraine and Belarus business. The annual growth rates, in terms of local currency, lifecell and Belarusian Telecom were 0.8% and 13.4% respectively.

Other subsidiaries’ revenues, mainly comprisedpage 96 of our revenues from information and entertainment services, call center services and financial services, grew by 79.4% to TRY 1,187.5 million in 2017 from TRY 661.9 million in 2016. The increase in revenue is mainly attributable to Financell which was commenced in February 2016.

b.Cost of revenues

Cost of revenues, including depreciation and amortization, increased by 22.9% to TRY 11,350.2 million in 2017 from TRY 9,236.6 million in 2016, due to an increase in depreciation and amortization charges, treasury shares and universal funds paid, network related expenses, wages, salaries and personnel expenses, funding costs for financial services and other items.

Depreciation and amortization charges (including impairment charges) increased by 17.9%, to TRY 2,597.0 million in 2017 from TRY 2,203.3 million in 2016. The amortization expense for our GSM license and other telecommunication operating licenses was TRY 537.2 million in 2017 mainly attributable to our 4.5G license and TRY 445.1 million in 2016.

Treasury shares and universal service funds paid to the Turkish Ministry increased 12.3%, to TRY 1,891.2 million in 2017 from TRY 1,683.5 million in 2016 which was mainly due to the increase in mobile revenues.

Interconnection and termination costs increased 13.2% to TRY 1,607.1 million in 2017 from TRY 1,420.2 million in 2016 mainly due to the increase inoff-net interconnection traffic.

Transmission costs increased by 56.8% to TRY 218.2 million in 2017 from TRY 139.2 million in 2016. Furthermore, radio costs increased by 6.2%, to TRY 1,123.7 million in 2017 from TRY 1,057.6 million in 2016 mainly due to the cumulative investment impact and increased costs such as rent and energy.

Wages, salaries and personnel expenses for technical personnel increased 21.8% to TRY 1,046.5 million in 2017 from TRY 859.1 million in 2016, mainly due to the periodic increase in wages and salaries and the increase in number of personnel.

Roaming expenses increased 38.1%, to TRY 177.3 million in 2017 from TRY 128.4 million in 2016, mainly due to depreciation of the TRY against the EUR and overall traffic increase.

Billing and archiving costs decreased 10.5% to TRY 55.2 million in 2017 from TRY 61.6 million in 2016, mainly due to the increase in the usage of the electronic and SMS invoices for billing.

Cost of revenue from financial services increased 294.7% to TRY 270.4 million in 2017 from TRY 68.5 million in 2016, due to the increased activities of Turkcell Finansman, which received official authorization in January 2016. Other costs in cost of revenues increased 46.4% to TRY 2,363.6 million in 2017 from TRY 1,614.9 million in 2016 due to increased contribution of our subsidiaries to our revenues, particularly in the fixed broadband and retail businesses, and universal service project.

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As a percentage of revenues, cost of revenues decreased 0.3 pp to 64.4% in 2017 from 64.7% in 2016, mainly as a result of increases in cost of revenue from financial services of 1.1 pp, retail sales related to device costs of 1.1 pp and other costs in cost of revenues of 1.0 pp as opposed to decreases in interconnect costs of 0.8 pp, treasury share 1.1 pp, radio cost 1.0 pp and depreciation and amortization expenses of 0.7 pp.

Gross profit margin increased 0.3 percentage points from 35.3% in 2016 to 35.6% in 2017.

c.Administrative expenses

Administrative expenses decreased 10.6%, to TRY 645.2 million in 2017 from TRY 721.8 million in 2016, mainly due to an increase in wages, salaries and personnel expenses, rent expense, travel and entertainment expenses as opposed to the decrease in consultancy expenses and bad debt expenses. As a percentage of revenues, general and administrative expenses decreased to 3.7% for the year ended December 31, 2017, from 5.1% for the year ended December 31, 2016.

Wages, salaries and personnel expenses fornon-technical andnon-marketing employees increased 24.8%, to TRY 346.2 million in 2017 from TRY 277.4 million in 2016, primarily due to periodic increases in wages and salaries and the increase in number of personnel.

Bad debt expenses decreased 82.8%, to TRY 36.3 million in 2017 from TRY 211.4 million in 2016, due to recovery in collection performance.

We provided an allowance of TRY 778.4 million and TRY 974.5 million for doubtful receivables for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, depending on the likelihood of recoverability of trade and other receivables based on the aging of the balances, historical collection trends and general economic conditions.

Other administrative expenses, including collection and consulting expenses, increased 12.8% to TRY 262.8 million in 2017 from TRY 233.0 million in 2016.

d.Selling and marketing expenses

Selling and marketing expenses increased 4.9%, to TRY 2,005.4 million in 2017 from TRY 1,910.9 million in 2016, primarily due to an increase in selling expenses, wages, salaries, personnel and marketing expenses, which were partially offset by a decrease in prepaid subscribers’ uncharged frequency usage fee expenses.As a percentage of revenues, selling and marketing expenses decreased from 13.4% for the year ended December 31, 2016 to 11.4 % for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Selling expenses, which consist of distributor and dealer commissions and other selling expenses increased 18.6%, to TRY 898.9 million in 2017 from TRY 757.9 million in 2016, mainly due to our value focused customer acquisition strategy.

Marketing expenses, which consist of advertising, market research and sponsorships expenses, increased 2.8%, to TRY 533.0 million in 2017 from TRY 518.4 million in 2016.

Wages, salaries and personnel expenses for selling and marketing employees increased 11.3%, to TRY 394.4 million in 2017 from TRY 354.4 million in 2016, primarily due to periodic increase in wages and salaries.

Prepaid subscribers’ uncharged frequency usage fee expenses decreased 55.5%, to TRY 83.0 million in 2017 from TRY 186.5 million in 2016 due to increase in collection from customers.

e.Other operating income/ (expense)

Other net operating expenses increased to TRY 698.9 million in 2017 from TRY 234.2 million in 2016, mainly due to fixed asset sales gain, reversal of legal provisions, donations and litigation expenses as explained in Note 37 (Commitments and Contingencies) to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this2018 annual report on Form20-F.

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f.Operating Profit

Operating profit increased by 34.4% to TRY 2,932.4 million in 2017 from TRY 2,181.9 million in 2016. As a percentage of revenues, operating profit also increased from 15.3% in 2016 to 16.6% in 2017 mainly due to a decrease in administrative expenses and selling and marketing expenses as a percentage of revenues.

g.Net finance income/cost

Net finance cost increased to a TRY 322.9 million net expense in 2017 from a TRY 172.8 million net expense in 2016, due to an increase in finance cost to TRY 1,141.3 million in 2017 from TRY 1,134.4 million in 2016, which was partially offset by the increase in finance income to TRY 818.4 million in 2017 from TRY 961.6 million in 2016.

Finance income decreased by 14.9% to TRY 818.4 million in 2017 from TRY 961.6 million in 2016, mainly due to an increase in gain from changes in the fair value of derivative instruments, interest income on bank deposits partially netted off with the decrease in interest income on financial assets measured at amortized cost.

Finance cost increased by 0.6% to TRY 1,141.3 million in 2017 from TRY 1,134.4 million in 2016, mainly due to the increase interest expenses for derivative financial instruments and interest expenses for financial liabilities measured at amortized cost, and partially netted off with decrease in net foreign exchange losses. Net foreign exchange losses decreased from TRY 782.5 million in 2016 to TRY 718.5 million in 2017.

h.Income tax expense

Income tax expense increased 35% to TRY 571.8 million in 2017 from TRY 423.2 million in 2016.

The effective tax rate was 21.9% and 21.5% for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Our domestic tax rate is 20%. Differences between the effective tax rate and our domestic tax rate include, but are not limited to, the effect of allowance for deferred tax assets, tax rates in foreign jurisdictions, dividend income from investment in associates subject to certain tax exemptions (including Fintur),tax-exempt income andnon-deductible expenses. The high effective tax rate in 2017 and 2016 is mainly due to the fact that since it is not probable that taxable profit will be available against which the unused tax losses or unused tax credits of lifecell and Belarusian Telecom can be utilized, no deferred tax asset is recognized on any loss incurred in lifecell and Belarusian Telecom.

i.Profit/ (loss) from discontinued operations

Starting from 1 October 2016, Fintur has been classified as held for sale and reported as a discontinued operation (Note 16). Fintur is now therefore disclosed separately on a single line as discontinued operations in our Consolidated Financial Statements in this annual report on Form20-F. Comparative periods in the Consolidated Financial Statements are restated to reflect the classification of Fintur as discontinued operations.

Loss from discontinued operations is TRY 42.2 million in 2016.

j.Non-controlling interests

Non-controlling interests in the net profit of our consolidated subsidiaries is classified separately in the consolidated financial statements of operations under“non-controlling interests”. Profit allocated tonon-controlling interests amounted to TRY 51.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, compared to a TRY 58.6 million for 2017.

Profit allocated tonon-controlling interests from net profit generated by Inteltek for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 amounted to TRY 35.9 million and TRY 39.3 million respectively.

k.Profit for theyear attributable to equity holders of the Company

Profit for the year attributable to equity holders of the Company increased to TRY 1,979.1 million in 2017 from TRY 1,492.1 million in 2016, mostly due to increase in results from operating activities, increase in interest income earned on time deposits, and increase in fair value gains on derivative financial instruments which was partially netted off with decrease in interest income on financial assets measured at amortized cost and increase in interest expenses for derivative financial instruments.

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VIII. Effects of Inflation

According to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), mainly due toalong with the stabilizing of the currency, easing in cost push factors and a strong TRY depreciation and higher food pricebase effect, the annual inflation in Turkey reached 20.3%decreased to 11.8% in December 2018,2019, which is considerably higherlower than the 20172018 year-end figure which was 11.92%of 20.3%. The TRY depreciated 42% against the USD in August and along with the FX pass-though, headline inflation reached 24.52% and 25.24% in September and October, respectively. The current inflation expectation of the CBRT in its 2019first Inflation Report for 2020 is 15.2% for 2019.8.2%. The latest CBRT expectations survey, as of February 2019,March 2020, indicated that inflation is expected to be at 16.0%9.98% at the end of 2019,2020, which is above the CBRT’s target.official target of 5.0%. For additional information, see “Item 3.D. Risk Factors”.

Inflation accelerateddecelerated relatively in 20182019 in Belarus. Headline inflation increaseddecreased to 4.7% in 2019 from 5.6% in 2018, from 4.6% in 2017, according to the data provided by the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus. The National Bank of the Republic of Belarus has been on an easing trajectory since the beginning of 2017,2018, bringing

the refinancing rate down to 10% from 17% with gradual rate cuts.cuts in 2018, and down to 9% from 10% in 2019. Economic activity continues to recover, even though the momentum of the growth diminished slightly at the end of the year.slightly. Macroeconomic stability is still fragile due to the country’s reliance on the Russian economy. On the external side, key risksrisk factors include disruptions in energy price arrangements with Russia.

In Ukraine, inflation followed a downward path in 2018,2019, due to weakening of food prices amid more ample supply and an increase in economic activity slightly picked up driven by agriculture and domestic demand.activity. Annual inflation declined to 9.8%4.1% in 20182019, from 13.7%9.8% at the end of 20172018, according to the National Bank of Ukraine. Current tight monetary stance supports the decelerationUkraine (NBU). The rapid decline in inflation towardsled to a steady easing of the National Bank’syear-end inflation target. The National Bank of Ukraine hikedmonetary policy by the NBU, which cut its key policy rate from 16%by 450 bps, to 18% through 201813.5% in 2019, and is expected to 18%enact further cuts in January 2019 in an effort to curb inflation. 2018 brought forward favorable outcomes as growth continued to recover, risk of volatile markets and geopolitical risks remain in place as country head into presidential elections followed by parliamentary elections in 2019.2020. Furthermore, if global liquityliquidity conditions become tighter, in particular in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the UAH will most likely come under increased pressure.

IX. Foreign Currency Fluctuations

We conduct our business in several currencies other than functional currencies of each of our locations. As a result of our exposure to foreign currency, exchange rate fluctuations have a significant impact, in the form of both translation and transaction risks, on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

Exchange rate movements impact our assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than TRY, Ukrainian Hryvnia, Belarusian Rubles and Euro for our operations in Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus, and Germany, respectively. We hold some of our cash portfolio in foreign currency to manage ournon-TRY denominated liabilities in Turkey. Additionally, derivative financial instruments such as forward contracts, swap contracts and options are used.

The foreign exchange risks in Turkey as the result of purchases and borrowings in U.S. Dollars and Euros have been manageable, as there is a developed market enabling the hedging of such risk; however,risk. While we are currently able to hedge our principal TRY exposure to the U.S. Dollar and the Euro on commercially reasonable terms, no assurance can be given that we will continue to be able to do so under all circumstances in the future, in particular taking into account the context created by the COVID-19 epidemic, which has had, and is likely to continue to have, a material impact on the volatility of global markets which, in turn, may lead to a material increase in our financing costs. Additionally, in Belarus and Ukraine, therethe tools are no toolsnon-existent or insufficient to hedge foreign exchange rate risks effectively due to restricted, thin and underdeveloped financial markets. In Belarus, no international bank offers hedging instruments and local banks are too undercapitalized to be able to enter into transactions.

In Ukraine,Prior to 2019, the only hedging tool seemed to beproduct proposed by local banks in Ukraine was non-deliverable forwards forward (“NDF”) which areis cash settled product in U.S. Dollars, a short termshort-term forward contract on anon-convertible foreign currency which could not be delivered offshore. However, withAt the same time the share of NDF transactions has always been insignificant due to complexity and low demand in the market.

In February 2019, the new Law of Ukraine on Currency and Exchange Transactions entered into force and lifted a number of restrictions in the foreign exchange market. In particular, the National Bank of Ukraine:

allowed currency forwards for the purpose of hedging export/import and loan transactions;

allowed purchasing and accumulating foreign currency on accounts intended for making payments on external loans; and

companies are allowed to buy foreign currency on the same day without preliminary fund reservations.

Moreover, in March 2019, the National Bank of Ukraine forbidding any NDF settlement,lowered requirements for the already liquidity-thin market has become virtuallynon-existent. As of 1 March 2019, 30% mandatory sale of incoming payments in foreign currency proceeds from abroad from 50% to 30% and lifted it completely in June 2019. Also, in July 2019, the limit for dividends repatriation was finally cancelled. Since then, owners of corporate rights/shares (i.e. foreign shareholders of Ukrainian companies) are not limited in the repatriation of their dividends abroad. In general, throughout 2019 around 40 restrictions on currency transactions for businesses, banks, foreign investors and the general public have been either mitigated or eliminated.

Overall, 2019 was a challenging but positive year for Ukraine. The political cycle was successfully completed. The Ukrainian economy saw its highest growth over the last eight years. Macroeconomic stabilization helped increasing investors’ interest in Hryvnia financial instruments. This led to an increased inflow of foreign currency to Ukraine and the appreciation of the national currency (UAH appreciated against USD by 14.4% in

2019 compared to 1.4% appreciation in 2018). Another positive indicator is that Ukraine’s international reserves increased by 22% in effect replacing2019 and amounted to USD 25.3 billion as of January 1, 2020. Meanwhile, the former 50% mandatory FX sale. Additionally, “UAH freeze” rule in FX purchasing has been abolished byIMF announced a new three-year USD 5.5 billion arrangement with the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). NBUcountry, which is expected to relax some ofcement financial stability in 2020. Furthermore, royalties from a new five-year gas transit contract with Russia, signed in December, should provide additional support to the FX restrictions in 2019. As of December 31, 2018, with improving outlook for the economy on back of real growth returning to positive territory, IMF financial aid package tranches, fiscal and macro reforms being implemented, downtrend in inflation and build up in FX reserves Ukrainian Hryvnia appreciated against the U.S. Dollar by 1.4% in 2018 compared to 3.2% depreciation in 2017.government’s accounts going forward.

In the current economic environment and considering the aforementioned fragile economic conditions, there is a possibility of further devaluationsvolatility in the financial markets both in Ukraine and in Belarus. Furthermore, the COVID-19 epidemic has had, and is likely to continue to have, a material impact on the volatility of global markets.

Our foreign currency risk management policy is focused on hedging foreign currency exposure arising fromnon-TRY denominated liabilities and purchase commitments. See “Item 11. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk”.

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X. Interest Rate Hedging

Monitoring and examining financing opportunities to improve our financial flexibility and performance has been a continuous process for us. Depending on the availability in both domestic and international debt/capital markets, we continuously monitor new financing alternatives for contingency purposes as well as to fund potential new investments or acquisitions. We are exposed to interest rate risk as part of our total debt portfolio’s dependency on floating rates. We also closely monitor various hedging alternatives to hedge our interest rate risk with interest rate derivatives with a minimum cost.cost, although this might become increasingly difficult to achieve in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. In 20172018 and in 2018,2019, a significant portion of our floating FX debt portfolio was hedged and converted to fixed TRY liability through interest rate derivatives.

a.New Accounting Standards Issued

See Note 2 (Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies) of our Consolidated Financial Statements in this annual report onForm 20-F.

5.B Liquidity and Capital Resources

a.Liquidity

We require significant liquidity to finance capital expenditures for the expansion and improvement of our mobile communications network, for operational capital expenditures, for working capital, and to service our debt obligations. ABelow is a summary of our consolidated cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2018, 20172019 and 2016 is as follows:2018:

 

   2018   2017   2016 
   TRY million 

Net cash generated by operating activities

   5,829.9    3,101.3    607.1 

Net cash used in investing activities

   (4,535.6   (3,304.6   (2,976.7

Net cash generated by/(used in) financing activities

   (534.4   (1,566.7   4,839.0 

Net cash increase/ (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

   759.9    (1,770.1   2,469.5 

Effects of foreign exchange rate fluctuations on cash and cash equivalents

   1,947.0    430.1    664.1 
   2019  2018 
   TRY million 
Net cash inflow from operating activities  9,026.6  5,829.9 

Net cash (outflow) from investing activities

   (3,027.3  (4,535.6

Net cash (outflow) from financing activities

   (3,478.0  (534.4

Net increase in cash and cash equivalents

   2,521.3   759.9 

Effects of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents

   298.2   1,947.0 

Net cash provided by our operating activities was TRY 9,026.6 million in 2019 and TRY 5,829.9 million in 2018 and TRY 3,101.3 million in 2017.2018.

The increase in profit amounting to TRY 1401,099.4 million compared to 20172018 has had a positive impact on net cash generated byinflow from operating activities. We consider the subtotal after the adjustments for profit for the period in order to analyze the increase in cash inflow from operating activities. Since these lines are adjusting in nature, they are to be excluded from net cash from operating activities, as they either do not have any effect on net cash inflow from operating activities, or they have an offsetting effect on the changes in working capital. As a result, the trend in cash inflow from operating activities should be correlated with the trend in results from operating activities, interest paid and income tax paid. The corresponding subtotal, after adjustments, increased to TRY 9,876.311,915.6 million in 20182019, from TRY 6,8539,821.9 million in 2017.2018. Furthermore, the increase in interest paid to TRY 1,658.3 million in 2018 from TRY 909.9 million in 2017, the increase in changes in receivables from financial operations, the increase in change in trade and other payables, the decrease in income tax paid to TRY 611.4 million in 2019 from TRY 657.7 million in 2018, partially netted off with the decrease in changes in trade receivables and income taxthe increase in interest paid to TRY 657.72,090.7 million in 2019 from TRY 1,658.3 million in 2018 from TRY 492.5 million in 2017 resulted in a 88.0%55% increase in net cash provided by our operating activities.

Net cash used byoutflow from investing activities increaseddecreased to TRY 3,027.3 million in 2019, from TRY 4,535.6 million in 2018 from TRY 3,304.6 million in 2017. The2018. This change in net cash used by investing activities is mainly due to the increase in proceeds from sale of subsidiary, despite the increases in acquisition of property, plant and equipment and acquisition of intangible assets and the increase in cash outflow from financial assets. For the year ended December 31, 2018,2019, we spentreceived TRY 2,960.62,219.6 million on acquisitionfrom sale of property, plant and equipmentsubsidiary compared to TRY 2,937.2118.5 million in 2017 while we spent TRY 2,264.9 million on acquisition of intangible asset compared to TRY 1,172.8 million in 2017.2018.

Net cash used for ouroutflow from financing activities for the year 20182019 amounting to TRY 534.43,478.0 million, whereas net cash used was TRY 1,566.7534.4 million for 2017. The2018. This change is mainly attributable to the decrease in proceeds from new loan agreementsissues of loans and borrowings and issuance of bonds which partially netted off with dividends paid anda decrease in the repayment of borrowings. In 2018, dividend paid amounted to TRY 1,949.4 million, compared to dividend paid in 2017 amounting to TRY 3,050.9 million, with respect to the years ended December 31, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. In addition, we repaid TRY 43,987.1 million of our loans and borrowings in 2018, compared to TRY 22,265.1 million in 2017. The cash generation from the issuance of bonds increased to TRY 2,188.3 million in 2018 from TRY 209.8 million in 2017. The cash generation from issuance of loans and borrowings increaseddecreased to TRY 29,060.5 million in 2019, compared to TRY 44,341.1 million in 2018 compared to TRY 24,102.6 million in 2017.

Net cash provided by our operating activities was TRY 3,101.3 million in 2017 and TRY 607.1 million in 2016.

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The increase in profit amounting to TRY 494 million compared to 2016 has a positive impact on net cash generated by operating activities. We consider the subtotal after the adjustments for profit for the period in order to analyze the increase in cash from operating activities. Since these lines are adjusting in nature, they are to be excluded from net cash from operating activities, as they either do not have any effect on net cash from operating activities or they have an offsetting effect on the changes in working capital. As a result, the trend in cash from operating activities should be correlated with the trend in results from operating activities and income tax paid. The corresponding subtotal, after adjustments, increased to TRY 6,853 million in 2017 from TRY 4,409 million in 2016. Furthermore, the increase in interest paid to TRY 909.9 million in 2017 from TRY 434.5 million in 2016, the increase in changes in receivables from financial operations, the increase in change in trade and other payables, partially netted off with the decrease in changes in trade receivables and income tax paid to TRY 492.5 million in 2017 from TRY 135.9 million in 2016 resulted in a 410.8% increase in net cash provided by our operating activities.

Net cash used by investing activities increased to TRY 3,304.6 million in 2017 from TRY 2,976.7 million in 2016. The change in net cash used by investing activities is mainly due to the increase in capital expenditures. For the year ended December 31, 2017, we spent TRY 2,937.2 million on acquisition of property, plant and equipment compared to TRY 2,572.4 million in 2016 while we spent TRY 1,172.8 million on acquisition of intangible asset compared to TRY 855.1 million in 2016.

Net cash used for our financing activities for the year 2017 amounting to TRY 1,566.7 million, whereas net cash provided was TRY 4,839.0 million for 2016. The change is mainly attributable to the proceeds from new loan agreements and issuance of bonds which partially netted off with dividends paid and repayment of borrowings. In 2017, dividend paid amount was TRY 3,050.9 million, compared to dividend paid in 2016 amounting to TRY 51.4 million, with respect to the years ended December 31, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. In addition, we repaid TRY 22,265.1 million of our loans and borrowings in 2017, compared to TRY 4,932.8 million in 2016.2018. The cash generation from the issuance of bonds increaseddecreased to TRY 209.8311.6 million in 20172019 from TRY 167.52,188.3 million in 2016. The cash generation from issuance2018. In addition, we repaid TRY 31,297.9 million of our loans and borrowings increased to TRY 24,102.6 million in 20172019, compared to TRY 9,381.343,987.1 million in 2016.2018.

For a discussion of our consolidated cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to the year ended December 31, 2017, please refer to page 104 of our 2018 annual report on Form 20-F.

b.Sources of Liquidity

Turkcell had applied to the Capital Markets Board and, on September 15, 2015, obtained its approval of an issuance certificate to issue bonds, commercial paper or any other debentures with an amount of up to $1 billion (or its equivalent in another currency) to real and legal persons domiciled outside of Turkey through private placement and/or sales to qualified investors without a public offering. In October 2015, Turkcell issued a Eurobond with an aggregate principal amount of $500 million,10-year maturity, a redemption date of October 15, 2025 and coupon rate of 5.75% (based on a 5.95% reoffer yield to investors). The bond issuance was completed and the proceeds of the issue were transferred to the Company’s account on October 15, 2015 and the2015. The notes have since been listed on the official list of the Irish Stock Exchange.

On September 16, 2015, Turkcell signed a club loan facility with a group of international banks with a U.S. Dollar tranche of $500USD 500 million and a Euro tranche of EUR445EUR 445 million. The facility has a maturity of five years, with a semi-annual principal amortization during the last three years of the loan. Interest on the loan is payable quarterly. The facility is unsecured and has an interest rate of3-month three-month LIBOR/EURIBOR +2.0% per annum. The company fully utilized both tranches in June 2016 and repayments commenced as of June 2018. On February 11, 2020 Turkcell decided to prepay the loan. Accordingly, the last two principal repayments of the loan, which are due in June 2020 and September 2020 as per the loan agreement and which in total amount to EUR 148.4 million and USD 166.7 million, were completed on March 23, 2020.

On October 23, 2015 we signed two loan agreements with China Development Bank (“CDB”) for an amount of up to EUR500EUR 500 million (available for two years), to refinance certainsome of the Group’s existing loans, and for an amount of up to EUR750EUR 750 million (available for three years), to finance certaina part of our procurement requirements from Chinese suppliers in relation to our infrastructure investments. Both loan facilities have a final maturity of 10 years, with semi-annual equal amortization during the last seven years of the loan. The annual interest rate of the loan is EURIBOR +2.20%loans was EURIBOR+2.20%. As of December 31, 2018 an amount ofThe EUR 500 million (infacility was immediately fully utilized in October, 2015) has been2015 whereas the EUR 750 million facility was planned to be utilized whereas an amount of EUR318 million has been utilized outin the three-year availability period until April, 2019. On March 5, 2018 the scope of the EUR 750 million facility. The remaining unutilized portion (of EUR 432million) of the latter facility is available for drawdown until April 22, 2019. On March 5, the scope of the EUR750 million loan facility (of its EUR690EUR 690 million unutilized portion by then) was expanded. In this respect, in addition to Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S., our subsidiaries Turkcell Superonline, Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S., Financell and lifecell LLC will also be able to make drawdowns under the facility. In addition, the amendment authorized the abovementioned borrowers to make drawdowns in USU.S. Dollars and Renminbi (“CNY”) besides the original loan currency of EUR. The respective interest rates for USD and CNY loans were set at LIBOR + 2.22% and 5.51% whilst interest rates for EUR loans remained the same (EURIBOR +2.20%). In June 2019, in order to manage our floating interest rate risk, we entered into an interest rate swap transaction for the USD 75 million portion of this loan. With this transaction, we have fixed the annual interest rate of the respective portion of the loan at 4.07% in USD terms, starting from April 10 – October 10, 2019 up until maturity. As of the end of the availability period of April 2019, we had utilized EUR 550 million equivalent in EUR, USD and CNY currencies out of the EUR 750 million facility and cancelled the remaining EUR 200 million limit. Furthermore, in August 2019, the annual interest rates of the USD and EUR denominated loans, which were LIBOR + 2.22% and EURIBOR+2.20%, were revised at LIBOR+2.17% and EURIBOR+2.15%, respectively. The updated rates have been effective from the April 10, 2019 – October 10, 2019 interest period and up until maturity. There have been no changes to the maturity andor the repayment scheduleterms of the loan. Semi-annual repayments of the EUR 500 million and EUR 750 million facilities started in April, 2019 and October, 2019, respectively.

On March 22, 2018, the Capital Markets Board approved our application with respect to issuing debt instruments with an amount up to US$USD 750 million or its equivalent in another currency, to be sold in international markets, through private placement and/or sales to qualified investors domiciled outside of Turkey. Following this approval, on April 11, 2018 we issued a Eurobond with an aggregate principal amount of $500 million with a fixed coupon rate of 5.80% per annum (based on a 6.10% reoffer yield) and 10 years maturity.

On February 25, 2019, we signed a USD 150 million, 10-year semi-annual amortizing export finance facility funded by J.P. Morgan and Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK), and covered by Exportkreditnämnden (EKN) of Sweden in order to finance our procurement from a global vendor between 2018 and 2021. The loan consists of three equal tranches, with the first tranche having a total annual cost of LIBOR+2.10% whereas the second and third tranches have a fixed 5.35% total cost per annum. Total cost includes the margin and annualized portions of the EKN premium and upfront fee.

105On May 10, 2019, we signed a sustainability linked loan agreement of EUR 50 million with BNP Paribas Fortis SA/NV for general corporate purposes. The respective loan has a maturity of three years and one week and its total annual cost will be in the Euribor+2.00%-2.20% range. The total cost (i.e. margin plus annualized upfront fee) of the loan can potentially decline to Euribor+2.00% or increase to Euribor+2.20%, subject to meeting sustainability-based environmental objectives set as part of the loan agreement. These objectives include the collection of electronic waste, use of solar energy for electricity consumption and reducing paper consumption through increased use of Dergilik application which enables users to read magazines and newspapers in digital format.


Financell has a significantconsiderable portion in Turkcell group debt balance, due toalthough its share has decreased since August, 2018 when the growing funding requirementBRSA decreased the maximum number of the company that comes frominstallments in mobile phone related consumer loan growth.loans. Financell mainly relies on bilateral loans from local and international banks. TheHowever, the company has been preferring short-term local currency loans from Turkish banks since its loan book and average maturity of receivables began to shrink. If the bank borrowings are in either TRY or hard currencies, whichthey are immediately swapped into TRY liabilities in order not to carry anyavoid FX risk. Whenever Financell borrowsborrowed in USD or EUR,hard currencies in the past three years, it executesexecuted cross currency swap transactions that matchmatched the full cashflowcash flow of the subject loan during its maturity. One of the majorMajor funding sources of Financell isare USD 150 million in two bilateral loans from Export Development Canada (EDC) maturing in September and December 2020; a committedUSD 50 million amortizing bilateral loan agreement entered into with thefrom J.P. Morgan fully maturing in March 2023 and a EUR 40 million amortizing loan from Bank of China maturing in March 2018 for an amountSeptember 2021. The remainder of EUR 100 million having 3.5 year maturity where semi-annual equal amortizations start at the 18th month and with an interest rate of EURIBOR +1.25%. As of 31 December 2018, EUR40 million of this facility is available for drawdown until April 19, 2019.borrowings are local currency loans from Turkish banks. As of December 31, 2018,2019, Financell’s total loan portfolio was TRY 4,0961,733 million and more than half81% of this portfolio consists of foreign currency loans (TRY 3,2431,407 million)., which are converted into TRY liabilities with cross currency swaps and thus do not carry any FX risk.

In order to diversify its borrowing resources, Financell also resorted to other funding alternatives; as such italternatives. It applied to the Capital Markets Board of Turkey (“CMB”) for the issuance of ABS.asset-backed security (ABS). Following the respective approvals of the CMB, Financell mandated Aktif Yatirim Bankasi A.S. which issued foursix ABS at a total nominal size of TRY 360485 million between April 2017 and December 20182019 to qualified investors without public offering where Financell was the originator and the user of funds. TRY 160125 million of these issuances were made in 20182019 in two transactions.transactions and the outstanding ABS amount as of December 31, 2019 is TRY 87 million.

In June 2019, Financell applied to the CMB for the approval of to the issue of debt instruments in Turkey of up to TRY 500 million within one year to be utilized in various amounts and times based on financing needs. The respective debt instruments will have various interest rates and terms, various maturities of up to 1 year, and will be TL denominated. The instruments will be offering through adomestic placement without public offering, and/or through a domestic sale to qualified investors in one or more tranches. No issuances have been made under this approval in 2019.

On December 18, 2017, the Turkcell Board of Directors approved the issuance of management agreement based lease certificates (wakala sukuk) in accordance with capital markets legislation by Turkcell Superonline through an asset leasing company in the domestic market for an amount of up to TRY 300 million and up to12-month tenor. On January 19, 2018, application for the approval of the issue programme for lease certificates was made to the CMB and the approval was obtained on March 1, 2018. The first issue of TRY 125 million with a6-month six-month tenor was made on March 22, 2018 and fully matured on September 13, 2018. The second issue of TRY 75 million came on December 13, 2018 with103-day tenor and the third issue of TRY 100 million followed on February 13, 2019 with121-day tenor. The issues were conducted to meet the short termshort-term funding

needs of Turkcell Superonline and were purchased by domestic institutional investors. Following the complete utilization of the previous Turkcell Board of Directors resolution and CMB approval, on February 1, 2019, the Board approved a new resolution to allow Turkcell Superonline to issue lease certificates for an amount of up to TRY 500 million under the same conditions mentioned above. On May 2, 2019, an application for the approval of a new issue programme for lease certificates of up to TRY 500 million was made to the Capital Markets Board, and the approval was obtained on May 16, 2019. The first issue of TRY 75 million under the new issue programme was made on June 14, 2019 with a 116-day tenor and matured on October 8, 2019. It was followed by the second issue of TRY 150 million on October 8, 2019, with 119-day tenor, which matured on February 4, 2020, and further followed by the third issue of TRY 175 million with a 140-day tenor on February 4, 2020. On March 24, 2020, the Turkcell Board of Directors approved the issuance of lease certificates by Turkcell Superonline through an asset leasing company based in Turkey. The issuance, in the amount of up to TRY 600 million, must be made in Turkish Lira terms with maturities of up to 12 months, and offered in the domestic market, in one or more tranches, through private placements and/or sales to institutional investors without a public offering. On the same day, the Turkcell Board of Directors approved the issuance of lease certificates by Global Tower through an asset leasing company based in Turkey. The issuance of up to TRY 300 million must be in Turkish Lira terms, with maturities up to 12 months, and be offered in the domestic market in one or more tranches as private placement and/or sold to institutional investors with no public offering.

Our borrowings consist of bilateral and club loans from local and international financial institutions, 144A/RegS Eurobonds sold to qualified investors in the international markets and finance lease obligations with either fixed or floating interest rates. A significant portion of our borrowings is utilized to finance our consolidated subsidiaries’ financing needs and acquisition of GSM licenses. Our loans are denominated in several currencies including U.S. Dollar, BYN, CNY, EUR, UAH or TRY. The floating interest rates vary from LIBOR + 1.25% and0.58% to LIBOR + 2.22%2.17% and from EURIBOR+1.25% to EURIBOR+2.20% for the loans denominated in U.S. Dollars.Dollars and EUR, respectively. The fixed interest rates vary from 5.75%(i) 3.84% to 5.80% for the loans denominated in U.S. Dollars, from(ii) 0.82% to 3.35% for the loans denominated in EUR, from 12.60%(iii) 9.25% to 27.50%10.60% for the loans denominated in TRY, from 21.50%(iv) 11.50% to 22.50%18.00% for the loans denominated in UAH, from(v) 12.00% to 16.00% for the loans denominated in BYN areand (vi) 5.51% for the loans denominated in CNY. The floating interest rates vary from from LIBOR + 1.00% to LIBOR + 2.22% for the loans denominated in U.S. Dollars, and from EURIBOR + 1.20% and EURIBOR 2.20% for the loans denominated in EUR. Our borrowings are payable over the period spanning from 2019 to 2031. As of December 31, 2019, our borrowings consist of USD 752 million and EUR 846 million based on floating-rate pricing (i.e. LIBOR and EURIBOR), of which USD 300 million and EUR 480 million will still be outstanding as of January 1, 2022. As we understand from what we observe in the market, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) plans to phase out LIBOR by the end of 2021 and from then on, the Secured Overnight Funding Rate (SOFR) is expected to replace LIBOR. Furthermore, regulators are also discussing to replace EURIBOR, yet it is expected to remain in force for another period of five years. As of March 20, 2020, we have neither discussed with nor approached by any financial institution to replace LIBOR and/or EURIBOR with a new reference rate. We shall continue to monitor the developments on this matter and aim to take necessary actions if and when possible in conjunction with financial institutions that we are in continuous contact with.

We alsobelieve we have what we believe to be a strong liquidity position with the cash-equivalent of USD 1.41.7 billion equivalent of cash in hard currency,currencies, which approximately equals our debt repaymentsservice (including principal and interest) due in the next twothree years, amounting(excluding the consumer finance unit which is a self-financing company thanks to USD 874 million in 2019 and USD 550 million in 2020.its consumer loan receivables). Beyond that, we currently have a debt repaymentsservice (including principal and interest) amounting to approximately USD 203 million for 2021, USD 200 million for 2022 and USD 1,7061,920 million in total between 2023 and 2031.

The ratio of our debt to equity is 112% as of December 31, 2019, compared to 126% as of December 31, 2018, compared to 83% as of December 31, 2017.2018. We have been able to maintain our leverage at a satisfactory level and in line with our targets. For more information, see Note 2829 to our Consolidated Financial Statements.

We are continuing our efforts to selectively seek out and evaluate new investment opportunities. These opportunities could include the purchase of licenses and acquisitions in markets inside and outside of Turkey.

Under the current assumptions and circumstances, we expect to generate adequate levels of cash to maintain a positive cash position in the future and to have positive cash flow related to our communications and technology activities in Turkey. According to our current business plan for the operations in Turkey, we believe that we will be able to finance our current operations, capital expenditures, and financing costs andas well as maintain and enhance our network through our operating cash flow existing credit facilities and other available credit lines. However, we continue to experience difficult pricing and competitive conditions in our markets, which we expect will continue. In addition, our working capital requirements may increase should the BRSA increases the maximum number of instalments on mobile phone related loans or due towith our possible entry to the smart device

leasing business.business for consumers. The working capital requirements related to terminal financing and bad debt expenses are planned to be managed by our consumer finance company, which commenced operations in 2016. We are also facing increased capital needs to finance our technological and geographic expansion, which may increase our net cash used for investing activities. These pressures have reduced, and may continue to reduce, our liquidity and may lead to an increase in borrowing needs and net cash used by financing activities.

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Our cash outflows through 2019 include potential dividend payments depending on the result of our general assembly meeting, quarterly corporate tax payments, capital expenditures, debt service and working capital needs.

We expect that our total operational capital expenditures as a percentage of revenues in 20192020 will be around16%-18%.

The forward-looking statements made here regarding our liquidity and any other financial results are not a guarantee of performance. They are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause future activities and results of operations to be different from those set forth in this annual report.

Important factors that may adversely affect our projections include general economic conditions, changes in the competitive environment, legal risks, developments in the domestic and international capital markets, increased investments, changes in telecommunications regulations and mismatches between the currencies in which we generate revenue and hold liquid assets and the currencies in which we incur liquid obligations and debt. See “Item 3.D. Risk Factors” for a discussion of these and other factors that may affect our projections.

c.Capital Transactions

In 2018,2019, we have entered into buyback transactions on our own shares; please refer to “Item 10.B. ShareBuy-Backs”, as well as Item 16.E.

d.General Economic Conditions

Turkey’s economic growth slowed to 0.9% in 2019 from 2.6% in 2018 from 7.4% in 2017 and it is expected to slowaccelerate to 2.0%around 3.3% in 2019 mainly due2020. However, the various measures taken in the fight against COVID-19 may negatively impact this growth rate. Please refer to “Item 5. I. Overview of the tightened financial conditions.Turkish and International Economy”.

e.Dividend Payments

On March 23, 2016, the Board of Directors proposed a dividend distribution for the year ended December 31, 2015 amounting to TRY 1,200.0 million (equivalent to $228.1USD 202.0 million as of December 31, 2018)2019), which represented approximately 58% of net distributable income for the relevant year. This dividend proposal was discussed and rejected at the Ordinary General Assembly of Shareholders held on March 29, 2016.

On May 25, 2017, the Company’s General Assembly approved the payment of a dividend amounting to TRY 3,000.0 million (equivalent to USD 841.6505.0 million as of May 25, 2017, the date of the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting)December 31, 2019) out of profits for the period from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2016. This represents a gross cash dividend of full TRY 1.3636364 (equivalent to full USD 0.38256040.23 as of May 25, 2017, the date of the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting)December 31, 2019) per share. The Company paid TRY 3,000.0 million in total including withholding taxes in three installments on 15 June 15, September 15 and December 15, December 2017 to the shareholders.

On March 29, 2018, the Company’s General Assembly approved the payment of a dividend amounting to TRY 1,900.0 million (equivalent to USD 475.8319.9 million as of March 29, 2018, the date of the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting)December 31, 2019) from the net distributable profit for the year ended December 31, 2017. This represents a gross cash dividend of full TRY 0.8636364 (equivalent to full USD 0.2162822as0.15 as of March 29, 2018, the date of the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting)December 31, 2019) per share. The distribution to shareholders was performed in three equal installments that took place on June 18, September 17 and December 17, 2018, respectively.

On September 12, 2019, the Company’s General Assembly approved the payment of a dividend amounting to TRY 1,010.0 million (equivalent to USD 170.0 million as of December 31, 2019) from the net distributable profit for the year ended December 31, 2018. This represents a gross cash dividend of full TRY 0.4590909 (equivalent to full USD 0.08 as of December 31, 2019) per share. The distribution to shareholders was performed in a single payment on October 31, 2019.

For additional details regarding our dividend policy, see “Item 8.A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information—Dividend Policy”.

5.C Research and Development, Patents and Licenses, etc.

We own a number of patents, utility models, trademarks and industrial designs.

The activities of our technology center, which houses all of our R&D operations in a single location, include the following:

 

Partnership software development, customization and/or integration of software products of suppliers through the service and product development processes;

 

Developing network infrastructure strategies in a fast evolving information-communication technologies world; and

 

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Designing short and long-term technology road maps for our operations.

5.D Trend Information

a.Changing Subscriber Base and Usage Patterns

The proportion of postpaid subscribers in our subscriber base in Turkey was 56%62%, 56% and 54% in 2019, 2018 and 53% in 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively, due to our value focus.

As our market and business strategy evolve, we expect that the percentage of our revenues from mobile data and fixed data will continue to increase with increased smartphone penetration, a larger postpaid subscriber base and a rise inrising data consumption. For these reasons and with ouran increased emphasisfocus on our OTT services, we also expect that the percentage of our revenues from digital services will also increase. On the other hand, revenues from voice and SMS traffic are expected to continue to decrease as a percentage of our revenues.revenues, reflecting the declining demand for these conventional telecommunication services.

b.Regulationsaffecting our prices

The ICTA has on several occasions intervened to place caps on the tariffs that we charge in the Turkish market. In the past, the ICTA’s intervention in our retail voice and SMS prices negatively affected our ability to design and launch campaigns and offers and, consequently, had a negative impact on our business. ICTA removed the regulation on lower limit onon-net retail prices and campaigns. These pricing regulations were valid on all single voice tariffs and campaigns, whereas we were obliged to maintain our minimumon-net SMS rate on network base.

The ICTA has in the past intervened to decrease interconnection rates. With respect to the interconnection rates that we charge, following the ICTA’s board resolution dated June 17, 2013, our mobile termination rates were set at TRY 0.0250. In addition, the ICTA with a board resolution dated April 12, 2013, lowered SMS termination rates for Turkcell from TRY 0.0170 to TRY 0.0043. With its latest decision dated October 22, 2014, the ICTA also set the tariff for MMS termination rates for Turkcell at TRY 0.0086.

The table below shows theon-net prices and MTR rates:

 

TRY

  Before July 1, 2013   July 1, 2013 –
August 16, 2016
   As at March 7,
2019
 

Minimumon-net voice price

   0.0313    0.0428    —   

Minimumon-net SMS price

   —      0.0073    —   

Voice MTR

   0.0313    0.0250    0.0250 

SMS MTR

   0.0170    0.0250    0.0250 

TRY

  Before July 1, 2013   July 1, 2013 –
August 6, 2016
   As at March 20,
2020
 

Minimum on-net voice price

   0.0313    0.0428    —   

Minimum on-net SMS price

   —      0.0073    —   

Voice MTR

   0.0313    0.0250    0.0250 

SMS TR

   0.0170    0.0043    0.0043 

The maximum tariffs set by the ICTA may constitute the highest rates we may charge for the services included in our service packages. Generally, the maximum tariffs set by the ICTA for particular services are set higher than the standard tariffs determined by the ICTA for those services. Such caps were in force until a decision rendered in March 2016 annulled the maximum tariffs. The ICTA took a decision onOn September 20, 2018, tothe ICTA set the maximum tariffs at 0.5670 TRY/min for voice and TRY 0.4075 TRY for SMS forwith regard to Turkcell and Vodafone.Vodafone on the basis of the obligations in their licence agreements. Since TT Mobil does not have such an obligation in its

licence, a policy decision was taken by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastucture for TT Mobil to comply with maximum tariffs. The latest ICTA Board Decision dated September 23, 2019 sets the rates at TRY 0.6494 TRY/min for voice and TRY 0.4668 for SMS as of October 1, 2019.

The ICTA has in the past intervened and may again intervene, impacting the prices we charge for our tariffs.

Further cuts in interconnection rates may make us redesign our tariffs and may impact our operational results.

The mobile market analysis of ICTA has been finalized. By its Board decision dated April 12, 2017, numbered2017/DK-SRD/124; ICTA decided to deregulate mobile access and call origination market and to lift Turkcell’s Significant Market Power (SMP) status within a transition period of one year. Accordingly, our Company’s liabilities such as providing access and interconnection in the call origination market,non-discrimination, transparency, preparation and issuance of reference access tariffs, being subject to tariff control, account separation and cost accounting, andco-location obligations were to be abolished as of April 12, 2018. However, the Mobile Access and Call Origination Market deregulation transition period has been extended until April 12, 2019.

By its Board decision dated April 19, 2017, numbered2017/DK-SRD/131;131, the ICTA finalized its Mobile Call Termination market analysis and decided to deregulate SMS and MMS termination services within a transition period of one year, as of April 19, 2018. On the other hand, the Significant Market Power status would continue in the call termination market for mobile operators, operators that offer satellite communications services, and Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO), which could offer call termination services for the incoming calls of their subscribers. Nevertheless, with its decision dated April 12, 2018, the ICTA later cancelled the deregulation of the SMS/MMS Termination Market. As a result, the SMS/MMS termination service willservices are being regulated and continue to be within the scope of obligations under the Mobile Call Termination Market Analysis.

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c.Liquidity

Our activities have traditionally generated a strong positive cash flow. According to our current business plan for the operations in Turkey, we believe that we will be able to finance our current operations, capital expenditures, and debt service and maintain and enhance our network through our operating cash flow, existing committed and non-committed credit facilities and other available credit lines.facilities. However, we continue to experience difficult pricing and competitive conditions in our operating markets, which we expect will continue. In addition, the increase in the volume of assigned contracted receivables may continue to result in higher working capital requirements. The working capital requirements related to terminal financing and bad debt expenses are managed by our consumer finance company, Financell. Following the BRSA’s limitation on the number of instalments with regard to consumer loans for handsets and smart devices, we expect that the decrease in demand will continue, and that consequently there will not be any additional working capital need for Financell. Indeed, we expect Financell’s indebtedness to continue to gradually decrease throughout 2019,2020, as has been the case since September 2018. We are also facing increased capital needs to finance our technological and geographic expansion, which may increase our net cash used for investing activities. These pressures have reduced, and may continue to reduce, our liquidity and may lead to an increase in borrowing needs and net cash used by financing activities.

We expect that our total operational capital expenditures as a percentage of revenues in 20192020 will be around16%-18%.

The forward-looking statements made here regarding our liquidity and any other financial results are not a guarantee of performance. They are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause future activities and results of operations to be different from those set forth in this annual report.

Important factors that may adversely affect our projections include general economic conditions, changes in the competitive environment, legal risks, developments in the domestic and international capital markets, increased investments, changes in telecommunications regulations and mismatches between the currencies in which we generate revenue and hold liquid assets and the currencies in which we incur liquid obligations and debt. In particular, our projections may be adversely affected by measures taken by the public and private sectors, both in Turkey and abroad, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, including travel restrictions, the closure of stores (including ours), the promotion of social distancing and the adoption of work-from-home by companies and institutions. Such measures may significantly impact the amount and ways our customers use our networks and other products and services and, in turn, our business and our investment requirements. COVID-19 has, namely, resulted in a substantial decrease in international travel, which has had an adverse effect on our roaming services (both inbound and outbound), and the closure of our stores and changes in general consumer behavior have begun to affect the volume of sales of equipment. If continued for a long duration, this will result in a material adverse effect on our revenues and liquidity. Although we are monitoring the potential impact of COVID-19 to our business in Turkey and abroad, its impact on our business and financial condition is unknown at this time. See “Item 3.D. Risk Factors” for a discussion of these and other factors that may affect our projections.

d.Currency devaluation and impairments

Our results of operations and the value of certain of our assets have been adversely affected by devaluations in the currencies of certain countries, in particular Ukraine, Belarus, and Turkey in the last few years. The value of the Turkish Lira against USD decreased significantlyrelatively in 2018,2019, depreciating by 39.5%12.9% in 20182019 compared to 7.2% 39.5%

in 2017.2018. Ukraine Hryvnia appreciationappreciated significantly against USD was 1.4%by 14.5% in 2019 compared to 3.2% depreciation1.4% in 2017.2018. In Belarus, the Belarusian Ruble depreciatedappreciated 2.6% in contrast with depreciation by 9.5% compared to 0.7% in 2017. Further2018. Any currency devaluation remains a risk and may continue to have an adverse effect in the future. Furthermore, operational and technological changes, general macroeconomic conditions, in particular in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, legal, regulatory or political obstacles in Ukraine and Belarus may lead to further impairments in the values of certain of our assets in the future.

5.EOff-Balance Sheet Arrangements

Off-balance sheet arrangements refer to any transaction, agreement, or other contractual arrangement involving an unconsolidated entity (other than contingent liabilities arising from litigation, arbitration or regulatory actions) under which a company has:

 

provided guarantee contracts;

 

retained or contingent interests in transferred assets;

 

any obligation under derivative instruments classified as equity; or

 

any obligation arising out of material variable interests in an unconsolidated entity that provides financing, liquidity, market risk or credit risk support to the company, or that engages in leasing, hedging, or research and development arrangements with the company.

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a.Contingent Liabilities

The following table illustrates our major contingent liabilities as of December 31, 2018.2019.

 

       Amount of contingent liability expiration per period—
Remaining commitment
 
   Total
amount
committed
   At December 31,
2018
   Indefinite*   Less than
one year
   1-3
years
   3-5
years
   Over
5 years
 
   TRY million 

Bank Letters of Guarantee

   1,541.8    1,541.8    986.5    256.4    117.8    19.6    161.5 
  ��    Amount of contingent liability expiration per period—
Remaining commitment
 
   Total
amount
committed
   At
December 31,
2019
   Indefinite*   Less than
one year
   1-3
years
   3-5
years
   Over
5 years
 
   TRY million 

Bank Letters of Guarantee

   1,518.7    1,518.7    879.3    285.4    105.9    28.4    219.7 

 

*

Bank letters of guarantee are not given for a specific period. Most of the guarantees will remain as long as the business relationship with the counterparty continues.

As of December 31, 2018,2019, we are contingently liable in respect of bank letters of guarantee obtained from banks and given to ICTA, custom authorities, private companies and other public organizations amounting to TRY 1,541.81,518.7 million. We also provided guarantees to private companiesdistributors amounting to TRY 266.4294.4 million.

See “Item 5.B. Liquidity and Capital Resources—Sources of Liquidity”.

5.F Tabular Disclosure of Contractual Obligations

The following tables illustrate our major contractual and commercial obligations and commitments as of December 31, 2018.2019.

 

  Payments due by period   Payments due by period 

Contractual Obligations

  Total   Less than
1 year
   1-3
years
   3-5
years
   After
5 years
   Total   Less than
1 year
   1-3 years   3-5 years   After
5 years
 
  (TRY million)   (TRY million) 

Loans and borrowings(*)

   22,092.6    6,800.8    5,121.1    2,168.6    8,002.1 

Loans and borrowings(*)

   22,137.8    7,322.8    3,540.3    2,833.0    8,441.7 

Lease obligations

   2,497.4    646.0    696.5    381.0    773.9    2,456.5    643.8    705.5    363.7    743.5 

Payable in relation to the acquisition of Belarusian Telecom

   526.1    —      —      526.1    —      594.0    —      —      —      594.0 

Trade and other payables

   2,440.3    2,440.3    —      —      —      2,789.3    2,789.3    —      —      —   

Due to related parties

   45.3    45.3    —      —      —      12.1    12.1    —      —      —   

Total Contractual Cash Obligations

   27,601.7    9,932.4    5,817.6    3,075,7    8,776.0    27,989.7    10,768.0    4,245.8    3,196.7    9,779.2 

 

*

Includes undiscounted interest and bonds issued and excludes finance lease obligations.

  Amount of Commitment   Amount of Commitment 

Other Commercial Commitments

  Total   Less than
1 year
   1-3
years
   3-5
years
   After
5 years
   Total   Less than
1 year
   1-3 years   3-5 years   After
5 years
 
  (TRY million)    (TRY million) 

Purchase obligations

   1,353.8    1,117.0    115.0    121.8    —      819.5    331.0    410.0    78.5    —   

As at December 31, 2018,2019, outstanding purchase commitments with respect to the acquisition of property, plant and equipment, inventory and purchase of sponsorship and advertisement services amounted to TRY1,353.8TRY 819.5 million.

To avoid foreign exchange risk, the Company used currency swaps, participating cross currency swap contracts, currency forward contracts and commitments related to those derivative financial liabilities amounted to TRY 165.386.6 million (Note 34)35).

5.G Safe Harbor

Not applicable.

 

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ITEM 6.

DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES

6.A Directors and Senior Management

I. Board Members

Under the Turkish Commercial Code and our Articles of Association, the Board of Directors is responsible for our management. Our Articles of Association mandates a Board of Directors containing seven members.

Members of our Board of Directors are generally appointed for a term of three years. However, as the General Assembly could not convene due to the lack of a quorum for meetings, in a series of resolutions in 2013, the CMB appointed new members to our Board, who shall remain members until new members are elected by the General Assembly or until the CMB announces a new resolution. The CMB stepped in based on itshas a statutory authority to take actionsex officio where publicly held companies whose shares are traded on the exchange fail to comply with corporate governance principles partially or completely.

The CMB with its resolution dated March 11,resolved in 2013 announced the replacement of Mehmet Bulent Ergin, Tero Erkki Kivisaari and Oleg Adolfovich Malis on our Board of Directors with three new members,that Atilla Koc, Mehmet Hilmi Guler and Ahmet Akca whowould serve as “independent board members” of our Board of Directors according to articleArticle 17/2 of the Capital Markets Law No. 6362. Mr. Ahmet Akca, Mr. Atilla Koc and Mr. Mehmet Hilmi Guler continued to serve as independent Board Members as per the letter of Capital Markets Board dated March 8, 2019, and were subsequently replaced by Nail Olpak, Afif Demirkiran and Tahsin Yazar as per the resolution issued by the CMB on March 5, 2020.

The CMB with its resolutions dated August 15, 2013 and September 13, 2013 announced the appointment of Mehmet Bostan, Bekir Pakdemirli, Jan Erik Rudberg and Erik Jean Christian Antoine Belfrage, as board members who satisfy the independence criteria. The latter two members were chosen from the independent nominees list submitted by Telia Company. They were appointed by the CMB pursuant tosub-paragraph (k) of the first paragraph of article 128 of Capital Markets Law No. 6362, in place of members of our Board of Directors who were elected at the general assembly meeting on April 29, 2010 for a duty period of three years, and whose duty periods have expired and whose successors could not be elected at the general assembly meetings. Mr. Ahmet Akca, Mr. Atilla Koc and Mr. Mehmet Hilmi Guler will continue to serve as independent Board Members as per the letter of Capital Markets Board dated March 8, 2019.

At the ordinary general assembly meeting held on March 29, 2018, Mustafa Kıral,Kiral, Hasan Tuvan YalımYalim and Ingrid Maria Stenmark were elected as board members in lieu of Jan Erik Rudberg, Erik Jean Christian Antoine Belfrage and Mehmet Bostan, respectively, for a duty period of three years. After Bekir Pakdemirli resigned from his office as of July 11, 2018 due to his appointment as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, the Board of Directors functioned with six members until March 7, 2019.2019, which is permitted by the Company’s Articles and Associations agreement as long as meeting and decision quorums is observed. On March 7, 2019, withfollowing the Board of Director’s decision, Mr. Bulent Aksu iswas appointed as a Board Member to the vacant seat, pursuant to Article 363 of the Turkish Commercial Code. On March 8, 2019 Mr. Hasan Tuvan Yalim resigned from his duties and our Company’s Board of Directors decided on the same day to appoint Mr. Huseyin Aydin to the seat which became vacant following Mr. Yalim’s resignation, pursuant to Article 363 of the Turkish Commercial Code. At the time of this annual report on Form20-F,Mr. Guler is running for municipal elections which are scheduled to take placeelected as Ordu City Mayor on March 31, 2019. In our General Assembly Meeting of September 12, 2019, Huseyin Aydin and Bulent Aksu were proposed by Turkcell Holding and elected as Board Members for 3 years. On November 27, 2019, Mustafa Kiral resigned from his duties within the group, and on December 13, 2019, Christopher James Powell was appointed as Board Member in lieu of Mr. Mustafa Kiral pursuant to Article 363 of the Turkish Commercial Code.

The CMB with its resolution dated March 5, 2020, announced the replacement of Atilla Koc, Mehmet Hilmi Guler and Ahmet Akca on our Board of Directors, who had been serving as independent board members at our Company since March 11, 2013, with three new members, Mr. Nail Olpak, Mr. Afif Demirkiran and Mr. Tahsin Yazar, who serve as “independent board members” according to article 17/2 of the Capital Markets Law No. 6362. Mr. Bulent Aksu was elected as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of our Company at the Board of Directors meeting of our Company convened on March 12, 2020.

As of March 8, 2019,20, 2020, our Board of Directors had the following members:

 

Name

  

Date appointed to the Board of Directors

Ahmet AkcaBulent Aksu (Chairman)

  March 11, 2013Mart 7, 2019

Atilla KocHuseyin Aydin

Mart 8, 2019

Afif Demirkiran

  March 11, 20136, 2020

Mehmet Hilmi GulerNail Olpak

  March 11, 20136, 2020

Christopher James Powell

December 13, 2019

Ingrid Maria Stenmark

  March 29, 2018

Mustafa KiralTahsin Yazar

  March 29, 2018

Bulent Aksu

March 7, 2019

Huseyin Aydin

March 8, 20196, 2020

II. Executive Officers

We are managed on aday-to-day basis by the Corporate Executive Team with the guidance of the Board of Directors. Officers do not have fixed terms of office. On October 25, 2018,May 30, 2019, Mr. Osman YılmazMurat Erkan has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer, and in December 2018, Omer Barbaros Yis was appointed as acting Executive Vice President of Marketing.Officer. The following table sets forth the name and office of each member of our Corporate Executive Team as of March 7, 2019.20, 2020.

 

Name

  

Office

Muhterem Kaan Terzioglu(1)Murat Erkan

  

Chief Executive Officer

Izzet Serhat Demir

  

Executive Vice President—Legal and Regulation

Executive Vice President (acting)—Human Resources

Osman Yilmaz

  

Executive Vice President—Finance

(CFO)
Kadri OzdalExecutive Vice President—Consumer Sales

Murat Erkan(2)Ceyhun Ozata

  

Executive Vice President—Corporate and Residential Sales

Seyfettin Saglam

Executive Vice President—Human Resources

(1)

Muhterem Kaan Terzioglu resigned from his position as Chief Executive Officer effective March 15, 2019.

(2)

Murat Erkan is the acting Chief Executive Officer effective March 15, 2019. Kadri Ozdal is the acting Executive Vice President of Sales effective March 15, 2019.

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Name

Office

Ilter Terzioglu

Executive Vice President—Strategy

Omer Barbaros Yis

  

Executive Vice President—Marketing (Acting)

Atac Tansug

Exective Vice President—Digital Services and Solutions

Serkan Ozturk

  

Executive Vice President—Customer Experience & Information and Communication Technologies

Aziz Gediz Sezgin

  

Executive Vice President—Network Technologies

Ali Turk

  

Executive Vice President—Supply Chain Management

Aysem Ertopuz Deobler

Executive Vice President—Digital Services & Solutions

III. Biographies

a.Current Board Members

Ahmet AkcaBulent Aksu, born in 1956,1974, was appointed to the Turkcell Board of Directors by the Board of Directors decision in March 2019. Bulent Aksu has 22 years of managerial experience in finance, accounting, tax and management fields in various sectors including telecommunications, energy, petrochemicals, textiles and audit. His professional career began at Kuveyt Turk’s Inspection Board as an Auditor, and then took office at Calik Holding in 2003 to serve as Finance Manager and Group Finance Director, respectively. In 2008 and 2012 he served as CFO and Board Member at Akfel Group. Mr. Aksu worked as CFO for Azerbaijani National Oil and Gas Company’s (SOCAR) subsidiaries Petkim Petrokimya Holding A.S. and STAR Rafineri A.S. respectively between 2012 and 2016. Bulent Aksu executed many Merger&Acquisitions in various industries, and actively ran financial transactions such as project financing and bond issuance in international and domestic markets. He led the conclusion of the financing agreement for the USD 3.3 billion and 18 years maturity financing deal signed with 23 local and international financial institutions for STAR Rafineri, one of the top industrial investments of our country. This loan agreement was the top project financing transaction ever made in Turkey in terms of the total sum and the term. In addition, it became the largest financing transaction in Europe for the year 2014. Bulent Aksu served as CFO of Turkcell between July 20, 2016 and July 17, 2018. In addition to international practices in balance sheet and fx exposure management, he made great contributions to Turkcell with his innovative solutions for investments financing. For the first time, it has strengthened and leading Turkcell’s position in local and international capital markets by issuing Asset Backed Securities (VDMK), financing bills,

lease certificates and Eurobonds. He served as Board Member of Turk Telekomunikasyon A.S. between November 2018—March 2019. Mr. Aksu has taken office as Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Treasury and Finance as of August 3, 2018. Bulent Aksu was appointed to the Turkcell Board of Directors on March 7, 2019. On May 13, 2019 he was appointed as the Chairman of Board of Directors of Turk Eximbank. Between 2016 and 2018, Mr. Aksu was voted among the top 50 most influential CFOs in Turkey by the magazine Fortune Turkey. Bulent Aksu graduated from Business Administration (English) Department of Istanbul University in 1996.

Huseyin Aydin, born in 1959, was appointed to the Turkcell Board of Directors by the Board of Directors decision in March 2019. Huseyin Aydin graduated from the Ankara Academy of Economics and Commercial Sciences (Faculty of Economics) in 1981. He began his career as an Assistant Inspector at Ziraat Bank and served as a Director in various departments at Ziraat Bank until March 27, 2003. After working as an Executive Board member at Halkbank, as a Board member at Pamukbank and as Deputy Chairman at Ziraat Bank, Mr. Aydin worked as the General Manager and Board Member at Halkbank between May 31, 2005 and July 14, 2011. Having joined Ziraat Bank as the CEO on July 15, 2011, Mr. Aydin also serves as the Chairman of the Banks Association of Turkey and Board Member of Turkiye Wealth Fund Management Co. Huseyin Aydin was appointed to the Board of Directors on March 8, 2019.

Afif Demirkıran, born in 1952, was appointed to the Turkcell Board of Directors as independent board member by decision taken by the Capital Markets Board decision.in March 2020. Having completed his primary and secondary education in Siirt, Afif Demirkıran graduated from Mining Faculty of Istanbul Technical University in 1973. Later he studied engineering and had master’s degree at the Leeds University in UK. He served as an executive in Etibank, as Head of Foreign Investment Department at the Undersecretariat of State Planning Organization, as General Manager of Foreign Investment Directorate at the Undersecretariat of Treasury, as a Board Member of Eregli Iron and Steel Inc. and Sumerbank A.S., as various executive positions in private sector companies, as General Manager and Chairman of Turkish Electricity Generation and Transmission Company (TEAS), and General Manager of Vakif Enerji ve Madencilik A.S. Being active in politics since 2002, Afif Demirkıran served as Batman Deputy in the 22nd, and Siirt Deputy at the 23rd and 24th periods of the Grand National Assembly Turkey. In the 22nd period, he also actsserved as a member of the State Economic Commission for Enterprises, member of Turkish Group OSCE PA and member of the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission. In the 23rd and 24th periods, he was the President in the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission. In the 22nd, 23rd and 24th periods, he served as the presidentChairman of Turkcell’s Audit Committee.Turkey-Spain Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group. In the 24th period, he also was the Deputy Chairman of Turkey-Pakistan Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group. Since August 2013,2016, he has been servingthe Deputy Chairman of Foreign Affairs Directorate of Justice and Development Party.

Nail Olpak, born in 1961, was appointed to the Turkcell Board of Directors as independent board member by decision taken by the Capital Markets Board in March 2020. He graduated from Aydın High School. Holding a degree of Mechanical Engineering Faculty from Istanbul Technical University, Olpak completed his postgraduate education in Energy field at Yıldız Technical University. Starting his professional career at Umar Makina A.S., Olpak, held the position as Vice Factory Manager at Ozgun A.S. Mr Olpak worked as senior executive levels at Cankurtaran Holding and he left the group as Vice President. Mr. Olpak established his own businesses named NORA Elektrik A.S., Pak Yatirim A.S. and OMN Insaat A.S. He still holds the positions as the Chairman of the Turkcell Board of Directors. From 1981 to 1988, Mr. Akca served as a Foreign Trade Manager inthe two reputable companies in glass and food industry. In 1988, he became the CEOboard member of an international trade company, a position he held until 1992. He later started his own business, Akca Lojistik Hizmetleri ve Tic. A.S and Tedarik Lojistik Hizmetleri A.S. which he still runsthe third company.

Nail Olpak serves as the Chairman. Mr. Akca alsoPresident of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) since September 22, 2017. Also, Nail OLPAK currently serves as an independent member atas;

President & Chairman of the Executive Board, (DEIK)

Board Member, Export Credit Bank of Turkey (TURK EXIMBANK)

Board Member, TURKCELL Company

Board Member, Istanbul Development Agency (ISTKA)

Member of Coordination Commitee for the Improvement of the Investment Environment (YOIKK)

President of World Turkish Business Council (DTIK)

Member of High Advisory Board, MUSIAD

Member of the Founding Committee, International Technological, Economic and Social Research Foundation (UTESAV)

Member of the Board of Directors at BIM A.S. since May 2018. Mr. Akca studied Mathematics at Middle EastTrustees, Tourism Development and Education Foundation of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (TUGEV)

Member of Founders Board, Ilim Yayma Foundation

Member of the Board of Trustees, Huzur Hospital Foundation

Member of the Board of Trustees, Human Development and Societal Education Foundation (IGETEV)

Member of the Board of Trustees, The Foundation for the Support of Istanbul Medeniyet University

Founding Member of the Board of Trustees and Vice President of the Executive Board, Kandilli Club

Member of Chamber of Mechanical Engineers in The Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (UCTEA)

Member of Association of Mimar Sinan Architects & Engineers Union

Member of the Advisory Board, Faculty of Mechanics of Istanbul Technical University, (ITU)

Member of Aydın High School Graduates Association (ALMED)

Nail Olpak served as the Chairman of MUSIAD (Independent Industrialists and Sociology atBusinessmen’s Association) for the 5th Term and the Chairman of MUSIAD High Advisory Board, Vice-Chairman of IBF (International Business Forum), Council Member of B20 Steering Committee of Turkey, Council Member of ITO (Istanbul Chamber of Commerce), Board Member of IDTM (Istanbul World Trade Centre), Board Member of the Huzur Hospital Foundation, Board Member of ENVERDER (Energy Efficiency Association), Member of High Advisory Board and Board Member of MMG (Architects and Engineers Group), Founding Committee Member of Turkish-Japanese University, Member of the Board of Trustees of Commercialize Center Istanbul (CCI), Board Member of Turkey Silicon Valley.

Nail Olpak was granted the title of Honorary PhD in the branch of International Relations by Ahi Evran University for a certain period, and graduated fromMehmet Akif Ersoy University. Olpak is married and is the Departmentfather of Economics at Bursa Economicstwo sons who are Architect and Commercial Sciences Academy.Mechatronic Engineer. He speaks English very well.

Atilla KocChristopher James Powell, born in 1946,1977, was appointed to the Turkcell Board of Directors by Capital Markets Board decision.in December 2019. Mr. Powell was appointed as the Chief Finance Officer of LetterOne Technology in 2015. Mr. Powell has a broad remit including accounting, reporting, tax, structuring and commercial transactions. He also serves as a Board member for various companies within LetterOne. Mr. Powell was previously the Head of Finance at Pallinghurst, a boutique private equity investment house, where he was responsible for financial reporting, accounting, investment valuations and investor relations. Prior to Pallinghurst, he worked within the Audit Committeefinancial reporting team for Anglo American plc, on the company’s transition to International Financial Reporting Standards and technical accounting. Mr. Powell also led various finance transformation projects. Mr. Powell has a BA in History and an MA in Modern European History, both from the University of Turkcell’s Board of Directors. Having worked as an Undersecretary at the Ministry of Interior, and as Chief of Police in Konya, he served as the District Governor of the Ulubey, Nusaybin and Bayindir districts, and as the Governor of Siirt and Giresun provinces.Manchester. He has also been the Prime Minister’s Undersecretary, the General Secretary of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, and the Central Governor. Then, Mr. Koc served as AKP Aydin Deputy in the 22nd and 23rd period of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and as Minister of Culture and Tourism in the 59th Government. Atilla Koc graduated from Ankara University’s Faculty of Political Science.

Mehmet Hilmi Guler, born in 1949, was appointed to the Board of Directors by Capital Markets Board decision. He formerly workedqualified as a Project Engineer and Group Chairman at TUSAS Aerospace Industries. Mr. Guler also served as Vice President and Board Member of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), as Chairman and General Manager of the Machines and Chemical Industries Board (MKEK), as the General Manager and Chairman of Etibank, as the Chief Undersecretary to the Prime Minister, and as Board Member and Executive Director at ERDEMIR and IGDAS. Mr. Guler also served as Minister of Energy and Natural Resourceschartered accountant (ICAEW) with Deloitte in the 58th, 59th and 60th Governments. Mehmet Hilmi Guler graduated from Middle East Technical University’s Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering where he obtained his Master’s and Doctorate degrees.2004.

Ingrid Maria Stenmark, born in 1966, was appointed to the Turkcell Board of Directors by the General Assembly decision in 2018. Ms. Stenmark is currently the Senior Vice President and Head of CEO Office, Strategy & Combined Assurance at Telia Company. She is responsible for Group Strategy, Enterprise Risk Management, Ethics and Compliance and also overseeing Internal Audit at Telia Company. In addition, she has the responsibility for the associate operations in Turkcell and Latvia. Since joining Telia Company in 1994, Ms. Stenmark has held a number of senior positions in the Group, including Head of Group Regulatory affairs,Affairs, acting General Counsel, and responsible for the associates Turkcell and MegaFon. Ms. Stenmark served as a board member of Kcell and MegaFon. Ms.Ingrid Maria Stenmark holds a Master of law from the University of Stockholm.

Mustafa KiralTahsin Yazar, born in 1978,1975, was appointed to the Turkcell Board of Directors as independent board member by decision taken by the General Assembly decisionCapital Markets Board in 2018. DuringMarch 2020. He was graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Law in 1996. After starting his career as a freelance lawyer, he servedcontinued at Devres Law Office and Zorlu Holding A.S. respectively. Mr. Yazar joined Calik Holding Inc. in Altimo, responsible for overseeing mergers2010 as Director of Energy Group Legal Affairs and acquisitions. He has advised on somealso acted as a board member of the company’s key deals in recent years. He also served in various offices of McKinsey & Company. Prior to McKinsey,Yesilirmak Electricity Distribution Inc. and Aras Electricity Retail Sales Inc. Mr. Kiral was a market maker in the Pacific Stock Exchange in San Francisco, trading technology options. He is currently a Senior Partner at LetterOne Technology in London, UK. Mustafa Kiral received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and an MS in Biomedical Engineering from University of California at Berkeley.

Bulent Aksu,born in 1974,Yazar was appointed as Advisor to the Turkcell BoardMinister of Directors byEnergy and Natural Resources in 2016. He was then appointed as Advisor to the Board of Directors decision in March 2019.Bulent Aksu has 22 years of managerial experience in finance, accounting, tax and management fields in various sectors including telecommunications, energy, petrochemicals, textiles and audit. He began his professional career at Kuveyt Turk’s Inspection Board as Auditor, and then he executed at Finance Manager and Group Finance Director positions at Calik Holding in 2003, respectively. He worked as CFO and Board Member at Akfel Group between years 2008-2012. He worked as CFO for Azerbaijani National Oil and Gas Company’s (SOCAR) subsidiaries

112


Petkim Petrokimya Holding A.S. and STAR Rafineri A.S. respectively between 2012 and 2016. Bulent Aksu served as CFO of Turkcell between July 20, 2016 and July 17, 2018 and was voted among the top 50 most influential CFOs in Turkey by the magazine Fortune Turkey in years 2016 and 2018. Bulent Aksu has taken office as Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Treasury and Finance as of August 3,in 2018. He served as Board Member at Turk Telekom between November 2018 – March 2019. Mr. Aksu graduated from Business Administration (English) Department of Istanbul University in 1996.

Huseyin Aydin, born in 1959, was appointed to the Turkcell Board of Directors by the Board of Directors decision in March 2019. Mr. Aydin graduated from the Ankara Academy of Economics and Commercial Sciences (Faculty of Economics) in 1981. He began his career as an Assistant Inspector at Ziraat Bank and served as a Director in various departments at Ziraat Bank until 27 March 2003. After working as an Executive Board member at Halkbank, as a Board member at Pamukbank and as Deputy Chairman at Ziraat Bank, Mr. Aydin worked as the General Manager and Board Member at Halkbank between May 31, 2005 and July 14, 2011. Having joined Ziraat Bank as the CEO on July 15, 2011, Mr. Aydin also serves as the Chairman of the Banks Association of Turkey and Board Member of Turkiye Wealth Fund Management Co.

b.Executive Officers

Muhterem Kaan Terzioglu,Murat Erkan, born in 1968,1969, was Turkcell’sappointed as Turkcell Chief Executive Officer from April 2015 untilon March 15, 2019, when he resigned2019. Mr. Erkan, who started his career at Toshiba, worked as an Application Engineer at Biltam Muhendislik and then served as the first “System Engineer” of Turkey at Cisco Turkey. He served as Chief Officer at Cisco Systems in charge of Technology, Sales, Business development and Channel Management. Mr. Erkan served as the Business Unit Manager at Aneltech working on solutions related to telecommunications, mobile, ICT, the defense industry and industrial products sectors starting from his position. Mr. Terzioglu serves2006. Murat Erkan joined Turkcell Group in June 2008 as board memberthe General Manager of several international institutions and organizations. He is on the GMSA board, the leading international mobile communication organization, and on advisory board of the World Economic Forum Center for Fourth Industrial Revolution. Mr. Terzioglu also serves as a board member for “Turkey’s Car” InitiativeTurkcell Superonline, and he assumesassumed the presidencyrole of the Mobile Telecommunications Operators Association(m-TOD). Terzioglu is also on the boardExecutive Vice President of Turkcell Foundation and as well as on the board ot the GSMA Foundation focusing on “Mobile Communications for Development”. Kaan Terzioglu began his professional life in 1990 at Arthur Andersen Turkey. From 1990Sales from December 2015 to 1998, he undertook several roles on information technologies at Arthur Andersen in the USA, Belgium and Turkey. From 1999 to 2012, he held global managerial roles at the Cisco Systems Brussels office. From 2012 to 2015, Kaan Terzioglu served as member of board of directors at Akbank, Aksigorta A.S., Teknosa Ic ve Dis Ticaret A.S. and Carrefoursa A.S. Kaan TerziogluMarch 2019. Murat Erkan graduated from Yildiz Technical University Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering Department. He completed the Department ofStrategic Marketing Program at Harvard Business Administration at Bogazici University.School in 2010.

Osman Yilmaz, born in 1983, was appointed as theTurkcell Chief Financial Officer on August 1, 2018. Mr. Yılmaz started his professional career at Turkiye Is Bankasi Treasury Department in 2006. In 2007, he worked at BNP/TEB Treasury Department. From 2008 to 2016, he served as Senior Fund Manager in Structured Products and Group Head of Fixed Income and Multi Asset Funds at HSBC Global Asset Management. In August 2016, he joined Turkcell family as Director of Treasury, Risk and Collection Management. Mr. YilmazYılmaz holds a dual BSc degree in Economics and Management from London School of Economics and Istanbul Bilgi University, MSc in Financial Engineering from Bogazici University and a PhD in Finance from Ozyegin University.

Izzet Serhat Demir, born in 1974,joined Turkcell as the Executive Vice President of Legal and Regulation Function in May 2015. In March 2020, in addition to his existing role, he has been appointed as the acting Executive Vice President of Human Resources, effective as of March 16, 2020. Mr. Demir started his professional career in 1997 at Dun & Bradstreet’s&Bradstreet Turkey office. From 2003 to 2007 he worked at theYıldız Holding Legal Department of Yildiz Holding and in 2007 he served as the Legal Counsel at Calik Holding A.S. Between 2009 and 2015, Mr. Demir undertook the role ofCalik Holding Legal Affairs Director at Calik Holding ,androle and in the meantime he also served as member of the Board of Directors at holding level and at group companies that operated in telecom and finance fields. Serhat Demir graduated from the Faculty of Law at Istanbul University.

Murat ErkanKadri Ozdal, born in 1969, joined Turkcell Group in June 2008 as the General Manager of Turkcell Superonline and in December 2015 he1974, was appointed as the Executive Vice President of Sales. Mr. Erkan is the acting Chief Executive Officer effective March 15, 2019. Mr. Erkan, who started his professional life at Toshiba, worked as an Application Engineer at Biltam Muhendislik and then served as the first “System Engineer” of Turkey at Cisco Turkey. He served as Chief Officer at Cisco Systems in charge of Technology, Sales, Business Development and Channel Management. As from 2006, Mr. Erkan served as the Business Unit Manager at Aneltech responsible for solutions related to telecommunications, mobile, ICT, defense industry and industrial products sectors. Murat Erkan graduated from the Yildiz Technical University Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering Department. He completed the Strategic Marketing Program at Harvard Business School in 2010.

Kadri Özdal, born in 1974, was appointed as Acting Vice President ofConsumer Sales on March 15,September 26, 2019. He started his professional career at Vodafone in 1999 where heand worked in various sales, marketing and commercial operations departments. He laterthen joined Turk Telekom where he workedand held positions in sales development, channel optimization and management functions. He served as sales development director and then acted as its Chief Sales OfficerCSO from 2011 to 2012. Between 2012 and 2016, Kadri Özdal alsoOzdal took part in the foundingfoundation and management of n11.com which is one of the largest e-commerce platforms in Turkey and has also acted as its Chief Sales Officer.held CSO role. In February 2016, he undertook the role of Turkcell’sjoined Turkcell as Alternative Sales Channels Director and subsequentlymanaged non-exclusive and digital sales channels, finally having served as Non-Exclusive and Digital Sales Channels Director, and then acted as its Retail Channels Sales Director. He holds a PhDKadri Ozdal graduated from theDokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Public Administration at Dokuz Eylul University.Administration.

Seyfettin Saglam,Ceyhun Ozata, born in 1971, joined Turkcell in July 2014 and undertook the Chief Officer roles in charge of Procurement, Real Estate and Construction and Human Resources. Mr. Saglam currently serves as the Executive Vice President responsible for Turkcell Group Human Resources. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of PERYON. He started his professional career at MSC Consulting. He held managerial roles at various levels in charge of Human Resources at Tekstilbank, Yildiz Holding, T.C. Ziraat Bankasi, Rixos Hotels & Sembol Insaat A.S. and Borsa Istanbul. Seyfettin Saglam graduated from the Department of Sociology at Middle East Technical University and he received his master’s degree from the Marmara University in International Quality Management. He completed the HR Management & Leadership Program at INSEAD and Executive Education Program at Harvard Business School.

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Ilter Terzioglu,born in 1966, joined Turkcell in 2003 as Business Strategies, Regulation and Risk Consolidation Division Head. In October 2015, he1974, was appointed as the Executive Vice President of Strategy. PriorCorporate and Residential Sales on September 26, 2019. He started his professional career at Reuters and worked as a Customer Advisor from 1995 to this appointment,1996. He held Assistant Manager of Customer Operations role at Superonline from 1996 to 1999. He served as a CRM and Product Management Manager at IXIR A.S. from 1999 to 2001. Starting from 2002, Ozata held Project Manager, Online Sales Manager, CRM & Direct Sales Director, and Marketing Director positions at Turkcell Superonline. From 2008 to 2015, he served as Seniorthe Vice President of International Business under the Strategy Function. PreviouslyRetail Sales at Turkcell Superonline which accelerated fiber infrastructure investments. Lastly, he undertook the roles of acting Chief of International Business, Chief Strategic Projects Officer and Chief Network Operations Officer. He also had worked as Assistant General Manager at Turkcell Group companies, including Show TV and Superonline. He had worked for Ericsson Turkeyserved as the Assistant General Manager responsible forSales Director of Turkcell between 1994Residential and 2002. HeSmall Medium Business Management starting from 2015 until his most recent assignment. Ceyhun Ozata graduated from IstanbulBogazici University, Department of Econometrics.Electronics.

Omer Barbaros Yis, born in 1980, joined Turkcell in 2017. Mr. Yis continues to serve as Consumer Marketing Director after holding Strategic and Focused Marketing Director role. Omer Barbaros Yis was appointed as actingthe Executive Vice President of Marketing on December 18, 2018, in addition to his existing role in Turkcell.September 26, 2019. Having started his career in 2006 as Corporate and Consumer Pricing Specialist inat Turkcell, he held various Senior Product Manager roles in the marketing department. From 2010 to 2013, he continued his career as the Global Telecom Industry Director in Peppers & Rogers Group. In 2013 he joined Turk Telekom, where he served as the Existing Customer Management Director, Premium Segment Customer Management Director and then Fixed Products Revenue Management Director. In 2017, Omer Barbaros Yis joined Turkcell as Strategic and Focused Marketing Director at Turk Telekom.and then he assumed Consumer Marketing Director role. Omer Barbaros Yis graduated from Koc University with a double major in Business Administration and Economics and received his master’s degreeMaster’s Degree and PhD in Economics from Universitat Autonoma De Barcelona. He is fluent in English and Spanish.

Atac Tansug, born in 1974, was appointed as the Executive Vice President of Digital Services and Solutions on September 26, 2019. Mr. Tansug started his professional career as System Support Engineer at Datapro in 1999. Between 2002 and 2009, he served as International NGN/IMS Service Support Engineer, Team Leader and Team Manager in Alcatel-Lucent. From 2009 to 2011, he held Product Service Director role responsible for Turkey and Azerbaijan and Global Customer Service Director role in his last two years in the company. He joined Turkcell Group as the Chief Technology Officer of Turkcell Superonline in 2013. Later he was appointed as Transmission & Core Network Planning Director at Turkcell in 2016. Lastly, he held Digital Services & Solutions Technology Director position in Turkcell. He graduated from the Department of Civil Engineering at Bogazici University.

Serkan Ozturk, born in 1976, was appointed as the Executive Vice President of Information and Communication Technologies in September 2015. Between 2017 and 2019, he also served as the Executive Vice President of Customer Experience in addition to his existing role. Serkan Ozturk joined Turkcell in 2000 as a Project Supervisor. In August 2017, he was appointed as the Executive Vice President of Customer Experience and Information Technologies. Previously, heHe worked as project supervisor and manager at Turkcell Project Management officeOffice between 2000 and 2009. He served as Chief Information Technologies Officer in life-Ukraine between 2009 and 2010 and in Turkcell Superonline between 2010 and 2011. From 2011 to 2015 he served as Turkcell Customer Relations Management and Business Intelligence Solutions (CRM & BIS) Director. Prior his to his last appointment, he was Executive Vice President of Information and Communication Technologies. Serkan Ozturk graduated from Middle East Technical University Electrical and Electronics Engineering department. He received his MBA degree from Istanbul University.

Aziz Gediz Sezgin, born in 1966, joined Turkcell as a Network Engineer in 1995. In October 2015, he was appointed as the Executive Vice President of Network Technologies. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President of Information and Communication Technologies, Chief Information and Communication Technologies Officer, Director of Application Operations, Director of Service Network under the ICT Function and held various executive positions in the Technology Function. Mr. Sezgin started his career at Alcatel Teletas in 1991. He graduated from Istanbul Technical University Electronics and Communication Engineering Department and received his Master’s degreeDegree and PhD from the same university.

Ali Turk, born in 1977,,joined Turkcell as the Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Management in May 2016. He was appointed as the Executive Vice President of Supply Chain Management in March 2017. Mr. Turk started his career at Basak Hayat Sigorta in 1999. From 2002 to 2007, he held various managerial positions responsible for logistics planning, warehouse and supply chain management processes at Ulker Group.Group companies. From 2007 to 2011, he worked at Ceva Lojistik as Warehouse and Value Added Operations Group Manager. Mr. Turk joined Turkish Airlines in 2011 as Cargo Operations Vice President. He was appointed as Turkish Airlines Cargo Operations President in 2012. Ali Turk graduated from Istanbul Technical University Industrial Engineering Department and completed Executive MBA program of Istanbul Technical University.

Aysem Ertopuz Deobler,born in 1970,joined Turkcell in January 2016 as Strategic Planning Director. In November 2016, she was appointed as the Executive Vice President of Digital Services and Solutions. She started her career in 1993 at Arcelik A.S. as Quality System Engineer. She served as Strategic Consultancy Services Manager at Arthur Andersen in 1997. Joining Cisco’s EMEA Region Organization in 2001 in Belgium, Aysem Ertopuz took managerial roles in several functions including Strategic Planning, Business Intelligence, Operations and Global Customer Management. She served as the manager of Business Intelligence Group within Cisco’s New York based Global Sales Strategy and Planning organization between 2006 and 2015, focusing on the fields of service providers sector, market and competition dynamics, business strategy and performance, utilization of digital services in new business models. Aysem Ertopuz graduated from Middle East Technical University Industrial Engineering Department and received her MBA degree from New York University, Stern School of Business.

6.B Compensation

The compensation paid to members of the Board of Directors for their service on the Board is approved by the shareholders at the ordinary general assembly each year. In accordance with the Company’s corporate governance practices, the Board, although it has no final authority on remuneration, upon the recommendation of the CompensationRenumeration Committee may decide on a proposal to the General Assembly as to whether Boardboard members will be remunerated, and if

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such is the case, the form and amount of compensation to be paid to the Boardboard members. At our Annual General Assembly held on April 29, 2010, it was decided that our Chairman would receive a net sum of EUR250,000EUR 250,000 per year and each Boardboard member would receive a net sum of EUR100,000EUR 100,000 per year for the period of their service, effective February 25, 2010. In 2019, according to Decree 32 on the Protection of the Value of the Turkish Currency (“Decree No.32”), it was decided that board members who have Turkish nationality would receive their compensation in Turkish Lira, while others would continue to receive Euro-based salaries. Thereby in 2019, our Chairman and Turkish Board Members received their compensations in TRY.

For the year ended December 31, 2018,2019, we provided, paid and accrued an aggregate of TRY 93.2142.4 million to our key management personnel including:including indemnities, salaries, bonuses and other benefits. There was no deferred or contingent compensation accrued for the year payable to executive officers and members of the Board of Directors other than that already included in the TRY 93.2142.4 million. A cash-settled long-term incentive plan offered to the management of Turkcell and group companies was introduced in January 2016 and as of December 31, 2018,2019, the Group recognized expenses of TRY 26.26.2 million regarding this plan compared to TRY 29.411.5 million in 2017.2018. We have Directors and Officers Liability Insurance that covers our directors and officers from liabilities that arise in connection with performing their duties and our liabilities in connection with our directors’ and officers’ performance of their duties. The coverage amount is $315$180 million, and there are a number

of insurers, each covering a different layer of the policy. Directors and Officers Liability insurance is provided by Ak Sigorta A.S., an insurance company in Turkey, whereas reinsurance protection is provided by London-based markets. A-rated reinsurers. These insurers are from London, Korea, America, Turkey, Dubai and Spain.The policy expired on September 2, 2018,October 1, 2019, and we renewed its insurance limit based on the terms and conditions offered until October 1, 2019.2020.

6.C Board Practices

Under Turkish Commercial Code and our Articles of Association, our Board of Directors is responsible for our management. The Articles of Association provide for a Board of Directors consisting of seven members; however within his term of duty one of the members appointed by CMB, Mr. Bekir Pakdemirli, resigned on July 11, 2018; therefore our board of directors served with six members until the appointment of Mr. Bulent Aksu as a Board Member to the seat which had become vacant following Mr. Bekir Pakdemirli’s resignation, by the Board of Directors pursuant to Article 363 of the Turkish Commercial Code. On March 8, 2019 Mr. Hasan Tuvan Yalim resigned from his duties and our Company’s Board of Directors decided on the same day to appoint Mr. Huseyin Aydin to the seat which became vacant following Mr. Yalim’s resignation, pursuant to Article 363 of the Turkish Commercial Code. Members of our Board of Directors are generally appointed for a term of three years. However, in a series of resolutions in 2013, the CMB appointed new members to our Board, who shall remain members until new members are elected or until the CMB announces a new resolution. Mr. Ahmet Akca, Mr. Atilla Koc and Mr. Mehmet Hilmi Guler will continue to serve as independent Board Members as per the letter of Capital Markets Board dated March 8, 2019.

For more information on our directors and the period during which each director has served on the board, see “Item 6.A. Directors and Senior Management”.

Committees of the Board of Directors

a.The Audit Committee

We are required under Turkish laws and regulations, U.S. securities laws and regulations and the rules of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) to have an Audit Committee of the Board of Directors appointed from among the independent members of the Board of Directors. Our Audit Committee currently has three members: Mr. Ahmet Akca,Nail Olpak, Mr. Mehmet Hilmi GulerAfif Demirkiran and Mr. Atilla Koc.Tahsin Yazar. Mr. AkcaNail Olpak is the Chairman of the Audit Committee. All of the members are considered independent under the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the rules promulgated thereunder by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the applicable rules of the NYSE and the CMB Corporate Governance Principles. Mr. Ahmet Akca, Mr. Mehmet Hilmi Guler and Mr. Atilla Koc are relying on Rule10A-3(b)(1)(iv)(B).

Similar to the Swiss Code, board committees in Turkish law merely have a “decision-shaping”, rather than “decision-taking” role. Additionally, as per a decision of the Board of Directors, the responsibility of the Audit Committee members is also considered as a joint responsibility of all Board members.

The principal duties of the Audit Committee include the following:

 

assisting the board’s oversight of the quality and integrity of our financial statements and related disclosure;

 

overseeing the implementation and efficiency of our accounting system;

 

pre-approving the appointment of and services to be provided by our independent auditors;

 

preparing and monitoring the agreement between us and the independent auditor and overseeing the performance and efficiency of our independent audit system and internal audit mechanisms; and

 

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establishing procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints regarding accounting, internal accounting control systems or auditing matters and establishing procedures for the confidential, anonymous submission by our employees of concerns regarding questionable accounting or auditing matters.

b.The Corporate Governance Committee

The Corporate Governance Committee, based on the CMB’s corporate governance principles, mainly assists the Board of Directors with the development and implementation of our corporate governance principles and presents if needed to the Board of Directors remedial proposals to that end. Duties and working principles of the Corporate Governance Committee are determined within the framework of the regulations, provisions and principles inof the Turkish Commercial Code, Capital Market Law, Articles of Association of the Company and Capital MarketMarkets Board’s “Corporate Governance Principles”. In the relations between the Company and our shareholders, the Committee assists the Board. To that end, it oversees the investor relations activities.

The current members are Mr. Mehmet Hilmi Guler,Tahsin Yazar, Ms. Ingrid Maria Stenmark, and Mr. Zeynel Korhan Bilek, Treasury and Capital Markets Management Director, and Mr. Emre Alpman, Corporate Governance & Anti-corruption Program Officer. Mr. GulerTahsin Yazar is the Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee. Mr. Zeynel Korhan Bilek and Mr. Emre Alpman were appointed members of the Corporate Governance Committee by a CMB communiquécommunique requirement and they were appointed on November 2, 2016 and January 23, 2017, respectively.

c.The Candidate Nomination Committee

On April 27, 2012, the Candidate Nomination Committee was established in accordance with the CMB corporate governance principles to perform independent board member candidate nomination and performance assessment processes. The current members are Mr. Ahmet Akca,Afif Demirkiran, Mr. Mehmet Hilmi GulerBulent Aksu and Mr. Atilla Koc.Tahsin Yazar. Mr. AkcaAfif Demirkiran is the Chairman of the Candidate Nomination Committee.

d.The CompensationRenumeration Committee

On December 19, 2012, in conformity with the CMB corporate governance principles, our Board established a Compensationthe Renumeration Committee to operate under our Board of Directors. The current members are Mr. Atilla Koc,Tahsin Yazar, Mr. Mehmet Hilmi GulerBulent Aksu and Mr. Mustafa Kiral.Nail Olpak. Mr. KocYazar is the Chairman of the CompensationRenumeration Committee. The Board also adopted the CompensationRenumeration Committee’s Charter and approved that the CompensationRenumeration Committee shall execute the duties relating to compensation issues which were earlier granted to the Corporate Governance Committee by the Corporate Governance Committee Charter, and the CompensationRenumeration Committee shall be authorized in lieu of the Corporate Governance Committee in the “Total Remuneration Policy for the Board of Directors and Top Executives” adopted by our Board. The Committee determines the remuneration principles that apply to the Board members and senior management taking into account the long-term strategic goals of the Company. It sets out the remuneration criteria for the Board members and senior management’s performance and makes compensation recommendations to the Board.

e.The Early Detection of Risks Committee

The Early Detection of Risks Committee has been established in conformity both with the new Turkish Commercial Code and CMB corporate governance principles to assist the Board in early detection of risks that may jeopardize the Company’s existence, development and continuation, and to assist the Board in taking the necessary measures and remedial actions to manage such risks. FollowingOn April 30, 2019, the resignationBoard determined the number of members of the Early Detection of Risk Committee as three. Current members are Mr. Hasan Tuvan Yalim on March 8, 2019,Tahsin Yazar, Mr. Mehmet Hilmi Guler is the only memberAfif Demirkiran and Mr. Huseyin Aydin. Mr. Tahsin Yazar was elected as the Chairman of the Early Detection of RisksRisk Committee.

On January 28, 2016 the Board has adopted new charters relating to all of the above mentioned committees.

6.D Employees

From our formation in 1993, we have grown from approximately 90 employees to 20,12021,813 employees as of December 31, 2018.2019. Due to our customer growth and the increasing need for competent employees, we focus on the quality of our recruitment. The following table sets forth the number of employees by activity employed by us at December 31, 2019, 2018 2017 and 2016.2017.

 

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Turkcell

  2019   2018   2017 

Board of Directors Office

   37    16    18 

Group Internal Audit

   64    60    71 

CEO Office

   4    24    15 

Legal & Regulation

   139    123    129 

Finance

   262    260    249 

Strategy

   17    45    39 

Marketing

   187    193    190 

Network Technologies

   1,284    1,349    1,345 

Digital Services & Solutions

   118    145    121 

Customer Experience & Information Technologies

   480    444    483 

Human Resources

   226    231    228 

Supply Chain Management

   163    159    142 

Sales(1)

   —      1,016    937 

Corporate & Residential Sales(1)

   746    —      —   

Consumer Sales(1)

   297    —      —   

International & Wholesale Management(1)

   36    —      —   

Subtotal

   4,060    4,065    3,967 

Subsidiaries

      

Turkcell Global Bilgi

   13,840    12,034    12,189 

lifecell

   952    941    980 

Belarusian Telecom

   389    360    353 

Global Bilgi LLC

   728    716    714 

Turkcell Superonline

   23    26    29 

Turkcell Teknoloji

   1,062    956    830 

Kibris Telekom

   192    195    199 

Others(2)

   577    827    507 

Subtotal

   17,763    16,055    15,801 

Total

   21,813    20,120    19,768 


Turkcell

  2018   2017   2016 

Board of Directors Office

   16    18    15 

Group Internal Audit

   60    71    46 

CEO Office

   24    15    13 

Legal & Regulation

   123    129    115 

Finance

   260    249    239 

Strategy

   45    39    31 

Marketing

   193    190    180 

Sales

   1,016    937    1,061 

Network Technologies

   1,349    1,345    —   

Digital Services & Solutions

   145    121    —   

Customer Experience & Information Technologies1

   444    483    124 

Human Resources2

   231    228    —   

Supply Chain Management2

   159    142    —   

Business Support2

   —      —      348 

Technology Group3

   —      —      1,619 

Product & Services

   —      —      79 

Subtotal

   4,065    3,967    3,870 

Subsidiaries

      

Turkcell Global Bilgi

   12,034    12,189    11,221 

lifecell LLC

   941    980    1,196 

Belarusian Telecom

   360    353    366 

Global Bilgi LLC

   716    714    910 

Turkcell Superonline

   26    29    33 

Turkcell Teknoloji

   956    830    775 

Kibris Telekom

   195    199    208 

TOFAS

   8    —      —   

TSAH

   2    —      —   

Lifecell Digital Ltd.

   25    —      —   

Others4

   792    507    416 

Subtotal

   16,055    15,801    15,125 

Total

   20,120    19,768    18,995 

 

(1)

As of September 2017, Customer ExperienceJune 2019, sales was divided into three functions, which are corporate & residential sales, consumer sales and Informationinternational & Communication Technologies consolidated as Customer Experience & Information Technologieswholesale management.

(2)

As of February 2017, Business Support function is reorganized as Human Resources and Supply Chain Management

(3)

As of March 2017, Technology Group function is reorganized as Network Technologies and Information and Communication Technologies

(4)

Others include the following subsidiaries: Inteltek, Global Tower, Ukrtower,UkrTower, Turkcell Satis, Turkcell Odeme, Turkcell Enerji, Lifetech, Sofra, Paycell LLC, Beltower, Financell, TOFAS, Lifecell Digital and Lifetech LLC.Turkcell Sigorta.

We remain confident that high levels of subscriber satisfaction will be possible with continued investment in our people. To that end we continue to strive to attract the best talent in the market.

We are able to recruit highly qualified employees due to our leader position in the Turkish mobile communication market and our strong corporate identity. Stringent hiring and training standards have resulted in a professional organization with high-caliber employees within a challenging workplace.

With regard to employee compensation and benefits, the major principles of our policy are to preserve internal equity and external competitiveness and reflect individual performance in compensation packages.

Significant factors involved in the process of determining compensation and benefits for our employees are our grading structure (based on the Hay Grading system), market movement data and individual performance.

Starting asFrom the first month of the fourth quarter in 2018, we make2020, all employees receive net salary adjustments quarterly, reflecting the period inflation.instead of gross salary. Principal factors in salary adjustments are market movements and economic indicators (e.g., the rate of inflation). We pay performance bonuses quarterly to sales employees and annually to all other employees in accordance with individual and company performance results. Our performance evaluation system evaluates the whole year performance of our employees through target setting-based on strategic objectives and360-degree evaluation. Benefits packages are designed in line with the local market practice and linked to grade bands/levels where the benefits package improves as the grade band/level increases. We run a flexible benefits plan that allows our employees to select from a pool of choices

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that suit them such as several shopping and travel vouchers, allowance for children and payment to the Defined Contribution Plan (the “DCP”). The DCP is a voluntary pension system in which we and the employee make equal contributions. After a vesting period of three years, the employee gets ownership of the contribution we made. The DCP covers all employees who have been working with us for a minimum of six months.

Starting from January 2016, we have launched a long-term incentive plan offered to the management of Turkcell and group companies. This plan aims to build a common interest with shareholders, support sustainable success, and ensure loyalty of key employees. The long-term incentive plan is subject to company performance measures and linked to our share price performance. The key performance indicators of the plan are; the total shareholder return in excess of weighted average cost of capital (WACC), and ranking of total shareholder return in comparison with the BIST 30 and peer group. The bonus amount is determined according to these evaluations, and it is distributed over a three-year payment plan. Accordingly, for 2017,it was calculated that, the senior management and those employees who are covered as part of this plan were deserved to be paid for 2017 and 2019. For 2017, the cash equivalent of 2,065,490 shares in total was paid in March 2018 as the first installment. The second installment was paid in the cash equivalent of 1,836,740 shares in total in February 2019. The remaining2019, and the third installment will bewas paid the cash equivalent of 1,214,266 shares in 2020, respectively, againtotal in March 2020. For 2019, first installment was paid the cash equivalentsequivalent of the same number of1,198,450 shares subject to accomplishment of certain conditions.in total in March 2020.

Each of our employees undergoes an orientation program incorporating both classroom training ande-learning training. The training provides employees with information concerning corporate culture and ethics, an introduction to our services, basic mobile communications knowledge and the functions of the departments. Each employee has the opportunity to participate in the individual, organizational, functional and managerial development programs after regular analyses of his or her training needs. In addition, each employee receives specific training for his or her particular job.

Our employees are not members of any union, and there is no collective bargaining agreement with our employees. We have not experienced any work stoppages.

6.E Share Ownership

Based on reporting made to us on March 15, 2019,20, 2020, we believe that the aggregate amount of shares owned by our Board members and senior officers at such time was 72,54061,650 ordinary shares. No individual Board member or senior officer owned 1% or more of our outstanding shares.

ITEM 7.

MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

7.A Major Shareholders

The following table sets forth our major shareholders’ ordinary share ownership representing 51.05% of our company’sCompany’s capital. This information is current as of March 7, 2019,20, 2020, based on the information provided by the Central Securities Depository of Turkey and company share register. Our shareholders do not have different voting rights.

 

Name and Address of Owner

  Nominal TRY Value
of Shares Owned
   Percent of Class 

Turkcell Holding A.S.(1)

   1,122,000,000.238    51.00

Buyukdere Cad.

    

Yapi Kredi Plaza

    

A Blok Kat: 15

    

34330, Levent, Istanbul, Turkey

    

Cukurova Holding A.S.

   995,509.429    0.05

Buyukdere Cad.

    

Yapi Kredi Plaza

    

A Blok Kat: 15

    

34330, Levent, Istanbul, Turkey

    

Shares Publicly Held(2)

   1,077,004,490.333    48.95
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

   2,200,000,000    100
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

(1)

52.91% of Turkcell Holding A.S. shares are owned by Cukurova Telecom Holdings Limited, and the remaining shares are owned by TeliaSoneraTelia Finland Oyj. 51% of Cukurova Telecom Holdings Limited’s shares are owned by Cukurova Finance International Limited and 49% are owned by Alfa Telecom Turkey Limited. For more information, see “Item 3.D—3.D Risk Factors—Turkcell’s complex ownership structure and ongoing disagreements among our main shareholders have adversely impacted in the past and may continue to impact decision-making on important matters.matters in the future. These ongoing disputes may lead to further regulatory or legal actions, and affect the ownership and control of our company”.

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(2)

We calculate shares publicly held by deducting from total shares outstanding those shareholders named above. However, a different level of shares publicly held is arrived at when calculating according to Turkish regulations, see Free Float Definition Rules in “Item 10.B. Memorandum and Articles of Association—Capital Structure—Free Float Definition Rules”. According to an announcement made by Silchester International Investors LLP on Borsa Istanbul’s Public Disclosure Platform on October 6,4, 2017, it held 5.03% of our publicly held shares. As of March 7, 2019,20, 2020, we do not have further information about the shareholding status of Silchester International Investors LLP.

As of March 7, 2019,20, 2020, Turkcell had 71,618,75266,406,032 ADRs outstanding held by 5763 registered ADR holders. To the best of our knowledge, as of December 31, 2018,2019, in accordance with the loan agreements signed between our shareholders and various banks, 0.05% of shares having a nominal value of TRY 999,509999.5 have been pledged by our shareholders as security in favor of such banks.

On December 6 and 7, 2016, Sonera Holding B.V. registered 287,632,179.557 shares through the Central Securities Depository of Turkey. These shares are classified as publicly held shares of the Company. On May 10, 2017 and September 21, 2017, Sonera Holding B.V. disclosed that transaction of selling these shares had beenwas performed and their shares under the free float remained at a nominal value of TRY 1.604. Sonera Holding B.V. is no longer listed as an ordinary shareholder.

7.B Related Party Transactions

We have entered into agreements with our executive officers and with several of our current and former shareholders or affiliates of shareholders. We believe that all of such agreements are on terms that are comparable to those that would be available in transactions with unrelated parties. Our policy is to seek price quotes for services and goods we purchase and select the most favorable price. Additionally, our Board has adopted the “Rules to be Applied to Related Parties in Purchasing/Selling Assets and Services along with Transfers of Liabilities” to be applied by the relevant employees within the company and its group companies on November 24, 2014. For a discussion of our Related Party Transactions for fiscal year 2018,2019, see Note 3839 to our Consolidated Financial Statements.

7.C Interests of Experts and Counsel

Not Applicable.

ITEM 8.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

8.A Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information

Audited Consolidated Financial Statements as of December 31, 2019, 2018 2017 and 2016,2017, and for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2018,2019, are included in “Item 18. Financial Statements”.

Our Company’s Board of Directors decided to appoint PwC Bagimsiz Denetim ve Serbest Muhasebeci Mali Musavirlik A.S. (PwC Turkey) as the independent audit firm to audit our consolidated financial statements for the year 2018.2019. The decision was approved by our shareholders at the Annual General Assembly Meeting of our Company on March 29, 2018.September 12, 2019.

I. Legal Proceedings

For a discussion of the various claims and legal actions in which we are involved, see Note 3738 (Commitments and Contingencies) to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this annual report on Form20-F. This includes material disputes with the Turkish Treasury, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (formely knownsuch as the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications) and the ICTA on Treasury Share amounts payable by us; a dispute with the Turkish tax authorities regarding the Special Communication Tax an ICTA investigationand the Value Added Tax, disputes regarding the Law on subscription numbers as they relate to the calculationProtection of radio utilizationCompetition and usage fees, a Competition Board investigation alleging abusedispute with the Ministry of market position;Trade regarding the administrative fine imposed against the Company; as well as various other matters.

II. Dividend Policy

The 2016 General Assembly Meeting was held on May 25, 2017 and during the meeting, a dividend distribution for the year 2010-2016 was proposed by Turkcell Holding A.S., amounting to TRY 3,000.0 million, which represented approximately 52.6% of distributable net income for the relevant years. This distribution was approved to be conducted in three equal installments on June 15, 2017, September 15, 2017 and December 15, 2017 and all installments were paid as of December 2017.

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On March 29, 2018, the Company’s General Assembly approved the payment of a dividend amounting to TRY 1,900.0 million (equivalent to USD 475.8 million as of March 29, 2018, the date of the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting) from the net distributable profit for the year ended December 31,2017.31, 2017. This represents a gross cash dividend of full TRY 0.8636364 (equivalent to full USD 0.2162822 as of March 29, 2018, the date of the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting) per share. The distribution to shareholders was performed in three equal installments that took place on June 18, 2018, September 17, 2018 and December 17, 2018, respectively.

On September 12, 2019, the Company’s General Assembly approved the payment of a dividend amounting to TRY 1,010.0 million (equivalent to USD 175.0 million as of September 12, 2019, the date of the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting) from the net distributable profit for the year ended December 31, 2018. This represents a gross cash dividend of full TRY 0.46 (equivalent to full USD 0.08 as of September 12, 2019, the date of the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting) per share. The distribution to shareholders was performed in a single installment that took place on October 31, 2019.

We have adopted a dividend policy, which is included in our Corporate Governance Guidelines. As adopted, our general dividend policy is to pay dividends to shareholders with due regard to trends in our operating performance, financial condition and other factors. Since 2004, the Board of Directors has endeavored to distribute cash dividends of at least 50% of our distributable net profits per fiscal year, although the payment of dividends remains subject to our cash flow requirements, applicable Turkish laws and the approval of, or amendment by, the Board of Directors and the General Assembly of Shareholders.

In order to comply with the CMB’s CommuniquéCommunique on DividendsII-19.1 dated January 23, 2014, the Turkcell Board of Directors amended its dividend distribution policy proposal in February 2014, as stated below, which was approved by the Ordinary General Assembly held on March 26, 2015:

“The Company shall target a dividend payout of at least 50% of its distributable net income as cash. This policy will be subject to the Company’s cash projections, business outlook, investment plans and capital market conditions. The actual dividend decision will be made for each fiscal year separately with the approval of the General Assembly of Shareholders. Dividend distribution shall be started on a date to be determined by the General Assembly of Shareholders which shall not be later than the end of the respective year in which the General Assembly convenes. The Company, in accordance with laws and regulations, may consider distributing advance dividends or making the dividend payment in equal or unequal installments.installments.

Additionally, in order to create added value for its shareholders, the Company may also consider share repurchase programs depending on the conditions set forth above and applicable regulation.”

In accordance with Turkish law, the distribution of profits and the payment of an annual dividend with respect to the preceding financial year are subject to a recommendation which may be made by the Board of Directors each year for approval by the shareholders at the annual general assembly. The Board may decide whether or not to recommend a distribution of profits together with the amount of dividends, and the shareholders, through the general assembly, may accept, amend or reject such proposal, if any. Dividends are payable on a date proposed by the Board of Directors and determined at the general assembly of shareholders, which date, under the CMB requirements, must be earlier than the end of the financial year in which the general assembly decides on dividend distribution. However, the CMB is authorized to designate another deadline for distribution of dividends in any given year.

Annual profits are calculated and distributed in accordance with our Articles of Association after deduction from our annual revenues of all expenses, depreciation, taxes, required reserves and any losses from the previous years.

Pursuant to CMB regulations, the dividend distributions of publicly held companies are regulated as follows.follows:

From the distributable net dividend calculated as per the CMB’s regulations, the entire amount calculated according to the CMB regulations regarding the requirement of minimum dividend distribution shall be distributed in the event such amount can be covered by the distributable net dividend in the statutory records. In the event the entire amount cannot be covered by the distributable net dividend in the statutory records, the total distributable net dividend in the statutory records shall be distributed. In the event there is net loss in the financial statements prepared as per the CMB regulations or statutory records, there shall be no dividend distribution.

The new Capital Markets Law, which came into force on December 30, 2012, stipulates that public companies shall distribute dividends in line with their dividend policy determined by their general assembly and in conformity with the relevant legislation. However, the new law entitles the Board to regulate dividends. The CMB also published a CommuniquéCommunique on Dividends(II-19.1) on January 23, 2014 which entered into force on February 1, 2014. Within the scope of the Communiqué,Communique, companies shall distribute dividends through a general assembly resolution in accordance with current legislation and the policies of the company. As per the Communiqué,Communique, dividends may be distributed in installments in case a general assembly resolution is adopted in this regard. The CommuniquéCommunique also sets out the principles and procedures for the distribution of dividends. This new CommuniquéCommunique revoked the CommuniquéCommunique on the Principles Regarding the Distribution of Dividends and Interim Dividends to be Followed by Publicly Held Joint Stock Companies subject to the Capital Markets Law Serial: IV No: 27, dated November 13, 2001.

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To the extent we declare dividends in the future, we will pay those dividends in Turkish Lira. In the case of ordinary shares held in the form of ADSs, dividends will be converted into U.S. Dollars by the depositary for the ADSs, to the extent it can do so on a reasonable basis, and will be distributed to the holders of the ADSs. Because exchange rates between the Turkish Lira and the U.S. Dollar fluctuate continuously, a holder of ADSs will be subject to currency fluctuation generally, but particularly between the date on which dividends are declared and the date dividends are paid. Under current Turkish regulations, dividends or other distributions paid in respect of the ordinary shares or ADSs generally will be subject to withholding taxes. See “Item 10E.10.E. Taxation”.

8.B Significant Changes

Not applicable.

 

ITEM 9.

THE OFFER AND LISTING

9.A Offer and Listing Details

Our capital consists of ordinary shares. Pursuant to an amendment in Turkish Capital Markets Law and a communiquécommunique issued by the CMB, our shares traded on the Borsa Istanbul were dematerialized as of November 2005. For detailed information on the dematerialization of our shares, see “Item 10.B. Memorandum and Articles of Association—Transfer of Shares”.

Our ordinary shares are traded on the Borsa Istanbul under the symbol “TCELL” and our ADSs are traded on the NYSE under the symbol “TKC”. Currently two ADSs represent five of our ordinary shares. Our ADSs are evidenced by American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”). On July 6, 2011, we signed an amended and restated Deposit Agreement (the “Deposit Agreement”) with Citibank N.A. (“Citibank”), as depositary (the “Depositary”), Turkcell and holders of ADRs, which transferred our ADR program from JPMorgan Chase Bank to Citibank.

Since January 1, 2006, capital gains realized without meeting aone-year holding period are subject to a withholding tax in Turkey. On July 7, 2006, a provision was added to article 1/a of Code 5527 stating that foreign-based taxpayers, natural persons and corporations are subject to 0% tax. See “Item 10E. Taxation”.

9.B Plan of Distribution

Not applicable.

9.C Markets

Our ADSs are traded on the NYSE under the symbol “TKC” and our ordinary shares are traded on the Borsa Istanbul under the symbol “TCELL”.

9.D Selling Shareholders

Not applicable.

9.E Dilution

Not applicable.

9.F Expenses of the Issue

Not applicable.

 

ITEM 10.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

10.A Share Capital

Not applicable.

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10.B Memorandum and Articles of Association

I. General

We are registered in the Istanbul Trade Registry under number 304844. Pursuant to Article 3 of our Articles of Association, as amended on January 30, 2009, at the Extraordinary General Assembly, we are incorporated primarily for the provision of any telephone, telecommunication and similar services in compliance with the Telegraph and Telephone Law numbered 406 and services stated in the GSM Pan Europe Mobile Telephone System bid that was signed with the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and to operate within the authorization regarding theIMT-2000/UMTS services and the infrastructure.

II. Board Members

a.General

According to our Articles of Association, the Board of Directors is comprised of seven members elected by the general assembly. An increase in the number of members of the Board of Directors must be approved by the general assembly. However, in a series of resolutions in 2013, the CMB appointed new members to our Board, who shall remain members until new members are elected or until the CMB announces a new resolution. With the new Turkish Commercial Code Act number 6102 (“TCC”), which came into force on July 1, 2012, the requirement of having a share of the company in order to become a member of Board of Directors has been abolished. TheThose individuals who do not have any shares in the company have been provided with an opportunity to be elected as members of the Board of Directors and carry out such duty. Additionally, the TCC mandated that the Board members who have been elected as a representative of a legal entity be required to resign and that the new Board members (as individuals or representatives of the legal entity) be required to be appointed in their place until October 1, 2012 at the latest.

The TCC does not require a Board member to be a Turkish citizen. There is no minimum age for the directors, provided that a Board member has reached the age of majority, which is 18, and there is no mandatory retirement age under applicable law. The conditions to be a Board member are regulated by the new TCC and the conditions to be an independent board member are regulated by the related CMB legislation.

b.Board Members’ Interest

The TCC forbids a Boardboard member to enterfrom entering into a transaction with us in any area relating to business, either on the Boardboard member’s own behalf or on behalf of someone else, thus preventing the abuse of duty by Boardboard members and protecting our interests (TCC Article 395) without the authorization of the general assembly. Our general assembly may authorize our Boardboard members to enter into these types of transactions through a specific provision in our Articles of Association, or our general assembly may grant such a right on a yearly basis.

Interested Board members who have conflicting interests cannot participate in and sign such resolutions. If we suffer any loss because of a Boardboard member’s failure to raise such an issue, the Boardboard member shall be held liable to compensate us for the loss incurred due to such matters related to relatives.

Under TCC Article 396, without the authorization of the general assembly, the Boardboard members are barred from participating in similar commercial activities outside our Company. Board members cannot become shareholders with unlimited liability or become Boardboard members of companies active in similar types of business. A specific provision in our Articles of Association or our general assembly may grant such a right on a yearly basis.

Furthermore, based on the Corporate Governance CommuniquéCommunique numberedII-17.1, which was published in the Official Gazette dated January 3, 2014, replacing the previous regulatory framework, in cases where shareholders having a management control, members of the board of directors, managers with administrative liability and their spouses, or relatives by blood or marriage up to second degree, conduct a significant transaction with the company or its subsidiaries which may cause a conflict of interest, and/or conduct a transaction on behalf of themselves or a third party, which is in the field of activity of the company or its subsidiaries, or become an unlimited shareholder to a corporation which operates in the same field of activity as the company or its subsidiaries, such transactions need to be included in the general assembly agenda as a separate item for providing detailed information at the general assembly meeting on the matter and need to be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

c.Compensation

Any remuneration payable to Board members in relation to their Turkcell board membership shall be determined by our general assembly. The Board of Directors has no authority to determine such remuneration. At our Annual General Assembly held on April 29, 2010, it was decided that our Chairman would receive a net sum of EUR250,000EUR 250,000 per year and each Board member would receive a net sum of EUR100,000EUR 100,000 per year for the period of their service, effective February 25, 2010.

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According to a CMB CommuniquéCommunique Serial: IV, No: 56 Concerning the Establishment and Implementation of the Corporate Governance Principles, which was published in the Official Gazette dated December 30, 2011, a written Remuneration Policy for Board members and senior management was prepared. This Policy was posted on the company’s website and submitted at the Annual General Assembly as a separate agenda item for information. The Corporate Governance CommuniquéCommunique numberedII-17.1, which was published in the Official Gazette dated January 3, 2014 and replaced the CommuniquéCommunique Serial: IV, No: 56, kept this requirement as a mandatory corporate governance principle dealing with Financial Rights of Board Members and Executives Having Administrative Responsibility. The Annual General Assembly meeting of our Company pertaining to the years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 has beenwas convened on March 26, 2015, for the year 2015 has beenwas convened on March 29, 2016, for the year 2016 has beenwas convened on May 25, 2017, for the year 2017 was convened on March 29, 2018 and for the year 2017 has been2018 was convened on March 29, 2018.September 12, 2019. The same item was on the agenda for the Annual General Assembly meeting held in 20182019 and shareholders have beenwere informed; however, there was no proposal on the remuneration and therefore no voting took place. Payment plans such as stock options or those based on company performance are not used in the remuneration of independent Boardboard members. Remuneration of independent board members must safeguard the independency level.

d.Borrowing Power

To the extent the relevant provisions of Turkish law allow, the Board of Directors of our Company is the body entitled to, directly or through representatives authorized by the Board of Directors, resolve to exercise our powers to borrow money or give any form of guarantee or surety relating to our or any third party’s obligations. The CMB adopted a rule on September 9, 2009, which was announced in its weekly bulletin in connection with credit extensions, that public companies can provide guarantees or pledges, including mortgages, to third parties, provided such third party (i) is fully consolidated in the company’s financial statements or (ii) the ordinary business operations of the company directly requires providing guarantees, pledges or mortgages. At the Ordinary General Assembly held on April 29, 2010, Article 3 entitled Purpose and Subject Matter of Turkcell’s Articles of Association was amended in line with CMB’s rule dated September 9, 2009. Under our Articles of Association, our Board of Directors is authorized to issue debentures and other securities subject to the TCC, Turkish Capital Markets Law and other relevant legislation. Under Turkish Capital Markets Law, the total value of capital market instruments shall not exceed the amount specified by the CMB, for each type of instrument. However, as a general rule, the total value of debentures and other debt instruments that a publicly held company may issue as capital market instruments may not exceed the balance remaining after deducting the losses, if any, from the total sum of the outstanding andpaid-up capital as shown on the latest independently audited financial statements submitted to the CMB, plus reserves and the revaluation fund stated in the latest financial statement approved by the general assembly. Pursuant to Article 3 of our Articles of Association, as amended on October 2, 2009 at the Extraordinary General Assembly, and as effective on October 7, 2009, we can extend credits to companies in which we have direct or indirect shareholding interest, both in Turkey and overseas, as well as to our main company and group companies, in Turkish Lira or other foreign currencies, on the condition that such extensions do not conflict with applicable laws and regulations. In addition, the TCC similarly allows group companies to extend credits and guarantees to each other without abusing their authority. The Corporate Governance CommuniquéCommunique numberedII-17.1, which was published in the Official Gazette dated January 3, 2014, incorporated the rule which was announced in its weekly bulletin on September 9, 2009 in its Article 12. Furthermore, as per Article 12, board resolutions with regard to providing guarantees or pledges including mortgages within the framework of ordinary business operations of the company should be signed by the majority of independent board members. In case the majority of independent board members do not approve the resolution, dissenting opinions should be announced to the public. In such resolutions, related board members, if any, could not participate to the relevant board meeting. The CMB further took a decision, which is published in its weekly bulletin on January 27, 2016, according to which it is concluded that providing bynon-public affiliates to public parent companiesthe provision of any guarantees and pledges, including mortgages isby non-public affiliates in favor of their public parent company, does not conflictingconflict with Article 12.

e.CMB Rules Regarding Transactions with Related Parties

Initially, based on the CMB CommuniquéCommunique Serial IV, No. 56, dated December 30, 2011, the approval of the majority of the independent members was necessary for any and all kinds of related party transactions of the company (related parties referred in the CommuniquéCommunique will be determined in accordance with the Turkish Accounting Principles No. 24, equivalent of IAS 24), as well as for the resolutions of the board of directors with respect to giving guarantees, pledges and mortgages in favor of third parties. The CMB in a further announcement clarified that listed companies could adopt one board/general assembly resolution for the execution of transactions of a continuous and extensive nature with related parties unless the terms of those transactions had changed. In the event such changes occur, new board/general assembly resolutions will be needed. The new Capital Markets Law dated December 30, 2012 empowered the CMB to determine the nature of such transactions. Accordingly, the CMB with its CommuniquéCommunique Serial IV, No. 63 dated February 22, 2013 restricted the scope and set out that only material related party transactions, as opposed to all kinds of transactions, shall be submitted to the approval of independent members. In cases where the majority of the independent

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members do not approve such material transaction, the case shall be disclosed to the public in a manner covering sufficient information with respect to the transaction within the scope of public disclosure arrangements, and the transaction shall be submitted to the general assembly for approval. During such general assembly meetings, a resolution shall be adopted by vote in which the parties to the transaction as well as the individuals related thereto are not entitled to vote. Meeting quorum shall not be necessary for the general assembly meetings to be held for those cases. Such resolutions shall be adopted by simple majority of the attendees having the right to vote. The Company shall incorporate related mandatory provisions of the said CommuniquéCommunique in its Articles of Association (along with other mandatory provisions relating to corporate governance, see “Item 16.G. Corporate Governance”). The Corporate Governance CommuniquéCommunique numbered II-17.1, which was published in the Official Gazette dated January 3, 2014, defined the materiality as set out by the CommuniquéCommunique Serial IV, No. 63. Accordingly, a 10% threshold will be applied in comparison with the relevant criteria such as total annual assets, annual revenues or market value of the company. When a transaction’s

amount is above this 10% threshold, the majority vote of independent board members will be sought. Additionally, in order to ensure internal compliance with the CMB’sCMB s related party transactions, our Board has adopted the “Rules to be Applied to Related Parties in Purchasing/Selling Assets and Services along with Transfers of Liabilities” to be applied by the relevant employees within the companyCompany and its group companies on November 22,24, 2014.

III. Capital Structure

a.General

Our Board of Directors has adopted the authorized share capital system which, under Turkish law, allows us to increase our issued share capital up to the authorized share capital amount upon resolution by our Board and without need for further shareholder approval. On January 23, 2008, the CMB amended its CommuniquéCommunique on principles regarding the registered capital system. According to this amendment, the registered capital ceiling authorization given by the CMB shall be valid for five years, including the year in which the authorization is granted. As this five-year term ended in January 23, 2013, as in 2014, the Company applied for the CMB’s authorization in order to determine its capital ceiling for a five-year term between 2018 and 2022, however the amendment of Articles of Association reflecting the capital ceiling was not approved in the General Assembly Meeting held on March 29, 2018.September 12, 2019. In an effort to harmonize new legislation with the Capital Markets Law numbered 6362, which entered into force on December 30, 2012, the CMB released the CommuniquéCommunique on the Registered Capital SystemII-18.1 which became effective on December 25, 2013. The new CommuniquéCommunique mostly includes regulations in line with the former CommuniquéCommunique (Serial: VI, No: 38) and de facto practice of the CMB. As for the determination of the ceiling, the new CommuniquéCommunique contemplates a limitation for the ceiling and states that the registered capital ceiling shall not be more than five times the issued capital or the equity, whichever is higher. The new CommuniquéCommunique also sets out that the registered capital ceiling may be exceeded once within the scope of each ceiling (i) through conversion of all kinds of internal resources and dividends into the share capital; and (ii) as a result of transactions requiring general assembly resolutions such as mergers and spin-offs. However, both the former legislation and the new CommuniquéCommunique provide that the registered capital ceiling may not be exceeded with capital increases through cash. As in the former regime, the registered capital ceiling approved by the CMB is valid for five years including the year in which the approval is granted. Upon the expiry of the term, even if the registered capital ceiling has not been reached, in order for the board of directors to adopt a capital increase resolution, the board of directors must obtain authorization for a new period at the first general assembly upon the approval of the CMB for the same ceiling, or a new ceiling. The term of this authorization may be extended for five year periods through a general assembly resolution. In the event such authorization is not obtained, the new CommuniquéCommunique emphasizes that companies may not realize a capital increase through a board of directors’ resolution, whereas under the former Communiqué,Communique, companies were deemed to be excluded from the registered capital system. The increase of the registered capital ceiling, extension of the permission period, capital increase and relevant resolutions of the board of directors shall be disclosed to the public within the framework of the CMB disclosure rules.

b.Preemption Rights

We may increase our capital only through the issuance of new shares, and such issuances may come in the form of a rights offering or a bonus issue. Under Turkish law, existing shareholders are entitled to subscribe for new shares, also known as preemption rights, in proportion to their respective shareholdings each time we undertake a capital increase. Our Board of Directors will generally recommend that new shares be issued at prices equal to their nominal value, which entitles the existing shareholders to subscribe for shares at a significant discount from their current market price. The exercise of preemption rights by shareholders must be made within a subscription period which we announce, which may not be less than 15 days nor more than 60 days after the issuance of the preemption rights circular. Shareholders who do not wish to subscribe for new shares may sell their rights on the Borsa Istanbul (“BIST”). Any shares not subscribed forto by the existing shareholders or purchasers of the rights coupons are sold on the BIST at the current market price. Any differences between the rights issue price and the price realized for the shares on the BIST would accrue to our surplus account. Preemption rights of shareholders related to a rights offering may be restricted wholly or in part either by an affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares at an ordinary or extraordinary general assembly or a resolution adopted by the Board of Directors to such effect, provided that such authority is conferred upon the Board of Directors. CMB rules stipulate that such authority may be conferred upon the Board of Directors of companies that have

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received permission from the CMB to adopt the authorized capital system. As per the new CommuniquéCommunique on the Registered Capital SystemII-18.1, the General Assembly shall approve the amendments to the articles of association with respect to granting authorization to the board of directors to

restrict thepre-emptive rights of the shareholders to acquire new shares. Contrary to the former Communiqué,Communique, the new CommuniquéCommunique has not foreseen a meeting quorum. With regard to the decision quorum, the former CommuniquéCommunique differentiated between companies making an initial public offering and public companies, whereas the new CommuniquéCommunique has not stipulated any such distinction. Accordingly, the new CommuniquéCommunique regulates that shareholders holding 2/3 of the shares having voting rights shall provide affirmative votes. In addition, the new CommuniquéCommunique has prescribed that if at least shareholders holding half of the voting shares are present at the meeting, the decision quorum shall be the majority of the shares participating in the meeting.

By the amendment to the Articles of Association, we have conferred such authority on our Board of Directors. The CMB further requires that the right of the Board of Directors to restrict the preemption rights of shareholders applies equally with respect to all shareholders. Under Turkish law, bonus issues may be undertaken in order to convert all or a portion of the revaluation fund and reserves of a company into share capital.

c.Dividend Distribution and Allocation of Profits

Our Board of Directors recommends annual dividends, which then must be approved by our shareholders at their annual general assembly. Dividends are payable on a date determined at the annual general meeting. Under current rules, the Board of Directors may decide whether or not to recommend a distribution of dividends, and our shareholders at our annual general meeting may decide whether or not to distribute dividends in any year. According to new Capital Markets law,Law, we may freely determine the amount of dividends to be distributed based on the Dividend Policy, pursuant to applicable Turkish laws and upon the approval of, or amendment by, the Board of Directors and the General Assembly of Shareholders. The Board decides whether or not to recommend an allocation of profits, as well as the amount of dividends, and the shareholders, through the general assembly, may accept, amend or reject such proposal, if any.

The new dividend distribution regime is governed by a CMB CommuniquéCommunique on DividendsII-19.1 which was published in the Official Gazette dated January 23, 2014, numbered 28891, which entered into force on February 1, 2014. Within the scope of the Communiqué,Communique, companies shall distribute dividends through a general assembly resolution in accordance with current legislation and the policies of the company. As per the Communiqué,Communique, dividends may be distributed in installments in case a general assembly resolution is adopted in this regard. The CommuniquéCommunique has also determined the principles and procedures for the distribution of dividends. The CMB allows public companies the possibility of choosing the timing and payment method of the dividend distribution on the condition that the company’s own dividend policy should regulate this. In any case, according to the new Communiqué,Communique, distribution should commence until the end of the financial year in which the general assembly decided on distributing a dividend.

In order to comply with this Capital Markets Board’s Communiqué,Communique, the Turkcell Board of Directors amended its dividend distribution policy proposal in February 2014, as stated below, and approved by the Ordinary General Assembly held on March 26, 2015:

“The Company shall target a dividend payout of at least 50% of its distributable net income as cash. This policy will be subject to the Company’s cash projections, business outlook, investment plans and capital market conditions. The actual dividend decision will be made for each fiscal year separately with the approval of the General Assembly of Shareholders. Dividend distribution shall be started on a date to be determined by the General Assembly of Shareholders which shall not be later than the end of the respective year in which the General Assembly convenes. The Company, in accordance with laws and regulations, may consider distributing advance dividends or making the dividend payment in equal or unequal installments.

Additionally, in order to create added value for its shareholders, the Company may also consider share repurchase programs depending on the conditions set forth above and applicable regulation.”

In parallel with the new Capital Markets Law, the new CommuniquéCommunique on Dividends sets ground rules for donations: articles of association of public companies should contemplate it and an annual limit should be determined by the general assembly. On February 24, 2015, within the framework of the CMB regulations, our Board has resolved that, by means of determining the upper limit for the total amount of donations to be made by the Company within the year 2015 as up to 0.2% of our Company’s revenue included in the annual consolidated financial tables relating previous fiscal year announced to the public pursuant to CMB regulations, this abovementioned upper limit is approved by General Assembly of our Company. On January 30, 2017, our Board of Directors has resolved to determine the upper limit for the total amount of donations to be made by our Company within the year 2017 as up to 1% of our Company’s revenue as set forth in the annual consolidated financial statements for the previous fiscal year as announced to the public pursuant to Capital Markets Board regulations. This limit is approved at the General Assembly of our Company held on May 25, 2017. During the General Assembly held on September 12, 2019, neither the Board of Directors nor shareholders submitted any proposal with respect to the upper limit of donations for the 2019 accounting period, therefore no vote has been taken in this regard.

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Dividends are payable by transfer to the account of the shareholders with a bank in Turkey corresponding to the relevant portion of their shares. Shareholders’ entitlement to cash dividends remains in effect for a period of five years following the date of the general assembly approving such distribution, after which time they are transferred to the Turkish government.

Part of our remaining net profit may be distributed to our shareholders as a second dividend or retained by us as retained earnings, all at the discretion of our general assembly.

For additional details regarding our dividend policy see “Item 8.A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information—Dividend Policy”.

d.Voting Rights

Shareholders are entitled to one vote per share on all matters submitted to a vote of our shareholders.

CMB CommuniquéCommunique Serial IV, No. 56 dated December 30, 2011 (see “Item 16.G. Corporate Governance” for further information), initially stated that transactions considered as material (transfer, acquisition or lease of all or significant portion of company assets or constitution of limited property right there on; providing concession or changing content or subject of existing concessions and being delisted) under certain conditions those material transactions will need to be approved by the general assembly. In the event that parties to such transactions are related parties, such related parties shall not vote at the general assembly. The new Capital Markets law dated December 30, 2012 further expanded the scope of “material transactions”, which were exhaustively enumerated by the aforementioned CommuniquéCommunique by adding the term “like” at the beginning of the enumeration. However, the topic has once again been regulated by another CMB CommuniquéCommunique Serial IV, No. 63 dated February 22, 2013, and the term of “material transactions” with regard to the implementation of Corporate Governance Rules is again exhaustively defined in parallel with the CommuniquéCommunique dated 2011.

The CMB issued the CommuniquéCommunique No. II-23.1 on Common Principles Regarding Material Transactions and the Right of Separation (published in the Official Gazette dated December 24, 2013, No. 28861). Material transactions of public companies are exhaustively enumerated. Some of the issues covered by the CommuniquéCommunique are listed below:

 

procedures and principles applicable to the material transactions of publicly held companies;

 

exercise of the right of separation in relation to the material transactions and the cases where the right of separation is not applicable;

 

pricing of the right of separation innon-listed companies;

 

mandatory tender offer in connection with the material transactions; and

 

mandatory meeting and decision quorums applicable to general assembly meetings with regard to material transactions.

The CMB CommuniquéCommunique No. II-23.1 which has been amended and published in the Official Gazette No.30395 dated April 18, 2018, added another item to the list where no right of separation shall arise: in case any asset transfer is not made to the related parties and the minimum 90% of the fund to be acquired as a result of such transfer is used for the payment of debt of the publicly-held company, arising from cash loans from banks or in connection with any debt instrument issued by such publicly held companies, within one month as of the receipt of the fund no right of separation shall arise. It has been also stipulated that in the case where the fund collected is used for repayment of the whole of the cash bank credits and/or the debt originateoriginated from the debt instruments, theaforementioned percentage requirement shall not be applied.

On 25 February 2020, Law No. 7222 Amending Banking Law and Certain Other Laws (“Amendment Law”) was published in the Official Gazette and brought several amendments to the Capital Market Law including the one dealing with material transactions. With the Amendment Law, definition of material transactions does not cover (i) changing company type and dissolution; (ii) transfer or leasing of total or substantial part of assets or establishing rights in rem thereon; (iii) alteration of the field of activity totally or substantially and (iv) de-listing from the stock exchange.

Moreover, a more flexible regulation was established for minority shareholders exercising their rights of separation in relation to material transactions. The right of separation may only be exercised by shareholders for

the shares they owned at the time of the public disclosure regarding the material transaction. The exit price will no longer be calculated based on the weighted average in the exchange within the preceding 30 days; instead, the exit price will use a fair value pursuant to the principles to be determined by the CMB. With the Amendment Law public companies may offer exiting shareholders’ shares to other shareholders and/or investors before they can acquire them.

CMB becomes authorized body to determine, depending on the nature of public companies, the principles on (i) materiality of transactions (ii) use of separation right, including exemptions.

e.Transfer of Shares

Subject to the limitations described below, shares may be sold and transferred by endorsement and delivery.

In practice, shares in registered form traded on the BIST are represented by the share certificates endorsed in blank, enabling such shares to be transferred as if they were in bearer form. As per the amendment in the then in force Capital Markets Law and a communiquécommunique issued by the CMB in this respect, our Company’s shares traded at the Borsa Istanbul were dematerialized as of November 2005.

Legal and actual dematerialization of the share certificates commenced on November 28, 2005. Beginning from November 28, 2005, it is prohibited for companies registered on the BIST to issue new share certificates, in consideration of rights issues or bonus issues. The new shares arising out of capital increases shall be transferred to the accounts of the rightful owners by registration.

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A seven-year term given for the dematerialization of physical shares ended on December 31, 2012 and physical shares which were not delivered for dematerialization were supposed to become the property of the Company. However, according to the new Capital Markets Law which came into force on December 30, 2012, such undelivered physical shares are now transferred to the Investor Compensation Center (ICC) and sold three months following the transfer on the Investor Compensation Center’s accounts. However, the Turkish Constitutional Court in its decision published in the Official Gazette on November 12, 2015, nullified the provisions of the Capital Markets Law regarding the ownership transfer of such undelivered physical shares to the Investor Compensation Center on the ground that such language contradicted with Art. 13 (Restriction of fundamental rights and freedoms) and Art. 35 (Right to property) of the Constitution. As a result of this decision, the CMB regulated the process of payment to the investors whose share ownership has been transferred to the ICC. This regulation has been published in the Official Gazette dated September 7, 2016 numbered 29824.

Concerning registration of share transfers, the Company will take into account the Central Securities Depository of Turkey’s data without requiring any application from the interested parties. Provisions regarding the nominal values of the share certificates of the Company are regulated in the temporary article of the Company’s Articles of Association and such article was approved at the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting on April 29, 2005. The temporary article reads as follows:

In connection with the Code numbered 5274 Regarding the Amendment of Turkish Commercial Code, in order to increase the nominal value of the shares to one New Turkish Liras, 1,000 units of shares, each having a nominal value of 1,000 Turkish Liras shall be merged and one unit of share having a nominal value of one New Turkish Liras shall be issued to represent such shares. Fraction receipt shall be issued for the shares that could not be complemented up to TRY 1. In relation to such change, the shareholders’ rights arising out of their shares are reserved. In connection with such transaction, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th series of share certificates which represent the existing share capital shall be merged in the 5th series. In connection with the transactions of share change and merger of series, the shareholders’ rights arising out of their shares are reserved. The transactions regarding the change in share certificates shall be commenced by the Board of Directors of the Company after the dematerialization of Capital Markets instruments is put into practice and within the framework of related regulations.

Decree 32 on the Protection of the Value of the Turkish Currency issued in August 1989, as amended from time to time, provides that persons not resident in Turkey may purchase and sell our shares, provided that such purchase is effectedaffected through a bank or broker authorized pursuant to applicable Turkish capital markets legislation. Turkish capital markets legislation requires that shares of a company quoted on a Turkish securities exchange be traded exclusively on such exchange. The CMB has indicated that this requirement applies only to intermediary institutions licensed for trading on the stock exchange and to trade orders placed with them by investors. Accordingly, our shareholders that are not resident in Turkey may transfer such shares only on the ISE.BIST. This requirement does not apply to transfers of ADSs.

Under Turkish law, in the event that one of our shareholders transfers shares to any other shareholder or to any other third party investor, either foreign or local, the Ministry of Industry and Technology, Directorate General of Incentive Implementation and Foreign Direct Investment General Directorate (“FIGD”) must be notified within one month of the transfer of shares.

Under Article 8 of the Electronic Communications Law, electronic communications services is rendered and/or electronic communications network or infrastructure is established and operated following the authorization made by the ICTA. Authorization is granted through the notification made in accordance with the principles and procedures determined by the ICTA, in case the resource allocation is not necessary, or given of usage right, in case the resource allocation, which means allocation of frequency, satellite position etc., is necessary. Furthermore, under the Authorization Regulation Regarding Telecommunication Services and Infrastructure Regulation, the ICTA must be notified in case of any share transfers within one month of the transfer of shares at the latest and in the event that the share transfer results in a change in control, such transfer of our shares by any of our shareholders should be realized with the written permission of the ICTA.

Under our Articles of Association, the Board of Directors is entitled to restrict the transfer of shares to foreigners in order to comply with Turkish shareholding requirements under Turkish law.

f.Disclosure of Beneficial Interests in the Shares

The Turkish Regulation on public disclosure of listed companies is regulated by the CMB Communiqué onCommunique on Public Disclosure of Material Events(II-15.1). Insider information, which means anynon-public information that may possibly affect the value of capital market instruments and investors’ decisions, is required to be disclosed immediately by listed companies. Shareholders’ disclosure requirement would arise if they fall below or exceed the shareholding ratios established in theCommuniqué Communique II-15.1 (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 33%, 50%, 67% and 95%). Following subsequent changes made to the Communique II.15.1 (which was published in the Official Gazette dated Novenber 17,2018November 17, 2018 and No.30598)No. 30598) in cases where the relevant shareholders’ share ratio reaches, exceeds or falls below the aforementioned thresholds only the Central Securities Depository of Turkey (“MKK”) will make the relevant disclosure However, this will not be applicable for persons reaching, exceeding or falling below such thresholds (i)by acting in concert, (ii) indirectly, or (iii) with voting rights (through voting agreements etc.). Therefore, in these cases, rather than the MKK, the relevant shareholder or the persons acting in concert with such shareholder will need to disclose the change in their shareholding. Disclosure of insider information may be delayed to protect the legitimate interests of the company without causing market manipulation. For those that have administrative responsibilities in Turkcell (including Board members and high-ranked executives), or are closely related persons and partners (whether natural or legal persons) of issuers that purchase and sell Turkcell’s capital market instruments (including, but not limited to, Turkcell shares), such transactions will need to be declared to the Borsa Istanbul; however, according to the CommuniquéCommunique II-15.1, if the cumulative amount of the above-mentioned Turkcell transactions in a calendar year does not exceed TRY 286,000353,868 (TRY 353,868400,000 for 2019)2020), such declaration will not be needed. This upper limit represents the total amount of all transactions

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made by both Board members/high-ranked executives and their closely related persons of the company and that of its subsidiaries which represent more than 10% of the total assets according to the latest annual financial statements of the company. “Closely related persons” means: wives/husbands, children and individuals sharing the same residence at the time of transaction and corporations; legal entities run by, directly/indirectly controlled by or whose economic interests are similar with that of Board members; and high-ranked executives of the Company. The CMB by its decision dated June 27, 2014 issued new guidelines that is also amended on February 10, 2017 for the announcement of material events for public companies based on Article 27 of the CommuniquéCommunique II-15.1, thus repealing the old guidance which was prepared in conformity with the CommuniquéCommunique Serial VIII, No:54. The Company’s internal public disclosure rules and procedures has also been adopted by the Board in accordance with the CommuniquéCommunique II-15.1 as amended on February 10, 2017.

In addition, the CMB adopted a “short-swing-profit rule” for company executives. The CMB has published the CommuniquéCommunique No. VI-103.1 Regarding Managers’ Payment of Net Purchase and Sale Gains to the Issuers (published in the Official Gazette dated December 12, 2013, No. 28849). The CommuniquéCommunique VI 103.1 relies on the Capital Markets Law Article 103/4 and indicates that (i) the board members and the committee members of an issuer, (ii) the persons with administrative responsibilities at the issuer and (iii) the persons that have the power to determine and control the issuer’s financial and operational policies, decisions or targets directly or indirectly, shall pay the net gains they have obtained through the purchases and sales within the samesix-month period. It is indicated in the CommuniquéCommunique VI 103.1 that the purpose of this regulation is to remove the inequality of opportunity between the persons who receive insider information about the issuers easier and faster due to their positions and the investors that reach the insider information after public disclosure.

The CommuniquéCommunique on Tender Offer(II-26.1) which repeals the CommuniquéCommunique Serial: IV No: 44 was published by the Capital Markets Board in the Official Gazette dated January 23, 2014, numbered 28891, which entered into force on the date of its publication. Through the Communiqué,Communique, the procedures and principles regarding mandatory and voluntary tender offers as a result of a change in management control have been regulated in compliance with the new Capital Markets Law No. 6362. Moreover, the definition of management

control has been regulated as the direct or indirect acquisition of more than 50% of the share capital or the voting rights individually or collectively. Holding more than fifty percent of the voting rights of a corporation directly or indirectly, alone or jointly with persons acting in concert, or regardless of such percentage, holding privileged shares enabling their holder to elect a simple majority of the total number of the members of the board of directors or to nominate for the said number of directors in the general assembly meeting, is considered and treated as an acquisition of control.

The CommuniquéCommunique on Tender Offer(II-26.1) was modified on February 27, 2015 and the following situation has been added amid cases where a mandatory tender offer will not be triggered. Following the purchase by a third party of a portion of the shares of a controlling shareholder, on the condition that this third party has 50% or less of voting rights of the company, should such third party share equally or less than the management control of the company with this controlling shareholder by virtue of a written agreement, this situation is not considered a trigger for a mandatory tender offer for this third party.

The said Communique was again amended and the amendementamendment entered into force immediately upon its publication in the Official Gazette dated January 2, 2019 No.30643. As per the amendment, the relevant shareholder can be exempted from the requirement to launch a mandatory tender offer if the change of management control occurs as a result of the existing shareholders acquiring shares through a capital increase where thepre-emptive rights have not been restricted. However, as this is a ground for exemption and not an exception, even if the said circumstances exist, the applicability of the exemption will be subject to the CMB’sCMB approval.

In parallel, the Capital Markets Law No. 6362 introduces asqueeze-out right: in the event the shareholding of a shareholder reaches a threshold, which shall be determined by secondary legislation of the CMB, such shareholder shall have the right to purchase the shares of the minority shareholders and the minority shall have the right to sell their shares. The CMB released the CommuniquéCommunique onSqueeze-Out Rights and Statutory Put Option Rights(II-27.1) on January 2, 2014 in the Official Gazette numbered 28870, which became effective as of July 1, 2014. This CommuniquéCommunique was replaced with the CommuniquéCommunique II-27.2 which entered into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette dated November 12, 2014 and numbered 29173 (the “new Communiqué”Communique”). According to the CommuniquéCommunique II-27.1, if the controlling shareholder, directly or indirectly, holds at least 95% of the voting rights in a public company as a result of a mandatory tender offer or by any other means, the controlling shareholder has the right to squeeze out all other shareholders regardless of whether they hold privileged shares. As per the new Communiqué,Communique, in the event that a shareholder holds at least 98% of the voting rights in a public company either as a result of a mandatory tender offer or by any other means, or if the controlling shareholder already satisfying this threshold acquires an additional share, the controlling shareholder will be entitled to the right tosqueeze-out all other shareholders. Once thesqueeze-out right arises, the remaining minority shareholders will be entitled to the right tosell-out their shares. The new CommuniquéCommunique also stipulates a transition period. Accordingly, the threshold of 95% shall continue to apply tosqueeze-out rights that arose before December 31, 2014 and a new threshold of 97% shall apply tosqueeze-out rights that will arise thereafter

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until December 31, 2017. The new CommuniquéCommunique regulates thesqueeze-out and the put option rights under the same provision. Accordingly, the controlling shareholder is obliged to make a public disclosure, if and when the controlling shareholders’ shareholding ratio reaches at least 98% of the voting rights or acquires additional shares to enhance its status. The remaining minority shareholders are entitled to exercise theirsell-out rights within three months following the public disclosure. The three-month period is statutory and thesell-out rights of the minority shareholders shall expire at the end of such period. The minority shareholder willing to exercise itssell-out right shall notify the public company in writing of its request. The board of directors shall procure the preparation of a valuation report in order to determine the purchase price for the minority shares within one month upon thesell-out request. Upon application of the controlling shareholder for exercising thesqueeze-out right, and approval of the board of directors about the fulfillment of the conditions for exercising thesqueeze-out right, the company shall apply to the CMB for issuance of new shares to replace the cancelled ones. A delisting application to the relevant stock exchange is also required. All payment and settlement transactions shall be conducted via the Central Registration Agency. The controlling shareholder shall deposit the share purchase amount to the company’s account, within three business days following the notification made by the company at the latest, and the company shall transfer such amount to the relevant minority shareholders’ account on the second succeeding business day to complete the share transfer transactions. As for the calculation of the purchase

price, the purchase price during exercising of thesqueeze-out right shall be equivalent to the average of the weighted daily stock market price within the30-day period prior to the disclosure stating that the controlling shareholder has reached at least 98% of the voting rights or acquired additional shares for traded shares. The CommuniquéCommunique refers to a “fair price” for the exercise of thesell-out right. Accordingly, (i) the price determined for thesqueeze-out right; (ii) the price determined per each share group through a valuation report; (iii) the price of a mandatory tender offer within the year preceding the public disclosure of control, if any; and (iv) the average of the weighted average prices on the exchange pertaining to the previous six months, previous year and previous five years shall be compared. The highest value shall be determined as the purchase price when thesell-out right is exercised. The controlling shareholder is required to make a public disclosure if and when (i) the voting rights held by it exceed or fall below 98% of the total voting rights in the company; or (ii) it acquires additional shares when it already holds 98% or more of the voting rights. Additionally, the controlling shareholder is also obliged to make a public disclosure, if and when it decides to exercise thesqueeze-out right. The company as well is obliged to disclose the(i) squeeze-out right requests, the procedure ofsqueeze-out and the results of thesqueeze-out; (ii) application of asell-out right including the total number of shareholders making an application for exercising theirsell-out rights, the percentages of their voting rights, and the total price to be paid for the exercisedsell-out rights; (iii) the results of valuation reports for determining the share price and (iv) the results of exercising thesell-out right including information on the number of shareholders who have used such right and their voting right percentages and the voting right percentage of the controlling shareholder.

Capital Markets Law No. 6362 is amended on December 5, 2017 with the Omnibus Bill No. 7061 published on the Official Gazette and introduces a legal grounding for crowdfunding. The CMB was authorized therein to enact secondary legislation. As a consequence of this, the CMB has issued a draft Communique on Equity Crowdfunding and presented it to public’s opinion on January 3, 2019. In2019 and the draft, it is clearly pointed out thatCMB enacted the Communique will only be applied to crowdfunding and the activies of fund raising from public via crowdfunding platforms in return of awards or donations shall not be governed by this regulation.on Equity Crowdfunding (III-35/A.1). The draftCommunique sets forth the procedures and principles regarding (i) equity crowdfunding;crowdfunding only; (ii) authorization of crowdfunding platforms by the CMB; (iii) activities of such platforms; (iv) fund raising from public via equity crowdfunding; and (v) control and supervision of the usage of such funds. It is clearly pointed out that the Communique will only be applied to equity crowdfunding and the activities of fund raising from public via crowdfunding platforms in return of awards or donations shall not be governed by this regulation. On 25 February 2020, with Law No. 7222 Amending Banking Law and Certain Other Laws, Capital Markets Law was amended to pave the way for lending based crowdfunding in Turkey, authorizing the CMB is expected to enact the secondary legislation accordingly.that end.

g.Free Float Definition Rules

While 48.95% of our shares are listed on the stock exchange, and the number of our Company’s free floating shares as of March 7, 201920, 2020 was 1,074,496,6161.076.996.278 according to the “Report on Free Float Ratios” released by the Central Securities Depository of Turkey in accordance with the Capital Markets Board’s decision 21/655 of July 23, 2010, as amended by its decision 24/729 of August 18, 2010, and its free float ratio was 48.84%48.95%. The difference between these rates resultsmay result from the exclusion of shares which are: i. held by a public entity, ii. held by the company’s incorporators and its affiliates (companies subject to consolidation), iii. held by shareholders who may be a natural person or a corporate body and control at least 10% of the Company’s capital (following the amendment by the CMB’s decision 31/1059 of October 30th,30th, 2014), iv. held by a) the members of the Company’s Board of Directors and the Board of Auditors, b) General Manager or executives who are equal to or superior to a general manager in terms of their powers and functions, c) senior executives who report to General Manager or executives who are equal to or superior to a general manager in terms of their powers and functions, v. owned by the savings funds or foundations of companies, vi. provided as equity capital pursuant to regulations applicable to the capital markets legislation or as a collateral in respect of a margin trading or as a collateral except the ones which are given as a collateral only for Central Depository Bank markets, vii. which are legally restricted and cannot be subject to purchase and sale, viii. prohibited, ix. “seized” in the definition of free float ratio. The difference may result from one or more situations described in the decision and it is not possible for our Company to know it.

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h.Trading Rules

According to the CMB’s latestBorsa Istanbul A.S. Board of Directors’ decision numbered 1/62019/182, and CMB’s decision numbered 52, both dated January 8, 2018 and according with CommuniquéII-17.1 on Corporate Governance,September 27, 2019, public companies whose shares are traded on the BIST Stars Market BIST Main Market and Collective and Structured Products Market shall beare divided into threetwo groups in accordance with their systemic significance considering theirsignificance. BIST Star Goup 1 include companies whose total market values and the market values of the shares in active circulation. The average of the closing prices in the second session of the last trading days of March, June, September and December and the rates of the shares in active circulation is the basis of the calculation of the market price and the price of the shares in active circulation. In cases where different share groups of the same company are tradedcap, calculated based on the exchange, all of such groups shall be taken into consideration. This calculation shall be made by the CMB each year in January to determine the groups in which the corporations are included and the list shall be published by the Board Bulletin. In this regard, the numerical thresholds to be used for grouping are set forth below:

(a) First group: Companies whose average market value is above TRY 3 billion and average market value in actual circulationcompany’s total capital, is above TRY 750 million;

(b) Second group: Companies among those excluded frommillion, and whose liquidity, meaning the first group,ratio of the traded value of 1 million TL to the average price change rate of the equity on a daily basis; is inferior to 0.2. BIST Star Goup 2 include companies whose total market valuecap is above

TRY 500 million, whose market cap of whichshares in free float, meaning market cap of the shares of the company in actual free float (calculated according to the criteria determined by the CMB) as the free floating shares at the end of a defined period times the average of the one-year adjusted closing prices, is above TRY 1 billion75 million, whose number of domestic individual investors is superior to 1000, and average market valuewhose ratio of shares of the company in the actual circulationfree float (calculated according to the criteria determined by the CMB) to the company’s paid in capital is above TRY 250 million.

(c) Third group: Companies among those excluded from the first10% and second groups, the shares of which are traded on National Market, Second National Market and Collective Products Market.whose liquidity is inferior to 3.

Accordingly, the CMB by its decision numbered 31/1080 and dated October 30, 2014 determined the following thresholds and measures, which are effective as of January 2, 2015:

Group

Value of

the

Shares in

active

circulation

(TRY)

Market Maker or
Liquidity Builder
Current or Additional Measures
Trading Method

Margin

Trading or

Short

Selling

Equity Ratio

of Short

Settlement

Gross

Settlement

Method

A

30 Million and above

—  

Continuous Auction

YESGeneral ProvisionsNO

B

10 - 30 Million

—  

Continuous Auction

YES100%NO

C

Below 10 Million


YES
NO

Continuous Auction

Uniform Price

NO100%NO

According to the latest CMB decision, Turkcell is listed under BIST Stars, Group A1 companies.

i.Protection of Minority Shareholders

Under Turkish securities law, minority shareholders, defined as those who hold 5% or more of our share capital, have the right, among other things, to request our Board of Directors to:

 

invite the shareholders to an extraordinary general assembly;

 

request that a matter be included on the agenda at both ordinary and extraordinary general assembly;

 

request the appointment of special auditors; if the general assembly rejects this request, minority shareholders may apply to the court for the appointment of a special auditor;

 

take action against Board members who have violated the Turkish Commercial Code or the articles of association of a company or who have otherwise failed to perform their duties;

 

pursuant to the TCC, provided there is a good reason, minority shareholders may claim from the competent court to rule in favor of dissolution of the Company; and

 

if provided by the Articles of Association of the Company, certain minority groups may be represented at the Board of Directors.

According to the new Capital Markets Law, in the event a shareholder votes against a material transaction inat a general assembly meeting, as briefly described above, such shareholder obtains a right to exit from the company by selling his/her shares. If the shareholder uses that right, the company is required to purchase the shareholder’s shares.

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j.Liquidation

In the event of liquidation, our shareholders are entitled to participate in any surplus in proportion to their shareholdings.

k.Changes in Capital Structure

Any increase in our Company’s registered capital ceiling requires an amendment to our Articles of Association and therefore shareholder approval through a general assembly. Such amendment is subject to the prior approval of the Ministry of Customs and Trade and the CMB. Our Board of Directors may also restrict the rights of existing shareholders and offer new shares to third parties. Changes in the voting and dividend rights of our shareholders require an amendment to our Articles of Association and approval by the general assembly. Such amendment is also subject to the prior approval of the Ministry of Customs and Trade and the CMB. Furthermore, under the Turkish Commercial Code, during the general assembly meetings held to amend the articles of association of a joint stock company, each share shall be entitled to only one vote, even if otherwise is provided under its articles of association.

Any decrease in our share capital requires an amendment to our Articles of Association. If we undertake to cancel our shares, we must notify any existing creditors, and within two months of notification, they may request payment or, if their receivables are not due and payable, we must create a security interest in their favor. Capital reduction is rarely applied in Turkey.

l.ShareBuy-Backs

The new TCC contains several rules enabling Turkish companies to repurchase their own shares if they satisfy certain conditions. Accordingly, shares representing up to 10% of the total share capital of the company may be acquired by the company itself. We believe that this would allow both direct and indirect acquisitions. Before the entry into force of the new TCC, the CMB had taken an anticipatory step by enabling listed companies to buy back their own shares. The CMB announced this on August 11, 2011, in its Weekly Bulletin numbered 2011/32, and this announcement describes in detail the procedures and principles which apply to suchbuy-back transactions.

In accordance with the new Capital Markets Law dated December 30, 2012, the CommuniquéCommunique on Share Buyback numberedII-22.1 was published in the Official Gazette on January 3, 2014. The CommuniquéCommunique regulates the principles and procedures of share buybacks or the establishment of pledges over their own shares by public companies. Essentially, the CommuniquéCommunique governs the principles regarding the (i) share buybacks of public companies or accepting their own shares as pledges;(ii) sell-out of repurchased shares or their amortization; (iii) public disclosure of such transactions; and (iv) safe harbor provisions where share buybacks will not be deemed insider trading or manipulation of the market.

On February 18, 2016 a buyback plan of up to TRY 200 million was announced to be submitted for the approval of the shareholders at the Ordinary General Assembly for 2015; however, the proposal made during the General Assembly held on March 29, 2016 was rejected.

Following the coup attempt, on July 21, 2016, the CMB under its CommuniquéCommunique on ShareBuy-backs decided to temporarily remove the limits that are applicable to public companies’ acquisition of their own shares (especially the limit restrictingbuy-backs up to 10% of the share capital) and authorized Turkish public companies to initiate stock repurchases, even in the absence of shareholder approval.

Our Company’s Board of Directors has authorized the management to execute sharebuy-back transactions, within the scope of the announcements dated July 21, 2016 and July 25, 2016 made by the CMB. We believe that this authorization could be extended to cover indirect share buybacks.

m.General Assemblies

Right holders, who have a right to attend the general assembly meetings, can attend such meetings by electronic means pursuant to article 1527 of the new TCC. Pursuant to the CommuniquéCommunique on Electronic General Assembly Meetings held in Joint Stock Companies, the Company shall invite the right holders to attend, to deliver an opinion and to vote by electronic means, either setting up the electronic general assembly system; or purchase related services from the system providers that are specifically found for such purposes.

According to the new TCC, the general assembly meeting procedures should be regulated under the Internal Guidelines to be approved by the general assembly and registered at the Trade Registry. Accordingly, general assembly meeting procedures shall be executed with the related provisions of the Turkish Commercial Code, Articles of Association and the Internal Guidelines.

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The following matters are among the onesthose required by the TCC and our Articles of Association to be included on the agenda of ordinary general assembly meeting:

 

review of the annual reports of our Board of Directors and the auditors;

 

the approval, amendment or rejection of the statement of financial position and statement of profit and loss prepared for the preceding financial year, the release of our Board of Directors from liability in respect of actions taken by them in the preceding financial year, and the proposals of our Board of Directors for the allocation and distribution of any of our net profits;

 

the approval of the remuneration of the Board members; and

 

there-election or replacement of directors and/or auditors whose terms of office have expired.

Shareholders representing at least 5% of our share capital may, by written notice, require any additional matters to be included on the agenda for discussion at any of our general assemblies.

Notices covering general assemblies (including postponements and rescheduling), which include the agenda of any such general assembly, must be published in the Trade Registry Gazette and Turkish local newspaper published where the headquarter of our Company is located, determined by us, at least two weeks before the date fixed for the meeting in accordance with the TCC and three weeks before the date fixed for the meeting in accordance with CMB regulation. The TCC requires us to send notice of any general assembly by registered mail to each person registered in our books as a holder of shares and to those shareholders who have deposited at least one share certificate representing shares with us and have indicated a notice address. Under the Capital Markets Law, such notice requirement does not apply to holders of registered shares, which are also traded in the stock market.

Any shareholder holding any of our shares (excluding ADRs) and wishing to attend general assembly meetings to vote must present his/her identification document to our Head Office before the start of the meeting

in order to obtain an entry permit for that meeting. Holders of thenon-public registered shares in our share book of registered shares need not comply with such requirement to attend a general assembly. Any shareholder not wishing to attend any such general assembly in person may appoint another person as a proxy. Shareholders attending the general assembly meeting by electronic means should follow the procedures established by the related legislation.

Except as set out by the provisions of the TCC and our Articles of Association, the required quorum at any general assembly is shareholders representing at leastone-quarter of the share capital. If such quorum is not present when a general assembly is convened, the meeting shall be adjourned, in which event the meeting is reconvened within a month, with shareholders or their proxies present at such meeting. Resolutions of general assembly meetings must be passed by a majority of the shareholders or their proxies present at such meetings.

As per the new Capital Markets Law, unless a higher quorum is accepted in the articles of association of public companies, affirmative votes oftwo-thirds of shareholders representing the share capital present at the general assembly (and this, without requiring a quorum) is needed for the following decisions: restricting preemptive rights of shareholders, authorizing the Board to restrict such preemptive rights in a registered capital system and reduction of the share capital and material transactions of the company as defined by the law. Nevertheless, if shareholders representing at least half of the company share capital are present at the meeting, simple majority decides unless a higher quorum is accepted by the articles of association.

In addition, the new Capital Markets Law stipulates that the CMB may require including some topics in the general assembly agenda to be discussed by the general assembly or to inform the shareholders at the general assembly.

According to our Articles of Association, the meeting quorum requirement at general assemblies is 51% of our share capital. Resolutions of our general assemblies must be passed by the shareholders (or their proxies) representing the majority of the votes of the shareholders present at that meeting.

The quorum requirement at general assemblies convened to increase our share capital ceiling is 51% of our share capital. Resolutions of general assemblies relating to capital increases must be passed by a majority of our shareholders or their proxies present at such meeting.

The meeting quorum requirement at general assemblies convened to amend our Articles of Association (excluding capital ceiling increase) istwo-thirds of our share capital. Resolutions of our general assemblies to amend our Articles of Association (excluding capital ceiling increase) shall be passed by the shareholders (or their proxies) representing at least 2/3 of the votes of the shareholders present at that meeting.

Changing our jurisdiction or increasing the obligations of the shareholders requires unanimous shareholder approval.

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10.C Material Contracts

We are not a party to any material contracts other than those entered into in the ordinary course of business, except with regard to the settlement of certain legal disputes. For information regarding these settlements, see “Item 8.A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information—Note 36”37” (Guarantees and purchase obligations) to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this annual report on Form20-F.

10.D Exchange Controls

Banks in Turkey set their own foreign exchange rates independently of those announced by the CBRT. Pursuant to Decree 32 on the Protection of the Value of the Turkish Currency (“Decree No.32”),No.32, most recently amended in 2018, the government eased and ultimately abolished restrictions on the convertibility of the Turkish Lira for current account and nonresidentnon-resident capital account transactions by facilitating exchange of the proceeds of transactions in Turkish securities by foreign investors, which enabled Turkish citizens to purchase securities on foreign exchanges. These changes also permitted residents and nonresidentsnon-residents to buy foreign exchange without limitation, and to transfer such foreign exchange abroad without ministerial approval.

Turkish citizens are permitted to buy unlimited amounts of foreign currency from banks and to hold foreign exchange in commercial banks. Banks are obliged to inform authorities to be determined by the Ministry about Turkish Lira transfers abroad, excluding payments for exports, imports and invisible transactions that are above the equivalent of USD 50,000, within a 30 day period starting from the date of transfer. Any amendment to recent exchange controls provisions may affect our results of operations.

Capital Movements Circular and the Decree No.32No. 32 have recently been amended and have taken effect since May 2, 2018, introducing new restrictions on Turkish corporates to utilize foreign currency loans from Turkey and outside of Turkey. While the new regime continues to maintain the existing prohibition on Turkish individuals to utiliseutilizing foreign exchange loans and foreign exchange indexed loans, it introduces a strict prohibition on Turkishnon-bank corporates (Corporate Borrower) to utilisefrom utilizing foreign currency indexed loans and also brings in new restrictions on corporate borrowers to utiliseutilize foreign currency loans (F/X Loan Restriction).

Accordingly, a corporate borrower shall be permitted to utilize foreign currency loans if (i) it generates foreign currency-denominated revenue, which is defined as “the revenue derived from export, transit trade, sales and deliveries considered as export and foreign currency generating activities (F/X Revenue Exemption)” in the new legislation; (ii) the purpose of the loan is to finance an activity that is exempt from the F/X Loan Restriction (Activity Exemption); (iii) if as of May 2, 2018, the unpaid outstanding balance of its total foreign currency loans and/or foreign currency indexed loans (Loan Balance) is more than USD 15 million, or (iv) if the F/X loan to be utilized by a corporate borrower falls within the scope of the exemptions determined by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance.

As far as the F/X Revenue Exemption is concerned, (i) if the loan balance of a corporate borrower is below USD 15 million, the sum of (i) the foreign currency loan to be utilised;utilized; and, (ii) the existing loan balance must not be more than the combined value of its foreign currency revenues as stated in its last three yearsyears’ financials. Otherwise, the exceeding portion of the foreingforeign currency loan must either be cancelled or converted into Turkish Lira.

With regard to the Activity Exemption, a legal entity must qualify as a public institution, banks and factoring, financial leasing and financing companies resident in Turkey in order to utiliseutilize foreign currency loans. In the case of corporate borrowers, the Activity Exemption must relate to an activity in the context of (i) a domestic tender with an international element awarded to such corporate borrower; (ii) defencedefense industry projects approved by the Undersecretariat of Defence Industry; (iii) public private partnership projects; (iv) an export, transit trade, sales and related deliveries subject to the relevant corporate borrower certifying the scope of its relevant activity and its potential sources of foreign currency revenues and (iv) investment incentive certificate. Note that in order for a corporate borrower to benefit from the Activity Exemption summarisedsummarized in item (iv), it must not have any foreign currency revenue within the last three financial years (which otherwise, would be subject to the F/X Revenue Exemption) and the maximum amount of foreign currency loan such Corporate Borrower can utilize is limited to the amount stated in its certified sources of foreign revenue.

As of December 31, 2018,2019, exchange restrictions and state controls exist in somecertain jurisdictions in which Turkcell operates. The local currencies of Turkcell’s subsidiaries in both Ukraine and Belarus are not convertible outside of their respective countries. The foreign exchange regime of the Ukrainian Hryvnia is floating but there is no offshore forward market for the currency; only onshorenon-deliverable forwards are available.currency. For the Belarusian Ruble, thea floating regime is managed floating with no access to forward markets or NDFs. Future movements of exchange rates will affect the carrying values of Turkcell’s assets and liabilities. The translation of underlying local currency amounts into TRY in Turkcell’s Consolidated Financial Statements should not be construed as a representation that such local currency amounts have been, could be or will in future be converted into TRY at the exchange rates shown or at any other exchange rate.

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As of December 31, 2018, significant exchange restrictions and state controls exist in some jurisdictions in which Fintur operates. The local currency of Fintur subsidiary in Moldova is not convertible outside of Moldova. The exchange rate regime for the Moldovan Leu is floating which means central banks can intervene in the foreign exchange market but does not make any explicit or implicit commitment with respect to an exchange rate target or path. The translation of underlying local currency amounts into USD in Fintur’s consolidated financial statements should not be construed as a representation that such local currency amounts have been, could be or will in future be converted into USD at the exchange rates shown, or at any other exchange rate.

10.E Taxation

The following discussion is a summary of the material Turkish and United States federal income tax considerations relating to the ownership and disposition of our shares or ADSs. The discussion is based on current law and is for general information only. The discussion does not address all possible tax consequences relating to the ownership and disposition of shares, or ADSs, and holders are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the applicable tax consequences of holding and disposing of the shares or ADSs based on their particular circumstances.

The discussion is based upon laws and relevant interpretations thereof in effect as of the date of this annual report, all of which are subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect. This summary is also based in part on representations of the Depositary and assumes that each obligation provided for in, or otherwise contemplated by, the Deposit Agreement or any related document will be performed in accordance with the terms of such agreement.

I. Republic of Turkey Taxation

The following summary of Turkish tax law as in force on the date of this annual report describes the principal tax consequences for Turkish residents and U.S. holders (as defined below in “Taxation—United States Federal Income Taxation”) of the ownership and disposition of shares and ADSs. It is not a complete description of all the possible tax consequences of such ownership and disposition. Shareholders should consult their own tax advisors concerning the Turkish and other tax consequences applicable in their particular situations.

a.Corporate Taxation

A corporation that has its legal and/or business center in Turkey (a “Resident Corporation”) is subject to a corporate tax, which is levied at 20% on such corporation’s taxable income. Resident Corporations are required to pay an “advance corporation tax”, also at 20%, on a quarterly basis. This rate will be applied at 22% for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020.

b.Taxation of Dividends

In the event that a Resident Corporation distributes dividends to individual shareholders (resident ornon-resident), or tonon-resident corporations that do not have a permanent establishment (fixed place of business or permanent representative) in Turkey (and are not subject to rate-reducing provisions in applicable bilateral tax treaties), a 15% withholding tax is payable by the Resident Corporation on behalf of its shareholders. In the event that Resident Corporations distribute dividends to resident legal entities or tonon-resident legal entities that have a permanent establishment in Turkey, such distributions are not subject to withholding tax.

Cash dividends received by Resident Corporations from other Resident Corporations are not subject to corporate tax. Dividends in cash received by resident individuals from Resident Corporations are subject to a withholding tax at the rate of 15% (as discussed above) and must file an annual income tax declaration. The withholding tax amount shall be deducted from the annual income tax. 50% of the dividend income received by resident individuals from Resident Corporations is exempt from the annual income declaration. The remaining 50% must be declared if it exceeded TRY 49,000 in 2020, TRY 40,000 in 2019, TRY 34,000 in 2018 and TRY 30,000 in 2017 and 2016.

Under the Income Tax Treaty between the United States of America and the Republic of Turkey, signed March 28, 1996 (the “Treaty”), the withholding tax rate is limited to 20% (including the surcharges on dividends paid by a Turkish Resident Corporation) of the gross amount of the dividends unless the beneficial owner of shares is a company which owns at least 10% of the voting stock of the company paying the dividends (in which case the rate would be limited to 15%). Because the current withholding tax rate applicable to publicly-traded corporations, such as Turkcell, is only 15%, the Treaty does not affect the current rate of Turkish withholding tax for U.S. holders. Cash dividends paid on ordinary shares or ADSs to a U.S. holder that does not have a permanent representative or place of business in Turkey will not be subject to taxation in Turkey, except in respect of the 15% income withholding tax discussed in the previous section. The distribution of dividends in kind (i.e.(i.e., bonus shares) is not subject to a withholding tax, and such dividends in kind are not subject to an income declaration.

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c.Taxation of Capital Gains

(i) Gains realized by Residents

For shares acquired on or after January 1, 2006:

Gains realized by resident individuals on the sale of shares traded on the Borsa Istanbul (such as Turkcell shares) or ADSs that represent shares traded on the Borsa Istanbul (such as Turkcell ADSs) to residents ornon-residents are exempt from income tax, provided that the holding period of such shares or ADSs exceeds one year. Where this holding period has not been met, there is a withholding tax from the gains derived from capital. The current rate for such withholding tax is 0%.

Gains realized by Resident Corporations on the sale of shares traded on the Borsa Istanbul (such as Turkcell shares) or ADSs that represent shares traded on the Borsa Istanbul (such as Turkcell ADSs) to residents ornon-residents shall benefit from the withholding exemption, if aone-year holding period is met. However, where this holding period has not been met, there is a withholding tax from the gains derived from capital gains. The current rate for such withholding tax is 0%.

Gains realized by Resident Corporations on the sale of shares or toby residents ornon-residents must be included in corporate income and are subject to the applicable corporate tax. Upon fulfillment of the stated conditions in Article 5 of the Corporate Tax Law, 75% of capital gains derived from the sale of the shares will be exempt from corporate income tax.

For shares acquired before January 1, 2006:

Capital gains derived from shares held by an investor (both individuals and corporations) for over three months are not subject to any withholding tax.

Gains realized by Resident Corporations on the sale of shares are subject to the applicable corporate tax. Upon fulfillment of the stated conditions in Article 5 of the Corporate Tax Law, 75% of capital gains deriving from the sale of the shares will be exempt from corporate income tax.

(ii) Gains realized by U.S. holders

U.S. holders that do not have a permanent establishment in Turkey are exempt from Turkish tax on capital gains generated from the sale of shares quoted on an exchange, such as Turkcell shares, under Article 13 of the Treaty. U.S. resident legal entities having a permanent establishment (fixed place of business or permanent representative) in Turkey generally are subject to tax in Turkey on capital gains arising from the sale of such shares and should consult their own Turkish tax advisors as to the rules applicable to them. As of July 7, 2006, the withholding tax rate applicable tonon-resident holders of shares has been reduced to 0%.

U.S. holders who invest via ADSs will not have to comply with any procedures to avoid withholding tax, since gains derived from Turkcell ADSs are not generated in Turkey. However, U.S. holders who hold their shares directly in Turkey must comply with certain procedures to establish their exemption from Turkish capital gains withholding tax and are urged to consult their own tax advisors in this regard.

In addition, certain rules and procedures may need to be complied with in order to avoid Turkish withholding tax upon the conversion of ADSs to shares and from shares to ADSs in Turkey. U.S. holders are urged to consult their own tax advisors in this regard.

Pursuant to a Turkish Constitutional Court decision, which annulled the income tax provision regulating the 0% withholding application on capital gains fornon-resident individuals and corporations, the withholding tax regime has once again become subject to regulation pursuant to a law numbered 6009, which came into force on August 1, 2010. Pursuant to this new regulation, a 10% withholding on capital gains is applied to individual investors and a 0% withholding is applied to corporate investors, irrespective of the residency status.Non-resident corporate deposit receipt holders (depositaries of our ADR facility) are included within the scope of corporate investors.Non-resident investors of Turkcell ADRs will be subject to 0% withholding, provided that the depositary of our ADR facility is a corporate body. The Turkish CouncilPresident of MinistersRepublic of Turkey has the authority to raise the withholding levels to 5 percentage points.5%.

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d.Taxation of Investment and Mutual Funds

(i) Taxation on the Fund Level:

The gains realized from portfolio investment activities byof resident Investment and Mutual Funds are exempt from corporate tax, but are subject to withholding tax for the gains of stocks held and bonds/bills issued before January 1, 2006. Withholding tax rates are as follows:

 

if the institutions maintain a minimum of 25% of their portfolios invested in Turkish equity shares on a monthly weighted average basis, the applicable rate of withholding tax is 0%; and

 

if the percentage of Turkish equity shares in the portfolios of such institutions is below 25% during any month during the year, the applicable rate of withholding tax is 10%.

Gains from stocks purchased after January 1, 2006 and/or bonds and bills issued after January 1, 2006 are subject to withholding of 0%.

Anon-resident Investment or Mutual Fund may also qualify for this taxation regime if it appoints a permanent representative in Turkey, registers with the Turkish tax office, maintains legal books and meets the other tax requirements in Turkey.

(ii) Taxation onat the Investor Level:

The gains realized by investors for participating within “FUND”a “fund” are subject to taxation depending on the date of purchase of the “FUND”“fund” by the individual investors.

 

For “FUND”the “fund” shares purchased before January 1, 2006, gains are not subject to income tax withholding. Capital gains received by individuals are computed by deducting the original cost of the shares after the application of a “cost adjustment” (which uses the Producer Price Index determined by the Turkish Statistical Institute to eliminate gains arising solely from inflation), from the amount received upon the sale or disposition of the shares. Total capital gains are subject to declaration on income tax returns if they exceeded TRY 40,000 in 2020, TRY 34,000 in 2019, TRY 27,000 in 2018, TRY 24,000 in 2017 and 2016, and TRY 23,000 in 2015, and are required to be declared in compliance with the Turkish Tax Regime.

 

For “FUND”“fund” shares purchased after January 1, 2006:

 

 1.

If the “FUND”“fund” maintains at least 51% of the portfolio invested in the Borsa Istanbul Market and is held for more than aone-year period, gains shall not be subjected to withholding. Such gains shall be declared in compliance with the Turkish Tax Regime.

 

 2.

If the “FUND”“fund” does not meet the conditions above, gains shall be subject to withholding at 10% for resident investors. In cases wherenon-resident investors can certify their own residency status, 0% withholding shall be applied.

 

 3.

Pursuant to a Turkish Constitutional Court decision, which annulled the income tax provision regulating the 0% withholding application on capital gains fornon-resident individuals and corporations, the withholding tax regime has once again become subject to regulation pursuant to a law numbered 6009, which came into force on August 1, 2010. Pursuant to this new regulation, a 10% withholding on capital gains is applied to individual investors and a 0% withholding is applied to corporate investors, irrespective of the residency status.Non-resident corporate deposit receipt holders (depositaries of our ADR facility) are included within the scope of corporate investors.Non-resident investors of Turkcell ADRs will be subject to 0% withholding, provided that the depositary of our ADR facility is a corporate body.

e.Stamp Taxes

According to the Turkish Stamp Tax Law (Law No. 488), all agreements and documents specified in the law with a monetary value indicated thereon are subject to a stamp tax with rates from 0.189% to 0.948%, which is calculated on the aggregate amount of such agreement or document.

II. United States Federal Income Taxation

The following discussion is a summary of the material U.S. federal income tax considerations applicable to the ownership and disposition of shares or ADSs by you, if you are a U.S. holder. In general you will be a “U.S. holder” if:

 

you are the beneficial owner of our shares or ADSs;

 

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you are either (i) an individual resident or citizen of the United States, (ii) a corporation (or other entity taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) created in or organized under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia, (iii) an estate whose income is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of its source, or (iv) a trust, if a U.S. court can exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust and one or more U.S. persons are authorized to control all substantial decisions of the trust;

 

you own our shares or ADSs as capital assets (which generally means for investment purposes);

 

you own directly, indirectly or by attribution less than 10% (by vote or value) of our outstanding share capital or voting stock;

 

you are fully eligible for benefits under the Limitation on Benefits article of the Treaty; and

 

you are not also a resident of Turkey for Turkish tax purposes.

The Treaty benefits discussed generally are not available to holders who hold shares or ADSs in connection with the conduct of business through a permanent establishment, or the performance of personal services through a fixed base, in Turkey.

If a partnership (including for this purpose any entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) holds shares or ADSs, the tax treatment of a partner generally will depend upon the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. A partner in a partnership that holds shares or ADSs is urged to consult its own tax advisor regarding the specific tax consequences of owning and disposing of its shares or ADSs.

The summary does not purport to be a comprehensive description of all of the tax considerations that may be relevant to any particular holder, including tax considerations that arise from rules of general application or that are generally assumed to be known by U.S. holders. This summary is based on provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), existing and proposed U.S. Treasury Regulations, rulings, administrative pronouncements, judicial decisions and the Treaty, all as of the date of this annual report. All of these authorities are subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect, and to differing interpretations. In addition, this summary does not discuss all aspects of U.S. federal income taxation that may be applicable to investors in light of their particular circumstances or to U.S. holders who are subject to special treatment under U.S. federal income tax law, including insurance companies, U.S. expatriates, dealers in stocks or securities, banks or financial institutions,tax-exempt organizations, regulated investment companies, retirement plans, traders in securities who elect to apply amark-to-market method of accounting, persons who acquired their shares pursuant to the exercise of employee stock options or otherwise as compensation, persons holding shares as part of a straddle, hedging or conversion transaction, persons subject to the alternative minimum tax, and persons having a functional currency other than the U.S. Dollar.

U.S. holders are urged to consult with their own tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of the ownership or disposition of shares or ADSs, including the effects of federal, state, local, foreign and other tax laws with respect to their particular circumstances.

a.Dividends

If we make distributions to you, you generally will be required to include in gross income as dividend income the amount of the distributions paid on the shares (including the amount of any Turkish taxes withheld in respect of such dividend as described above in “Taxation—Republic of Turkey Taxation”). Dividends paid by us will not be eligible for the dividends-received deduction applicable in some cases to U.S. corporations.

Any dividend paid in Turkish Lira, including the amount of any Turkish taxes withheld therefrom, will be includible in your gross income in an amount equal to the U.S. Dollar value of the Turkish Lira calculated by reference to the spot rate of exchange in effect on the date the dividend is received by you, in the case of shares, or by the Depositary, in the case of ADSs, regardless of whether the Turkish Lira are converted into U.S. Dollars. Any gain or loss resulting from currency exchange fluctuations during the period from the date the dividend is includible in your gross income to the date such payment is converted into U.S. Dollars generally will be treated as U.S.-source ordinary income or loss. Special rules govern, and elections are available to, accrual method taxpayers to determine the U.S. Dollar amount includible in income in the case of taxes withheld in a foreign currency. Accrual basis taxpayers are urged to consult their own tax advisors regarding the requirements and elections applicable in this regard.

Any dividends paid by us to you with respect to shares or ADSs will be treated as foreign-source income and generally will be categorized as “passive category income” or, in the case of certain U.S. holders, “general category income” for foreign tax credit purposes.

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Subject to limitations, you may elect to claim a foreign tax credit against your U.S. federal income tax liability for Turkish income tax withheld from dividends received in respect of shares or ADSs. The rules relating to the determination of the foreign tax credit are complex. Accordingly, you should consult your own tax advisor to determine whether and to what extent you would be entitled to the credit. If you do not elect to claim a foreign tax credit, you may instead claim a deduction for Turkish income tax withheld, but only for a year in which you elect to do so with respect to all foreign income taxes. A deduction does not reduce tax on adollar-for-dollar basis like a credit, but the deduction for foreign taxes is not subject to the same limitations applicable to foreign tax credits.

Certainnon-corporate U.S. holders (including individuals) are eligible for reduced rates of U.S. federal income tax in respect of “qualified dividend income” received. For this purpose, qualified dividend income generally includes dividends paid by anon-U.S. corporation if, amongst other things, the U.S. holder meets certain minimum holding periods and thenon-U.S. corporation satisfies certain requirements, including that

either (i) the shares (or ADSs) with respect to which the dividend income has been paid are readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States or (ii) thenon-U.S. corporation is eligible for the benefits of a comprehensive U.S. income tax treaty (such as the Treaty) which provides for the exchange of information. We currently believe that dividends paid with respect to our shares and ADSs should constitute qualified dividend income for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and we anticipate that our dividends will be reported as qualified dividends onForms 1099-DIV delivered to U.S. holders. In computing foreign tax credit limitations,non-corporate U.S. holders may take into account only a portion of a qualified dividend to reflect the reduced U.S. tax rate applicable to such dividend. Each U.S. holder of shares or ADSs is urged to consult its own tax advisor regarding the availability to it of the reduced dividend tax rate in light of its own particular situation and regarding the computations of its foreign tax credit limitation with respect to any qualified dividend income paid by us, as applicable.

The U.S. Treasury has expressed concerns that parties to whom ADSs are released may be taking actions that are inconsistent with the claiming of foreign tax credits or reduced tax rates in respect of qualified dividends by U.S. holders of ADSs. Accordingly, the discussion above regarding the creditability of Turkish withholding tax on dividends or the availability of qualified dividend treatment could be affected by future actions that may be taken by the U.S. Treasury with respect to ADSs.

b.Sale, Exchange or other Disposition of Shares or ADSs

Upon the sale, exchange or other disposition of shares or ADSs, you generally will recognize capital gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized on the disposition and your adjusted tax basis in your shares or ADSs (as determined in U.S. Dollars). Gain or loss upon the disposition of shares or ADSs generally will be U.S.-source gain or loss, and will be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if, at the time of the disposition, your holding period for the shares or ADSs exceeds one year. If you are an individual, capital gains generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at preferential rates if specified minimum holding periods are met. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to significant limitations.

The surrender of ADSs in exchange for shares pursuant to the Deposit Agreement governing the ADSs will not be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Accordingly, you will not recognize any gain or loss upon such surrender.

c.Net Investment Income Tax

Certain U.S. holders that are individuals, estates or trusts and whose income exceeds certain thresholds generally will be subject to a 3.8% tax on “net investment income”, including, among other things, dividends on, and gains from the sale or other taxable disposition of, our shares or ADSs, subject to certain limitations and exceptions. You should consult your own tax advisor regarding the effect, if any, of such tax on your ownership and disposition of our shares or ADSs.

d.Passive Foreign Investment Company Status

We currently believe that we were not a passive foreign investment company (a “PFIC”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes for the taxable year ending December 31, 2018.2019. However, this conclusion is a factual determination that must be made annually and thus may be subject to change. Therefore, it is possible that we could be classified as a PFIC in the future due to changes in our operations, the composition of our assets or income, as well as changes in market capitalization. In general, anon-U.S. corporation will be classified as a PFIC for any taxable year if at least 75% of its gross income consists of passive income (such as dividends, interest, rents, royalties or gains on the disposition of certain minority interests), or at least 50% of the average value of its assets consists of assets that produce, or are held for the production of, passive income. If we were characterized as a PFIC for any taxable year, you would suffer adverse tax consequences. These consequences may include having gains realized on the disposition of shares or ADSs treated as

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ordinary income rather than capital gains, and being subject to punitive interest charges on certain dividends and on the proceeds of the sale or other disposition of the shares or ADSs.ADSs, and form filing and reporting requirements. Furthermore, dividends paid by a PFIC would not be “qualified dividend income” (as discussed above) and would be taxed at the higher rates applicable to other items of ordinary income. You should consult your own tax advisor regarding the potential application of the PFIC rules to us and to your ownership of our shares or ADSs.

e.U.S. Information Reporting and Backup Withholding

Dividend payments with respect to shares or ADSs and proceeds from the sale, exchange, redemption or other taxable disposition of shares or ADSs may be subject to information reporting to the Internal Revenue

Service (the “IRS”) and possible U.S. backup withholding at a current rate of 24%. Certain exempt recipients (such as corporations) are not subject to these information reporting requirements. Backup withholding will not apply, however, to a holder who furnishes a correct taxpayer identification number or certificate of foreign status and makes any other required certification or who is otherwise exempt from backup withholding. U.S. persons who are required to establish their exempt status generally must provide IRSForm W-9 (Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification).Non-U.S. holders generally will not be subject to U.S. information reporting or backup withholding. However, such holders may be required to provide certification ofnon-U.S. status (generally on IRSForm W-8BEN orW-8BEN-E, as applicable) in connection with payments received in the United States, or through certain U.S.-related financial intermediaries.

Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Amounts withheld as backup withholding may be credited against a holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability, and a holder may obtain a refund of any excess amounts withheld by filing the appropriate claim for refund with the IRS and furnishing any required information.

In addition, U.S. holders should be aware of annual reporting requirements with respect to the holding of certain foreign financial assets, including our shares and ADSs that are not held in an account maintained by certain types of financial institutions, if the aggregate value of all of such assets exceeds $50,000 (or $100,000 for married couples filing a joint return). You should consult your own tax advisor regarding the application of the information reporting and backup withholding rules to our shares and ADSs and the application of the annual reporting requirements to your particular situation.

10.F Dividends and Paying Agents

Not Applicable.

10.G Statement by Experts

Not Applicable.

10.H Documents on Display

Reports and other information of Turkcell can also be inspected without charge and copied at prescribed rates at the public reference facility maintained by the SEC in Room 1580, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Copies of these materials are also available by mail from the Public Reference Section of the SEC, at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington D.C. 20549, at prescribed rates.

10.I Subsidiary Information

Not Applicable.

 

ITEM 11.

QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

I. Overview

We are exposed to foreign exchange rate risks because our income, expenses, assets and liabilities are denominated in a number of different currencies, primarily Turkish Lira, U.S. Dollars, Euros, Chinese Yuan, Ukrainian Hryvnia, Azerbaijani Manat and Belarusian Rubles. In particular, a substantial majority of our debt obligations and equipment expenses are currently, and are expected to continue to be, denominated in U.S. Dollars and Euros, while the revenues generated by the corresponding activities are denominated in other currencies, in particular the Turkish Lira, Ukrainian Hryvnia and Belarusian Rubles. Similarly, we are subject to market risk deriving from changes in interest rates that may affect the cost of our financing and also liquidity risk is the risk that the Group will not be able to meet its financial obligations as they fall due. We provide a detailed analysis of our foreign exchange interest rate and liquidity risks in Note 35.36.

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a.Foreign Exchange Risk Management

Our functional currency is the TRY for operations conducted in Turkey, but certain revenues, purchases, operating costs and expenses and resulting receivables and payables are denominated in a number of different currencies. In particular, a substantial majority of our debt obligations and equipment expenses are currently, and are expected to continue to be, denominated in U.S. Dollars, and Euros, while the revenues generated by the

corresponding activities are denominated in other currencies, in particular the Turkish Lira, Ukrainian Hryvnia and Belarusian Rubles. Transactions denominated in foreign currencies are recorded at the exchange rates prevailing at the dates of the transactions. Assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are converted into functional currency at the exchange rates prevailing at the reporting date, with the resulting exchange differences recognized in the determination of net income. In 2015, net foreign exchange losses were mainly attributable to the foreign exchange losses in Belarusian Telecom operating in Belarus and in lifecell operating in Ukraine and amounted to TRY 1,197.7 million, resulting from transactions related to foreign exchange effects. Foreign exchange losses from Belarusian Telecom and lifecell exclude foreign exchange losses arising in the foreign operations’ individual financial statements which have been recognized directly in equity in the foreign currency translation differences in the consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting policy for net investment in foreign operations.

Market risk-sensitive instruments consist of loans and borrowings mainly denominated in foreign currencies (substantially in U.S. Dollars and Euros) totaling TRY 20,15620,305.7 million, which represents the majority of total indebtedness as of December 31, 2018.2019.

To manage and hedge our foreign exchange risk more effectively, we have used cross currency swaps contracts, participating cross currency swap contracts, and currency forward contracts, and we may enter into forward transactions and currency swap contracts and participating cross currency swap contracts in the future as well. In addition, in order to take advantage of market volatility in the foreign exchange markets and increase the yield on our free cash, we may enter into option transactions to buy or sell certain currencies, allowing us to mitigate our exposure to negative foreign exchange rate swings. See Note 3536 (Financial Instruments) to our audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in “Item 18. Financial Statements” of this annual report on Form20-F for additional details.

All hedging transactions have been authorized and executed pursuant to clearly defined policies and procedures, which provide that the transaction is entered into to protect us from fluctuations in currency values. Analytical techniques are used to manage and monitor foreign exchange risk, which includes market valuation and sensitivity analysis. In addition, we keep a significant proportion of our monetary assets in U.S. Dollars/Euros to reduce our currency exposure.

While we are currently able to hedge our principal TRY exposure to the U.S. Dollar and the Euro on commercially reasonable terms, no assurance can be given that we will continue to be able to do so under all circumstances in the future, in particular taking into account the context created by the COVID-19 epidemic, which has had, and is likely to continue to have, a material impact on the volatility of global markets which, in turn, may lead to a material increase in our financing costs.

b.Interest Rate Risk Management

We are exposed to variations in interest rates, primarily in Euros, U.S. Dollars and TRY and UAH denominated debt and investments, which may affect the amounts of future interest income or expenses (reinvestment risk or cash flow risk) and also cause changes in the values of our interest-bearing assets, which have already been added to the statement of financial position. We manage interest rate risk by financingnon-current assets with long-term debt with variable interest rates and equity. To hedge our interest rate risk, we utilize interest rate derivative structures considering the market levels. Turkcell started actively hedging its long term foreign exchange liabilities in 2016. Before hedging transactions, 84% of our debt was foreign currency denominated. Following the hedging, this ratio decreased to 42% and 85% of our financial debt had fixed interest rate. Also, we hold 100% of our TRY 7.419 billion cash & cash equivalents in hard currency.

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The following table sets forth the carrying amount and fair value of loans, maturities and average effective interest rates for bank loans.

 

 December 31, 2018 December 31, 2017   December 31, 2019   December 31, 2018 
 Effective
interest
rate
 Total
carrying
amount
 2019 2020 2021 2022
thereafter
 Fair
Value
 Effective
interest
rate
 Total
carrying
amount
 2018 2019 2020 2021
thereafter
 Fair
Value
   Effective
interest
rate
 Total
carrying
amount
   2020   2021   2022   2023
thereafter
   Fair
Value
   Effective
interest
rate
 Total
carrying
amount
   2019   2020   2021   2022
thereafter
   Fair
Value
 

Variable rate instruments

              

Unsecured bank loans

              

Variable rate instruments Unsecured bank loans

                          

USD floating rate loans

 4.3 4,589.2  2,058.6  1,816.3  186.0  528.3  4,589.2  3.2 2,880.6  779.0  981.6  1,120.0   —    2,880.6    4.4 4,478.5    2,132.1    296.0    282.1    1,768.3    4,478.5    4.3 4,589.2    2,058.6    1,816.3    186.0    528.3    4,589.2 

EUR floating rate loans

 2.1 6,975.9  2,466.1  1,557.4  654.5  2,297.9  6,975.5  2.1 5,511.6  1,278.2  1,476.3  1,004.3  1,752.8  5,511.6    2.2 5,638.7    1,688.6    698.8    898.6    2,352.7    5,638.7    2.1 6,975.9    2,466.1    1,557.4    654.5    2,297.9    6,975.5 

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For contractual cash flows and nominal interest of bank loans, see Note 28 and Note 35 to our audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in “Item 18. Financial Statements” of this annual report onForm 20-F.

As we understand from what we observe in the market, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) plans to phase out LIBOR by the end of 2021 and from then on, the Secured Overnight Funding Rate (SOFR) is expected to replace LIBOR. Furthermore, regulators are also discussing to replace EURIBOR yet it is expected to remain in force for another period of 5 years. As at March 20, 2020, we have neither discussed with nor approached by any financial institution to replace LIBOR and/or EURIBOR with a new reference rate in our existing loan or hedging agreements. We shall continue to monitor the developments on this matter and aim to take necessary actions if and when possible in conjunction with financial institutions that we are in continous contact with.

We use sensitivity analysis techniques to measure and assess our interest rate risk. The basis for the sensitivity analysis is an aggregate corporate-level interest rate exposure composed of interest-bearing investments and interest-bearing debts. When we assume a 1 percentage point increase in interest rates for all maturities from their levels as of December 31, 2018,2019, with all other variables held constant, our profit before income tax decreases by TRY 234.2225.5 million.

 

ITEM 12.

DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES OTHER THAN EQUITY SECURITIES

The Depositary may collect from (i) each person to whom ADSs are issued, including, without limitation, issuances against deposits of Shares, issuances in respect of Share Distributions, Rights and Other Distributions (as such terms are defined in the form of ADR certificate), issuances pursuant to a stock dividend or stock split declared by the Company, or issuances pursuant to a merger, exchange of securities or any other transaction or event affecting the ADSs or the Deposited Securities and (ii) each person surrendering ADSs for withdrawal of Deposited Securities or whose ADSs are cancelled or reduced for any other reason, U.S. $5.00 for each 100 ADSs (or portion thereof) issued, delivered, reduced, cancelled or surrendered (as the case may be). The Depositary may sell (by public or private sale) sufficient securities and property received in respect of Share Distributions, Rights and Other Distributions prior to such deposit to pay such charge. These terms are set forth in Paragraph 7 of the Form of ADR certificate.

On July 6, 2011, we signed an amended and restated Deposit Agreement (the “Deposit Agreement”) with Citibank N.A. (“Citibank”), as depositary (the “Depositary”), Turkcell and holders of American Depositary Receipts, which transferred our ADR program from JPMorgan Chase Bank (“JPMorgan”) to Citibank. On July 1, 2016 the term was extended by another 5 years, until July 6, 2021.

As provided for in the American Depositary Receipt included as Exhibit A to the Deposit Agreement, holders of American Depositary Shares may be charged, directly or indirectly, the following amounts in relation to the ownership of depositary receipts held in the Company’s ADR Program, which are payable to the Depositary:

 

Service  Rate  By Whom Paid

(1) Issuance of ADSs upon deposit of Shares (excluding issuances as a result of distributions described in paragraph (4) below).

  Up to U.S. $5.00 per 100 ADSs (or fraction thereof) issued.  Person depositing Shares or person receiving ADSs.

(2) Delivery of Deposited Securities against surrender of ADSs.

  Up to U.S. $5.00 per 100 ADSs (or fraction thereof) surrendered.  Person surrendering ADSs for the purpose of withdrawal of Deposited Securities, or person to whom Deposited Securities are delivered.
(3) Distribution of cash dividends or
other cash distributions (i.e.(i.e., sale
of rights and other entitlements).
Up to U.S. $5.00 per 100 ADSs (or
fraction thereof) held.
Person to whom distribution is
made.

(4) Distribution of ADSs pursuant to (i) stock dividends or other free stock distributions, or (ii) exercise of rights to purchase additional ADSs.

Up to U.S. $5.00 per 100 ADSs (or fraction thereof) held.Person to whom distribution is made.

(5) Distribution of securities other than ADSs or rights to purchase additional ADSs (i.e., spin-off shares).

  Up to U.S. $5.00 per 100 ADSs (or fraction thereof) held.  Person to whom distribution is made.
(4) Distribution of ADSs pursuant to (i) stock dividends or other free stock distributions, or (ii) exercise of rights to purchase additional ADSs.Up to U.S. $5.00 per 100 ADSs (or fraction thereof) held.Person to whom distribution is made.
(5) Distribution of securities other than ADSs or rights to purchase additional ADSs (i.e.,spin-off shares).Up to U.S. $5.00 per 100 ADSs (or fraction thereof) held.Person to whom distribution is made.

(6) Depositary Services.

  Up to U.S. $5.00 per 100 ADSs (or fraction thereof) held on the applicable record date(s) established by the Depositary.  Person holding ADSs on the applicable record date(s) established by the Depositary.

I. Direct Payments made by Citibank to Turkcell

Citibank, as depositary, has agreed to reimburse certain reasonable expenses related to our ADR program and incurred by us in connection with such program. In 2018,2019, the Depositary, as part of its agreement, reimbursed Turkcell $ 3,485,6372,366,055 on an accrual basis. The amounts the Depositary has reimbursed and will reimburse are not necessarily related to the fees collected by the depositary from ADR holders. The table below sets forth the type of expenses that Citibank has reimbursed.

 

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Category of Expenses

Amount Reimbursed in 2017

Investor Relations(1)

$     3,485,637
Category of Expenses  Amount Reimbursed in 2019 

Investor Relations(1)

  $2.366.055 

 

(1)

This type of expense includes activities tailored to increase the company’s ADR program, including, but not limited to, roadshows and training in the U.S., legal costs connected with20-F filing and ongoing SEC compliance and legal requirements and listing fees.

II. Indirect Payments made by Citibank to Turkcell

As part of its service to Turkcell, Citibank has agreed to waive fees for the standard costs associated with the administration of our ADR program and associated operating expenses estimated to total $65,554.$72,745. The table below sets forth the fees that Citibank has agreed to waive and/or expenses that Citibank has agreed to pay in the year ended December 31, 2018.2019.

 

Category of Expenses  

Amount Waived or Paid by

Citibank for the period January 1,

2018 through December 31, 2018

 

Third-party expenses paid directly

  $62,229 

Fees waived

  $3,325 
Category of ExpensesAmount Waived or Paid by
Citibank for the period
January 1, 2019 through
December 31, 2019
Third-party expenses paid directly$63,953
Fees waived$8,792

 

ITEM 13.

DEFAULTS, DIVIDEND ARREARAGES AND DELINQUENCIES

Not applicable.

 

ITEM 14.

MATERIAL MODIFICATIONS TO THE RIGHTS OF SECURITY HOLDERS AND USE OF PROCEEDS

Not applicable.

 

ITEM 15.

CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

(a)Disclosure Controls and Procedures. The Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, after evaluating the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in U.S. Exchange ActRule 13a-15(e)) as of the end of the period covered by this annual report on Form20-F, have concluded that, as of such date, the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective at a reasonable assurance level.

(b)Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. The management of Turkcell is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined inRules 13a-15(f) and15d-15(f)and 15d-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934), and for performing an assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2018.2019. The Company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in

accordance with applicable generally accepted accounting principles. The Company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:

(1) Pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the Company;

(1)

Pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the Company;

(2) Provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with applicable generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the Company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the Company; and

(2)

Provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with applicable generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the Company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the Company; and

(3)

(3)

Provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the Company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Internal control over financial reporting has inherent limitations. It is a process that involves human diligence and compliance and is subject to lapses in judgment and breakdowns resulting from human failures. In addition, it can be circumvented by collusion or improper management override. Because of such limitations, there is a risk that material misstatements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis by internal controls over financial reporting. However, these inherent limitations are known features of the financial reporting process. Therefore, it is possible to design safeguards to reduce, though not eliminate, this risk.

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Management assessed the effectiveness of the internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 20182019 based on criteria established in the Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013), issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”). Based on its assessment and those criteria, management has concluded that the Company’s internal control over financial reporting was effective at the reasonable assurance level as of December 31, 2018.2019.

The effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 20182019 has been audited by PwC Bagimsiz Denetim ve Serbest Muhasebeci Mali Musavirlik A.S. (“PwC”), our independent registered public accounting firm in Turkey, as stated in their attestation report, which appears below under Item 15(c), Report of the Independent Registered Audit Company.

(c)Attestation Report of the Independent Audit Company.

PwC Bagimsiz Denetim ve Serbest Muhasebeci Mali Musavirlik A.S., the independent public accounting firm that audited the consolidated financial statements included in this annual report, has audited the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2018.2019. Their attestation report on internal control over financial reporting is included at pageF-1 herein.

(d)Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting. There were no changes in connection with the evaluation required byRule 13a-15(d) andRuleand Rule 15d-15 in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the year ended December 31, 2018,2019, that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. This conclusion has been made at a reasonable assurance level.

ITEM 16.

ITEM 16.

16.A Audit Committee Financial Expert

Currently no independent Audit Committee member is an “audit committee financial expert”, as that term is defined by the SEC in its final rules implementing Section 407 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, because, after self-evaluation, our Audit Committee members did not consider themselves, individually, as an “audit committee financial expert”. However, our Audit Committee members and our Board of Directors believe that our Audit Committee members are nonetheless qualified to carry out their duties on the Audit Committee given their experience and other qualifications in financial matters.

16.B Code of Ethics

We have adopted a code of ethics that applies to our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and other executive officers and financial officers. An outlook of our code of ethics is posted on our website, www.turkcell.com.tr.

16.C Principal Accountant Fees and Services

PwC served as our independent registered public accountant for financial years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 2017 and 2016.2017. Our audited financial statements for the three year period ended December 31, 20182019 appear in this annual report on Form20-F. At our general meeting of shareholders which occurred on March 29, 2016, May 25, 2017, and March 29, 2018 and September 12, 2019, PwC was appointed as our independent auditors for our 2016, 2017, 2018 and 20182019 fiscal years respectively. On March 24, Board of Directors decided to appoint PwC as the independent auditor for the year 2020, which is subject to the approval of the shareholders during the next General Assembly Meeting.

The following table presents the aggregate fees for professional services and other services rendered by our auditors to us in 2019, 2018 2017, and 2016.2017.

 

  2018   2017   2016   2019   2018   2017 
  (Million TRY)    (Million TRY) 

Audit Fees(1)

   4.6    4.3    3.7    5.7    4.6    4.3 

Audit-Related Fees(2)

   1.2    —      1.0    0.5    1.2    —   

Tax Fees

   —      —      —      —      —      —   

All Other Fees(3)

   —      —      —      —      —      —   

Total

   5.8    4.3    4.7    6.2    5.8    4.3 

 

(1)

Audit Fees consist of fees billed for professional services pertaining to the audit of the Company’s annual financial statements or services that are normally provided by the principal accountant in connection with statutory or regulatory filings or engagements.

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(2)

Audit-Related Fees consist of mainly new IFRsIFRS standard, treasury operations, Turkcell Superonline IPO preparatory work and hedge accounting audit procedures in 2018 and Global Tower IPO audit procedures in 2016 and comfort letter related costs for our bond issuance that are reasonably related to the performance of the audit or review of the Company’s financial statements for previous periods.

(3)

All Other Fees consist of fees billed for products and services other than services provided under Audit and Tax Fees and Audit-Related Fees.

a.Audit CommitteePre-approval Policies and Procedures

Our Audit Committee haspre-approved all work performed by our external auditors for the year 20182019 and it has not adopted blanketpre-approval policies and procedures.

16.D Exemptions from the Listing Standards for Audit Committees

Not applicable.

16.E Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

On July 27, 2016, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the management to execute share buy-back transactions, within the scope of the announcements dated July 21, 2016 and July 25, 2016 made by the Capital Markets Board. The purpose is to protect Turkcell investors against potentially negative reflections on Turkey that may arise due to the instability perception in the short and medium term subsequent to the events on and after July 15, 2016, and/or due to potential global macroeconomic volatilities. In this context, it has been resolved that the maximum fund amount set aside for share buy-backs will be TRY 150 million, and the maximum share number to be bought back will be determined so as not to exceed this amount. This amount is also used for Eurobond buy-backs. On January 30, 2017, the Company’s Board of Directors increased the above-mentioned fund amount to TRY 300 million in order to be utilized for share buy-backs, including ADRs being traded on the NYSE. On March 24, our Company’s Board of Directors increased the fund amount to TRY 450 million to protect our investors against market volatility originating mainly from the COVID-19 global outbreak.

Period

  Total Number of
Shares Purchased
   Average Price Paid per
Share (in TRY)
   Total Number of Shares
Purchased as Part of Publicly
Announced Plan or Program
(Cumulative)
   TRY Value of Shares that
May Be Purchased Under the
Plan or Program(1)
 

12-24 July 2018

   2,560,479    11.14    2,560,479    205,865,434 

15-16 August 2018

   2,381,400    10.50    4,941,879    180,870,548 

5 October 2018

   924,000    10.82    5,865,879    170.872.123 

14-27 December 2018

   2,568,325    12.11    8,434,204    139,778,316 

Between August 24, 2016 and December 30, 2016, our Company bought back 6,815,563 shares in total and our ratio of shares in company capital reached 0.310%. In 2017, there were no buy-backs and we did not utilize this fund. In 2018, share buy-backs amounted to 8,434,204 shares, and our ratio of shares in company capital reached 0.693%. On December 31, 2018, our Company bought back 827,750 shares, which are included in out 2019 financials as per IFRS standards, thereby bringing the total ratio of shares in company capital to 0.731%. As of March 20, 2020, our Company bought back 16,893,807 shares in total, bringing the total ratio of shares in company to 0.768% level.

Period

  Total Number of
Shares Purchased
  Average Price Paid
per Share (in TRY)
  Total Number of
Shares Purchased as
Part of Publicly
Announced Plan or
Program (Cumulative)
  TRY Value of Shares
that May Be
Purchased Under the
Plan or Program(1)
December 2018  827,750  12.08  16,077,517  129,781,255
March 2020  816,290  12.24  16,893,807  119,787,217

 

(1)

This calculation does not include Eurobondbuy-back transactions.

a.

Between May 4, 2018 and August 7, 2018 our Company purchased Eurobonds (XS1298711729) with a total nominal value of USD 15.5 million, (amounting to approximately TRY 81.5 million as of

b.

between March 12, 2019 and December 31, 2018) therefore the “TRY Value of Shares that May Be Purchased Under the Plan or Program” should be reduced by20, 2019, our Company purchased Eurobonds amount. These amounts also do not include the Board’s buyback decision on January 30, 2016.(XS1803215869) with a total nominal value of USD 10.0 million, and sell Eurobonds (XS1298711729) with a total nominal value of USD 10.0 million and,

Between August 24, 2016 and December 30, 2016, our company bought back its 6,815,563 shares in total.

c.

In 2020, until and including March 20, 2020, our Company purchased Eurobonds (XS1298711729 and XS1803215869) with a nominal value of USD 5.0 million in total.

On January 30, 2017,Therefore the Company’s Board“TRY Value of Directors has decided to increaseShares that May Be Purchased Under the above mentioned fund amount to TRY 300 million in order toPlan or Program” should be utilized for share buy-backs, including American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) being traded atreduced by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). In 2017, there were no buy-backs and we did not utilize this fund.

In 2018, share buy-backs amounted to TRY 94,620 thousand, and our ratio of shares in company capital has reached 0.693%.purchased Eurobonds amount.

16.F Change in Registrant’s Certifying Accountant

Incorporated by reference to our annual report on Form20-F filed on March 18, 2016.

16.G Corporate Governance

I. Significant Differences in Corporate Governance Practices

Matters related to corporate governance in Turkey are regulated by the new Turkish Commercial Code (“TCC”), which came into force on July 1, 2012, and the new law and regulations and communiquéscommuniques of the CMB, the regulatory and supervisory authority, all of which are binding upon publicly heldpublicly-held companies.

145


In addition, corporate governance practices in Turkey are also guided by the Corporate Governance Principles of the CMB (the “CMB Principles”), which took effect on a “comply or explain” basis on January 1, 2004. Since 2005, the CMB requires listed companies to incorporate in their annual reports a “Corporate Governance Compliance Report”, which compares the CMB Principles to the Corporate Governance principles under which the Company operates. This report is posted on our website, www.turkcell.com.tr. On January 10, 2019 the CMB introduced a new reporting format in compliance with corporate governance principles for publicly listed companies. As of this date, the reporting format previously announced by the CMB by the CommuniquéCommunique on Corporate Governance PrinciplesII-17.1 was abolished. Accordingly, we have proceeded with the new reporting format and made the respective reporting by means of the Corporate Governance Compliance Report (“CRF”) which is used for the purpose of reporting the status of compliance with voluntary principles and the Corporate Governance Information Form (“CGIF”) which is prepared for the purposes of providing information on existing corporate governance practices. The reports are included in our annual report as well.

It is decided by the CMB that the companies must publish the same reports annually through the Public Disclosure Platform (“PDP”) within the financial statements announcement period and, in any case, at least three weeks prior to the date of the general assembly meeting. In the event of change with respect to the companies’ compliance with voluntary principles and any change in material information regarding the CGIF, the respective changes should be disclosed by revision of the templates under the PDP and these changes should also be included in the interim activity reports.

Effective in 2011, by way of various communiqués,communiques, the CMB revised its corporate governance principles with a view to strengthening the governance practices of listed companies. As a result, the CMB left the “comply or explain” approach to a limited extent and required listed companies to comply with certain corporate governance principles on a compulsory basis by June 30, 2012. In a further CommuniquéCommunique dated September 13, 2012, the CMB empowered itself, effective until December 31, 2012, to take legal action before the relevant first instance court with a view to assure compliance with its corporate governance rules. No legal action has been taken there against our Company to the best of our knowledge. The new Capital Markets Law came into force on December 30, 2012. The Capital Markets Board is entitled by Article 17/2 to make decisions and perform actions accordingly on its own initiative in case time-bound compliance requirements relating to its corporate governance principles are not met in due time.

In a further CommuniquéCommunique dated April 6, 2013, the CMB amended the corporate governance principles. The following rules have been added to the Communiqué:Communique:

 

If some or all of the Board members’ terms have ended and thereby compliance with the mandatory CMB Corporate Governance Rules cannot be established, the CMB will require the Board to call a general assembly meeting which must be held within 30 days. If a general assembly meeting cannot be called or a positive result cannot be reached at the general assembly meeting, the CMB, as per the new Capital Markets Law, will have the right to directly appoint the minimum number of Board members that meet independence criteria to achieve the necessary meeting and decision quorums. Those members’members terms of office will last until new appointments are made in accordance with the legislation. The new Board members will then make the necessary amendments to the Articles of Association to be in line with the mandatory CMB Corporate Governance Rules upon the approval of the CMB, which will be registered at the Trade registry.

 

If there are enough Board members to achieve such compliance, but there is not a positive result (at the Board or the general assembly meeting), then the CMB allows companies 30 days to take the necessary action. If the necessary action to ensure compliance cannot be realized within the given period, the CMB will have the right to directly appoint the minimum number of Board members that meet independence criteria to achieve the necessary meeting and decision quorums. The new Board will then make the necessary amendments to the Articles of Association to be in line with the mandatory CMB Corporate Governance Rules upon the approval of CMB, which will be registered at the Trade Registry.

The Corporate Governance CommuniquéCommunique numberedII-17.1, which was published in the Official Gazette dated January 3, 2014 kept the above-mentioned second rule and removed the first one.

The following summarizes new mandatory CMB requirements that would apply to our Company.

The main mandatory rules relating to board membership and board structure include:

 

The number of independent members inon the Board shall not be less than one third of the total number of the members of the Board of Directors. In calculating the number of independent board members, a fraction would be rounded up to the nearest integer. In any case the number of the independent board members shall not be less than two. The term of office of independent members of the board of directors is up to three years. Such members are eligible to be nominated again andre-elected.

 

146


Companies in the first group are required to notify the CMB of the independent member candidates at least 60 days prior to the planned General Assembly meeting at which the members will be elected. The CMB, having evaluated the independence of the candidates, is required to disclose its approval/disapproval within the next 30 days. Companies classified in the other two groups are not required to seek CMB approval. In view of the current relations between our controlling shareholders, our nomination process is currently handled directly by the CMB.

 

The CMB has updated its independence criteria for independent board members.

 

The following Board committees shall be established by listed companies:

 

Audit Committee (already existing at Turkcell Board level);

 

Corporate Governance Committee (already existing at Turkcell Board level);

 

Candidate Nomination Committee (already existing at Turkcell Board level);

 

Early Detection of Risks Committee (already existing at Turkcell Board level); and

 

Remuneration Committee (already existing at Turkcell Board level).

Committees should consist of two members at least. It is mandatory that both (in case oftwo-member committees) or the majority of the members of the committees benon-executive board members. Expert people who are not board members may be elected as committee members except for the Audit Committee. All of the members of the Audit Committee and the chairmen of the other committees shall be elected among the independent board members. The chief executive officer/general manager should not hold a position aton the committees. Terms of reference, working principles and members of the committees shall be determined and disclosed to the public by the board of directors.

Mandatory rules relating to enhanced shareholder information:

 

General Assembly call content has been enhanced.

 

A written remuneration policy for board members and senior management must be prepared. This policy must be posted on the company’s website and submitted at the ordinary General Assembly as a separate agenda item for information. Payment plans, such as stock options or those based on company performance, are not used in the remuneration of independent board members. Remuneration of independent board members must safeguard their level of independence.

 

There are mandatory rules relating to material transactions and related party transactions/guarantees to third parties.

Internal Corporate Governance Mechanisms Revamped:

On January 28, 2016, our board has adopted new charters for the audit, corporate governance, candidate nomination, compensation and early detection of risks committees, along with Turkcell Group Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy. The same day, our board has also adopted Turkcell’s Internal Directive on the Operations of the Board of Directors.

Below is a summary of the significant differences between our corporate governance practices and those that would apply to U.S. companies under the NYSE corporate governance rules as of March 10, 2016:20, 2020:

 

NYSE Corporate Governance Rule for U.S. Issuers  Our Practice as a Foreign Private Issuer

Listed companies must have a majority of independent directors.

  

Our Board currently has three members who are deemed to meet the independence standards of both the SEC and CMB Principles. Under the CMB Principles, it is required to have a board comprised of at leastone-third independent members (or, in any event, two members).

See “Item 6. Directors, Senior OfficersManagement and Employees—Directors and Senior Management—Board Members”.

Ahmet Akca, Atilla Koc

Mr. Nail Olpak, Mr. Afif Demirkiran and Mehmet Hilmi GulerMr. Tahsin Yazar have been appointed by the CMB as independent board members. Asmembers as per the letter ofresolution issued by Capital Markets Board dated March 8, 2019, Mr. Ahmet Akca, Mr. Atilla Koc and Mr. Mehmet Hilmi Guler will continue to serve as independent Board Members.5, 2020.

147


NYSE Corporate Governance Rule for U.S. IssuersOur Practice as a Foreign Private Issuer

Thenon-management directors of each company must meet at regularly scheduled executive sessions without management.management

.
  

Turkish law does not make any distinction between management andnon-management directors. However, there is a distinction between executive/nonexecutive board members. Our board members are allnon-executive members. Members of the board who are not also members of management do not meet in regularly scheduled executive sessions.

Listed companies must have a nominating/corporate
governance committee composed entirely of independent
directors, with a written charter that provides for (i)
minimum duties, which are to identify individuals
qualified to become board members, consistent with
criteria approved by the board, and to select, or to
recommend that the board select, the director nominees
for the next annual meeting of shareholders; develop
and recommend to the board a set of corporate
governance guidelines applicable to the corporation;
and oversee the evaluation of the board and
management; and (ii) an annual performance evaluation
of the committee.

  

On June 23, 2004, our Board of Directors established
a Corporate Governance Committee. Both Corporate
Governance and Candidate Nomination Committees
have their written charters which were renewed by
the Board of Directors on January 28, 2016,
specifying their duties. According to the CMB
Principles, only committee chairs are required to be
independent as defined by the Principles themselves.

The charter substantially satisfies the minimum
requirements of the NYSE corporate governance
rules.

Listed companies must have a compensation committee composed entirely of independent directors, with a written charter that covers certain minimum specified duties.

  

On December 19, 2012, in conformity with the Capital Markets Board’s CommuniquéCommunique then in force, our Board decided to establish a CompensationRenumeration Committee to operate under our Board of Directors. The Board also adopted the CompensationRenumeration Committee’s Charter which was renewed by the Board on January 28, 2016. The Board approved that the CompensationRenumeration Committee shall execute the duties relating to compensation issues which were earlier granted to the Corporate Governance Committee by the Corporate Governance Committee Charter, and the CompensationRenumeration Committee shall be authorized in lieu of the Corporate Governance Committee in the “Total Remuneration Policy of the Board of Directors and Top Executives” adopted by our Board.

Listed companies must have an audit committee that
satisfies requirements set forth in Exchange ActRule
10A-3 and
additional requirements, including: (i) a
NYSE Corporate Governance Rule for U.S. Issuers
minimum of three members; (ii) independence as
defined in NYSE Rule 303A.02; and (iii) a written
charter that addresses minimum duties in addition to
those required by Exchange ActRule 10A-3.

  

Our Audit Committee currently has three members:
Mr. Ahmet Akca,Nail Olpak, Mr. Mehmet Hilmi GulerAfif Demirkiran and Mr. Atilla Koc.Tahsin
Yazar. All of the members are considered
independent under the U.S. Sarbanes Oxley Act of
2002, the rules promulgated thereunder by the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission, the applicable
rules of the NYSE and the updated CMB Corporate
Governance Principles.

The Audit Committee members are independent
Board members as required by the relevant CMB Communiqué
Communique which is binding upon public
companies in Turkey. Effective June 30, 2012, all
listed companies in Turkey must have audit
committees composed of independent board
members. We are currently in compliance. Under
Turkish law, our entire Board of Directors is
responsible for all decisions; as a result, the Audit
Committee’s duties are advisory. Pursuant to Turkish
law, our external auditor is nominated by the Board
of Directors upon advice of the Audit Committee and
approved by our general assembly of shareholders.

 

148


NYSE Corporate Governance Rule for U.S. IssuersOur Practice as a Foreign Private Issuer

The Audit Committee revised its charter, effective
June 20, 2005 and reviewed both the “Turkcell
Common Values and Business Ethics Document” and “Implementation
“Implementation of Turkcell Common Values and
Business Ethics Rules” in order to comply with the
requirements of applicable CMB legislation and
Exchange ActRule 10A-3 and NYSE 303A.06.
There was a second revision, effective July 21, 2006,
to reconsider membership criteria. The third revision
occurred on January 28, 2016. Our Audit Committee
charter satisfies the requirements of the CMB. The
charter does not provide for: an audit committee
report to be included in Turkcell’s annual proxy
statement as it is not subject to the SEC proxy
requirements; a review with the independent auditor
of problems or difficulties and management’s
responses thereto, although such review is not
prohibited by the charter; the discussion of policies
with respect to risk assessment and risk management,
although such discussion is not prohibited by the
charter; the review by the committee of Turkcell’s
earnings releases or financial information or earnings

guidance provided to analysts and ratings agencies;
or the setting of clear hiring policies for employees or
former employees of the independent auditors,
although it does provide that the Audit Committee
shall ensure that the independent auditors remain
independent and avoid any conflicts of interest while
performing their duties.

Listed companies must adopt and disclose corporate
governance guidelines that cover certain minimum
specified subjects.

  

We are not required specifically by the CMB
Principles to adopt corporate governance guidelines.
However, our Board of Directors has adopted
Corporate Governance Guidelines and posted a
summary on its official website www.turkcell.com.tr.
Our corporate governance guidelines largely cover
the subjects requested by the NYSE corporate
governance standards except director qualification
standards and director compensation.

We have further adopted an internal directive on the
operations of the board of directors in order to
regulate the operations of the board and principles on
the exercise of its duties and authorities, and to
increase cooperation with management in order to
fulfill the Company’s duties as stipulated by the
legislation faster, efficiently and easily, and to ensure
exercise of authorities granted and eliminate
reservations while exercising authority. The new
Internal directive mainly covers subjects related to
board and management structure, relationships
between them, the working principles of the board,
duties and responsibilities and other related subjects.

16.H Mine Safety Disclosure

Not applicable.

 

ITEM 17.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

We have responded to Item 18 in lieu of responding to this item.

 

ITEM 18.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Our audited Consolidated Financial Statements as of December 31, 2018,2019, and for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2018,2019, are filed as part of this annual report, onpages F-1 throughF-121.through F-111.

149



SIGNATURES

The registrant hereby certifies that it meets all of the requirements for filing onForm 20-F and that it has duly caused and authorized the undersigned to sign this annual report on its behalf.

 

 

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI A.S.

Date: March 15, 2019April 1, 2020

  

By:

 

/s/ Murat Erkan

   

/s/ Murat Erkan

Acting Chief Executive Officer

  Date: March 15, 2019

By:

/s/ Osman Yilmaz

   

Osman Yilmaz

Murat Erkan
   Chief Executive Officer

Date: April 1, 2020

By:
/s/ Osman Yilmaz
Osman Yilmaz
Chief Financial Officer

151



LOGOLOGO


LOGOLOGO


LOGO

LOGO

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

As at 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

  Note   31 December 2018 31 December 2017   Note   31 December 2019 31 December 2018 

Assets

          

Property, plant and equipment

   11    11,116,316  9,665,408    11    12,458,491  11,116,316 

Right-of-use assets

   15    1,649,602   —      15    1,783,096  1,649,602 

Intangible assets

   12    10,050,172  8,340,410    12    11,308,062  10,050,172 

Telecommunication licenses

     5,774,763   5,720,398 

Computer software

     3,057,143   2,346,236 

Other intangible assets

     1,218,266   273,776 

Investment properties

   14    15,425  980    14    16,283  15,425 

Trade receivables

   19    115,001  155,634    19    148,159  115,001 

Receivables from financial services

   20    884,686  1,297,597    20    123,136  884,686 

Contract assets

   21    3,513   —      21    10,291  3,513 

Deferred tax assets

   18    152,732  96,060    18    189,342  152,732 

Investments in equity accounted investees

     19,413   —        41,701  19,413 

Held to maturity investments

     —    654 

Othernon-current assets

   17    421,306  356,620    17    304,270  421,306 
    

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

 

Totalnon-current assets

     24,428,166   19,913,363      26,382,831   24,428,166 
    

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

 

Inventories

   22    180,434  104,102    22    178,399  180,434 

Trade receivables

   19    2,505,990  2,848,572    19    3,133,975  2,473,978 

Due from related parties

   38    13,533  5,299    39    4,477  13,533 

Receivables from financial services

   20    3,286,243  2,950,523    20    2,319,122  3,318,255 

Contract assets

   21    711,928   —      21    933,969  711,928 

Derivative financial instruments

   34    1,356,062  981,396    35    845,513  1,356,062 

Held to maturity investments

     —    11,338 

Financial asset at fair value through profit or loss

     9,409   —   

Financial asset at amortized cost

     5,368  9,409 

Financial asset at fair value through other comprehensive income

     42,454   —      25    345,602  42,454 

Cash and cash equivalents

   24    7,419,239  4,712,333    24    10,238,715  7,419,239 

Other current assets

   23    1,091,512  1,160,605    23    1,327,004  1,091,512 
    

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

 

Subtotal

     16,616,804   12,774,168      19,332,144   16,616,804 
    

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

 

Assets classified as held for sale

   16    1,720,305  1,294,938    16    —    1,720,305 
    

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

 

Total current assets

     18,337,109   14,069,106      19,332,144   18,337,109 
    

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

 
    

 

  

 

 

Total assets

     42,765,275   33,982,469      45,714,975   42,765,275 
    

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

 

Equity

          

Share capital

   25    2,200,000  2,200,000    26    2,200,000  2,200,000 

Share premium

     269  269      269  269 

Treasury shares

   25    (141,534 (56,313   26    (144,152 (141,534

Additionalpaid-in capital

     35,026  35,026      35,026  35,026 

Reserves

     2,503,537  1,542,679      2,816,359  2,503,537 

Remeasurements of employee termination benefit

     (34,871 (44,776     (63,539 (34,871

Retained earnings

     11,359,317  11,312,276      13,202,526  11,359,317 
    

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

 

Total equity attributable to equity holders of Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS (“the Company”)

Total equity attributable to equity holders of Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS (“the Company”)

 

   15,921,744   14,989,161      18,046,489   15,921,744 
  

 

  

 

   

 

  

 

 

Non-controlling interests

     131,810   55,927      36,455   131,810 
    

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

 

Total equity

     16,053,554   15,045,088      18,082,944   16,053,554 
    

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

 

The above consolidated statement of financial position should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

F-3


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

As at 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

  Note   31 December 2018   31 December 2017   Note   31 December 2019   31 December 2018 

Liabilities

            

Borrowings

   28    13,119,636    8,257,995    29    12,677,394    13,119,636 

Employee benefit obligations

   29    224,747    197,666    30    294,331    224,747 

Provisions

   32    268,722    197,418    33    337,404    268,722 

Deferred tax liabilities

   18    862,360    651,122    18    1,165,630    862,360 

Contract liabilities

   31    131,598    —      32    141,890    131,598 

Othernon-current liabilities

   27    364,610    409,337    28    359,857    364,610 
    

 

   

 

     

 

   

 

 

Totalnon-current liabilities

     14,971,673    9,713,538      14,976,506    14,971,673 
    

 

   

 

     

 

   

 

 

Borrowings

   28    7,035,909    4,278,154    29    7,628,333    7,035,909 

Current tax liabilities

     133,597    103,105      121,258    133,597 

Trade and other payables

   33    3,788,174    3,696,466    34    4,117,471    3,788,174 

Due to related parties

   38    45,331    6,980    39    12,082    45,331 

Deferred revenue

   30    8,948    193,831    31    56,544    8,948 

Provisions

   32    307,068    835,199    33    342,812    307,068 

Contract liabilities

   31    255,756    —      32    290,408    255,756 

Derivative financial instruments

   34    165,265    110,108    35    86,617    165,265 
    

 

   

 

     

 

   

 

 

Total current liabilities

     11,740,048    9,223,843      12,655,525    11,740,048 
    

 

   

 

     

 

   

 

 

Total liabilities

     26,711,721    18,937,381      27,632,031    26,711,721 
    

 

   

 

     

 

   

 

 

Total equity and liabilities

     42,765,275    33,982,469      45,714,975    42,765,275 
    

 

   

 

     

 

   

 

 

The above consolidated statement of financial position should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

F-4


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF PROFIT OR LOSS

For the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

  Note   2018 2017 2016   Note  2019 2018 2017 

Revenue

   5    20,350,557  17,026,401  14,100,863   5   23,996,262  20,173,354  16,917,064 

Revenue from financial services

   5    941,918  605,663  184,698   5   1,140,873  1,119,121  715,000 
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Total revenue

     21,292,475   17,632,064   14,285,561      25,137,135   21,292,475   17,632,064 
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Cost of revenue

   10    (13,785,448 (11,073,465 (9,166,384  10   (16,816,705 (13,751,195 (11,058,346

Cost of revenue from financial services

   10    (360,545 (276,709 (70,223  10   (266,775 (394,798 (291,828
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Total cost of revenue

     (14,145,993  (11,350,174  (9,236,607     (17,083,480  (14,145,993  (11,350,174
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Gross profit

     6,565,109  5,952,936  4,934,479      7,179,557  6,422,159  5,858,718 

Gross profit from financial services

     581,373  328,954  114,475      874,098  724,323  423,172 
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Total gross profit

     7,146,482   6,281,890   5,048,954      8,053,655   7,146,482   6,281,890 
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Other income

   6    241,435  74,438  78,569   6   140,705  241,435  74,438 

Selling and marketing expenses

   10    (1,626,714 (2,005,420 (1,910,947  10   (1,555,189 (1,626,714 (2,005,420

Administrative expenses

   10    (673,370 (645,196 (721,849  10   (779,755 (673,370 (645,196

Net impairment losses on financial and contract assets

   10    (346,390  —     —     10   (338,857 (346,390  —   

Other expenses

   6    (381,582 (773,329 (312,801  6   (487,295 (381,582 (773,329
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Operating profit

     4,359,861   2,932,383   2,181,926      5,033,264   4,359,861   2,932,383 
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Finance income

   8    1,932,133  818,436  961,642   8   297,450  1,677,114  597,246 

Finance costs

   8    (3,619,091 (1,141,302 (1,134,441  8   (2,025,118 (3,364,072 (920,112
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Net finance costs

     (1,686,958  (322,866  (172,799     (1,727,668  (1,686,958  (322,866
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Share of loss of equity accounted investees

     (87  —     —        (15,712 (87  —   
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Profit before income tax

     2,672,816   2,609,517   2,009,127      3,289,884   2,672,816   2,609,517 
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Income tax expense

   9    (495,481 (571,758 (423,160  9   (785,630 (495,481 (571,758
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Profit from continuing operations

     2,177,335   2,037,759   1,585,967      2,504,254   2,177,335   2,037,759 
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

(Loss) from discontinued operations (attributable to owners of the Company)

     —     —     (42,164

Gain from discontinued operations (attributable to owners of the Company)

     772,436   —     —   
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Profit for the year

     2,177,335   2,037,759   1,543,803      3,276,690   2,177,335   2,037,759 
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Profit for the year is attributable to:

            

Owners of the Company

     2,021,065  1,979,129  1,492,088      3,246,487  2,021,065  1,979,129 

Non-controlling interests

     156,270  58,630  51,715      30,203  156,270  58,630 
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Total

     2,177,335   2,037,759   1,543,803      3,276,690   2,177,335   2,037,759 
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Basic and diluted earnings per share for profit attributable to owners of the Company (in full TL)

   26    0.93  0.90  0.68   27   1.49  0.93  0.90 

Basic and diluted earnings per share for profit from continuing operations attributable to owners of the Company (in full TL)

   26    0.93  0.90  0.70   27   1.14  0.93  0.90 

Basic and diluted earnings/(losses) per share for profit /(loss) from discontinued operations attributable to owners of the Company (in full TL)

     —     —    (0.02

Basic and diluted earnings per share for profit from discontinued operations attributable to owners of the Company (in full TL)

  27   0.35   —     —   

The above consolidated statement of profit or loss should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

F-5


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

For the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

  Note  2018 2017 2016   Note   2019 2018 2017 

Profit for the year

     2,177,335   2,037,759   1,543,803      3,276,690   2,177,335   2,037,759 

Other comprehensive income/(expense):

            

Items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss:

            

Remeasurements of employee termination benefits

     12,699  (3,738 (34,532   30    (36,385 12,699  (3,738

Income tax relating to remeasurements of employee termination benefits

     (2,794 748  7,066      8,005  (2,794 748 
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 
     9,905  (2,990 (27,466     (28,380 9,905  (2,990
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Items that may be reclassified to profit or loss:

            

Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations

     424,817  27,959  63,920      431,810  424,817  27,959 

Exchange differences arising from discontinued operations

     425,371  72,190  154,552      104,986  425,371  72,190 

Fair value reserve

     4,451   —     —   

Cash flow hedges – effective portion of changes in fair value

     630,191   —     —        221,488  630,191   —   

Cash flow hedges – reclassified to profit or loss

  34   (611,035  —     —      35    (439,365 (611,035  —   

Cost of hedging reserve – changes in fair value

     (390,267  —     —        97,373  (390,267  —   

Cost of hedging reserve – reclassified to profit or loss

     42,665   —     —        (21,768 42,665   —   

Loss on hedges of net investments in foreign operations

     (55,389  —     —   

Income tax relating to these items

     (154,409 (107,299 (87,381   9    (56,728 (154,409 (107,299

-Income tax relating to exchange differences

     (226,667 (107,299 (87,381

-Income tax relating to cash flow hedges

  34   72,258   —     —   

-Income tax relating to exchange differences

��    (99,234 (226,667 (107,299

-Income tax relating to fair value reserve

     (979  —     —   

-Income tax relating to hedges of net investments

     12,186   —     —   

-Income tax relating to cost of hedging reserve

     (16,634 76,472   —   

-Income tax relating to cash flow hedges

   35    47,933  (4,214  —   
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 
     367,333  (7,150 131,091      286,858  367,333  (7,150
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Other comprehensive income/(loss) for the year, net of income tax

     377,238   (10,140  103,625      258,478   377,238   (10,140
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Total comprehensive income for the year

     2,554,573   2,027,619   1,647,428      3,535,168   2,554,573   2,027,619 
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Total comprehensive income for the year is attributable to:

            

Owners of the Company

     2,398,930  1,968,102  1,594,465      3,505,496  2,398,930  1,968,102 

Non-controlling interests

     155,643  59,517  52,963      29,672  155,643  59,517 
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Total

     2,554,573   2,027,619   1,647,428      3,535,168   2,554,573   2,027,619 
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Total comprehensive income for the year attributable to owners of the Company arises from:

            

Continuing operations

     1,957,396  1,903,109  1,496,209      2,628,074  1,957,396  1,903,109 

Discontinued operations

     441,534  64,993  98,256      877,422  441,534  64,993 
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

Total

     2,398,930   1,968,102   1,594,465      3,505,496   2,398,930   1,968,102 
    

 

  

 

  

 

     

 

  

 

  

 

 

The above consolidated statement of comprehensive income should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

F-6


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

For the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

  Share
capital
  Treasury
shares
  Additional
paid-in
capital
  Share
premium
  Legal
Reeserve
(*)
  Hedging
reserve
  Cost of
hedging
reserve
  Reserve for
non-controlling
interest put
option (*)
  Foreign
currency
translation
reserve (*)
  Remeasurements
of employee
termination
benefit
  Retained
earnings
  Total  Non-controlling
interests
  Total
equity
 

Balance at 1 January 2016

  2,200,000   —     35,026   269   1,211,352   —     —     (489,065  138,824   (14,320  11,272,731   14,354,817   64,085   14,418,902 

Total comprehensive income/(loss):

              

Profit for the year

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     1,492,088   1,492,088   51,715   1,543,803 

Other comprehensive income/(loss):

              

Foreign currency translation differences

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (133,222  263,065   —     —     129,843   1,248   131,091 

Remeasurements of employee termination benefits

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (27,466  —     (27,466  —     (27,466
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Other comprehensive income for the year, net of income tax

  —     

—  

 
  —     —     —     —     —     (133,222  263,065   (27,466  —     102,377   1,248   103,625 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total comprehensive income for the year

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (133,222  263,065   (27,466  1,492,088   1,594,465   52,963   1,647,428 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Transfers

  —     —     —     —     (16,148  —     —     —     —     —     16,148   —     —     —   

Dividends paid

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (51,416  (51,416

Change in fair value ofnon-controlling interests

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     128,090   —     —     —     128,090   —     128,090 

Transactions withnon-controlling interests

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (9,000  (9,000

Acquisition of treasury shares (-) (Note 25)

  —     (65,607  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (65,607  —     (65,607
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Balance at 31 December 2016

  2,200,000   (65,607  35,026   269   1,195,204   —     —     (494,197  401,889   (41,786  12,780,967   16,011,765   56,632   16,068,397 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Balance at 1 January 2017

  2,200,000   (65,607  35,026   269   1,195,204   —     —     (494,197  401,889   (41,786  12,780,967   16,011,765   56,632   16,068,397 

Total comprehensive income/(loss):

              

Profit for the year

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     1,979,129   1,979,129   58,630   2,037,759 

Other comprehensive income/(loss):

              

Foreign currency translation differences

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (45,848  37,811   —     —     (8,037  887   (7,150

Remeasurements of employee termination benefits

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (2,990  —     (2,990  —     (2,990
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Other comprehensive loss for the year, net of income tax

  —     

—  

 
  —     —     —     —     —     (45,848  37,811   (2,990  —     (11,027  887   (10,140
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total comprehensive income for the year

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (45,848  37,811   (2,990  1,979,129   1,968,102   59,517   2,027,619 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Transfers

  —     —     —     —     447,820   —     —     —     —     —     (447,820  —     —     —   

Dividends paid

  —     9,294   —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (3,000,000  (2,990,706  (60,222  (3,050,928
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Balance at 31 December 2017

  2,200,000   (56,313  35,026   269   1,643,024   —     —     (540,045  439,700   (44,776  11,312,276   14,989,161   55,927   15,045,088 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Balance at 1 January 2018

  2,200,000   (56,313  35,026   269   1,643,024   —     —     (540,045  439,700   (44,776  11,312,276   14,989,161   55,927   15,045,088 

Changes in accounting policy (Note 2)

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     518,874   518,874   —     518,874 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Restated total equity at 1 January 2018

  2,200,000   (56,313  35,026   269   1,643,024   —     —     (540,045  439,700   (44,776  11,831,150   15,508,035   55,927   15,563,962 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total comprehensive income/(loss):

              

Profit for the period

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     2,021,065   2,021,065   156,270   2,177,335 

Other comprehensive income/(loss):

              

Foreign currency translation differences

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (270,147  894,295   —     —     624,148   (627  623,521 

Remeasurements of employee termination benefits

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     9,905   —     9,905   —     9,905 

Change in cash flow hedge reserve

  —     —     —     —     —     (271,130  14,942   —     —     —     —     (256,188  —     (256,188
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total other comprehensive income, net of income tax

  —     —     —     —     —     (271,130  14,942   (270,147  894,295   9,905   —     377,865   (627  377,238 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total comprehensive income/(loss)

  —     —     —     —     —     (271,130  14,942   (270,147  894,295   9,905   2,021,065   2,398,930   155,643   2,554,573 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Transfer to legal reserves

  —     —     —     —     592,898   —     —     —     —     —     (592,898  —     —     —   

Acquisition of treasury shares (-) (Note 25)

  —     (94,620  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (94,620  —     (94,620

Disposal of subsidiaries

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (20,982  (20,982

Dividends paid (Note 25)

  —     9,399   —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (1,900,000  (1,890,601  (58,778  (1,949,379
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Balance at 31 December 2018

  2,200,000   (141,534  35,026   269   2,235,922   (271,130  14,942   (810,192  1,333,995   (34,871  11,359,317   15,921,744   131,810   16,053,554 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

(*)

Included in Reserves in the consolidated statement of financial position.

The above consolidated statement of changes in equity should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.
  Share
capital
  Treasury
shares
  Additional
paid-in
capital
  Share
premium
  Legal
Reserve (*)
  Fair value
Reserve (*)
  Net
investment
Hedge (*)
  Hedging
reserve (*)
  Cost of
hedging
reserve (*)
  Reserve for
non-controlling
interest put
option (*)
  Remeasurements
of employee
termination
benefit
  Foreign
currency
translation
reserve (*)
  Retained
earnings
  Total  Non-controlling
interests
  Total
equity
 

Balance at 1 January 2017

  2,200,000   (65,607  35,026   269   1,195,204   —     —     —     —     (494,197  (41,786  401,889   12,780,967   16,011,765   56,632   16,068,397 

Profit for the period

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     1,979,129   1,979,129   58,630   2,037,759 

Other comprehensive income, net of income tax

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (45,848  (2,990  37,811   —     (11,027  887   (10,140
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total comprehensive income/(loss)

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (45,848  (2,990  37,811   1,979,129   1,968,102   59,517   2,027,619 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Transfer to legal reserve

  —     —     —     —     447,820   —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (447,820  —     —     —   

Dividends paid

  —     9,294   —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (3,000,000  (2,990,706  (60,222  (3,050,928
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Balance at 31 December 2017

  2,200,000   (56,313  35,026   269   1,643,024   —     —     —     —     (540,045  (44,776  439,700   11,312,276   14,989,161   55,927   15,045,088 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Balance at 1 January 2018

  2,200,000   (56,313  35,026   269   1,643,024   —     —     —     —     (540,045  (44,776  439,700   11,312,276   14,989,161   55,927   15,045,088 

Changes in accounting policy

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     518,874   518,874   —     518,874 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Restated total equity at 1 January 2018

  2,200,000   (56,313  35,026   269   1,643,024   —     —     —     —     (540,045  (44,776  439,700   11,831,150   15,508,035   55,927   15,563,962 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Profit for the period

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     2,021,065   2,021,065   156,270   2,177,335 

Other comprehensive income, net of income tax

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     14,942   (271,130  (270,147  9,905   894,295   —     377,865   (627  377,238 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total comprehensive income

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     14,942   (271,130  (270,147  9,905   894,295   2,021,065   2,398,930   155,643   2,554,573 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Transfer to legal reserves

  —     —     —     —     592,898   —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (592,898  —     —     —   

Acquisition of treasury shares (-)

  —     (94,620  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (94,620  —     (94,620

Disposal of subsidiaries

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (20,982  (20,982

Dividends paid (Note 26)

  —     9,399   —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (1,900,000  (1,890,601  (58,778  (1,949,379
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Balance at 31 December 2018

  2,200,000   (141,534  35,026   269   2,235,922   —     —     14,942   (271,130  (810,192  (34,871  1,333,995   11,359,317   15,921,744   131,810   16,053,554 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

F-7


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWSCHANGES IN EQUITY

For the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

   Note  2018  2017  2016 

Cash flows from operating activities:

      

Profit before income tax from

      

Continuing operations

     2,177,335   2,037,759   1,585,967 

Discontinued operations

     —     —     (42,164
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Profit before income tax including discontinued operations

     2,177,335   2,037,759   1,543,803 

Adjustments for:

      

Depreciation and impairment of property, plant and equipment and investment properties

  11-14   1,894,445   1,501,579   1,281,539 

Amortization of intangible assets

  12   2,393,529   1,095,401   921,812 

Net finance (income)/expense

     983,881   165,387   (117,598

Fair value adjustments to derivatives

     (1,719,610  (562,562  (383,452

Income tax expense

  9   495,481   571,758   423,160 

Gain on sale of property, plant and equipment

     (43,727  (33,837  (25,010

Unrealized foreign exchange losses on operating assets

     2,954,304   966,340   545,287 

Provisions

     796,520   980,040   197,543 

Share of profits of discontinued operations

     —     —     42,164 

Share of equity accounted investees

     87   —     —   

(Gain) on sale of subsidiary

     (110,308  —     —   

Deferred revenue

  30   54,391   131,486   (20,350
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 
     9,876,328   6,853,351   4,408,898 

Change in operating assets/liabilities

      

Change in trade receivables

  19   273,110   613,404   1,197,053 

Change in due from related parties

  38   (5,870  1,107   7,514 

Change in receivables from financial services

  20   (69,991  (1,931,538  (2,396,372

Change in inventories

  22   (76,883  27,871   (62,090

Change in other current assets

  23   53,957   (198,268  643,444 

Change in othernon-current assets

  17   142,133   15,012   78,770 

Change in due to related parties

  38   40,072   (4,099  4,302 

Change in trade and other payables

  33   (501,980  (507,043  (2,733,901

Change in othernon-current liabilities

  27   (242,384  (82,018  (14,477

Change in employee benefit obligations

  29   (32,764  (18,627  15,151 

Change in short term contract asset

  21   (711,928  —     —   

Change in long term contract asset

  21   (3,513  —     —   

Change in short term contract liability

  31   255,756   —     —   

Change in long term contract liability

  31   131,598   —     —   

Changes in other working capital

     (981,764  (265,518  29,286 
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Cash generated from operations

     8,145,877   4,503,634   1,177,578 

Interest paid

     (1,658,308  (909,881  (434,521

Income tax paid

     (657,715  (492,487  (135,920
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net cash inflow from operating activities

     5,829,854   3,101,266   607,137 
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Cash flows from investing activities:

      

Acquisition of property, plant and equipment

  11   (2,960,648  (2,937,195  (2,572,401

Acquisition of intangible assets

  12   (2,264,912  (1,172,847  (855,097

Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment

     103,864   58,740   49,639 

Proceeds from advances given for acquisition of property, plant and equipment

     (204,817  205,580   (209,686

Contribution of increase of share capital in joint ventures/associates

     (19,500  —     —   

Proceeds from sale of subsidiary

     118,528   —     —   

Payments for held to maturity investment

     —     (11,992  —   

Payment for financial asset at fair value through profit or loss

     2,577   —     —   

Payment for financial asset at fair value through other comprehensive income

     (42,454  —     —   

Interest received

     731,793   553,066   610,837 
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net cash outflow from investing activities

     (4,535,569  (3,304,648  (2,976,708
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Cash flows from financing activities:

      

Dividends received for treasury share

     9,399   —     —   

Capital decrease in subsidiaries

     —     —     (9,000

Proceeds from derivative instruments

     1,054,345   —     —   

Repayments of derivative instruments

     (710,522  —     —   

Proceeds from issues of loans and borrowings

     44,341,070   24,102,643   9,381,318 

Proceeds from issues of bonds

     2,188,313   209,808   167,500 

Repayment of borrowings

     (43,987,127  (22,265,088  (4,932,768

Repayment of bonds

     (191,312  (379,660  —   

Dividends paid to shareholders

     (1,900,000  (2,990,706  —   

Dividends paid tonon-controlling interest in subsidiaries

     (58,778  (60,222  (51,416

Acquisition of treasury shares

     (94,620  —     (65,607

(Increase)/decrease in cash collateral related to loans

     (20,272  (183,518  349,004 

Payments of lease liabilities

     (1,164,879  —     —   
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net cash (outflow)/inflow from financing activities

     (534,383  (1,566,743  4,839,031 
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents

     759,902   (1,770,125  2,469,460 

Cash and cash equivalents at 1 January

     4,712,333   6,052,352   2,918,796 

Effects of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents

     1,947,004   430,106   664,096 
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents at 31 December

  24   7,419,239   4,712,333   6,052,352 
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 
  Share
capital
  Treasury
shares
  Additional
paid-in
capital
  Share
premium
  Legal
Reserve (*)
  Fair value
Reserve (*)
  Net
investment
Hedge (*)
  Hedging
reserve (*)
  Cost of
hedging
reserve
(*)
  Reserve for
non-controlling
interest put
option (*)
  Remeasurements
of employee
termination
benefit
  Foreign
currency
translation
reserve (*)
  Retained
earnings
  Total  Non-controlling
interests
  Total
equity
 

Balance at 1 January 2019

  2,200,000   (141,534  35,026   269   2,235,922   —     —     14,942   (271,130  (810,192  (34,871  1,333,995   11,359,317   15,921,744   131,810   16,053,554 

Profit for the period

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     3,246,487   3,246,487   30,203   3,276,690 

Other comprehensive income, net of income tax

  —     —     —     —     —     3,472   (43,203  (169,944  58,971   (66,675  (28,668  505,056   —     259,009   (531  258,478 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total comprehensive income/(loss)

  —     —     —     —     —     3,472   (43,203  (169,944  58,971   (66,675  (28,668  505,056   3,246,487   3,505,496   29,672   3,535,168 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Acquisition of treasury shares (-)

  —     (9,998  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (9,998  —     (9,998

Transfer to legal reserve

  —     —     —     —     537,183   —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (537,183  —     —     —   

Dividends paid (Note 26)

  —     7,380   —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     (1,010,000  (1,002,620  (125,027  (1,127,647

Sale of associate (Note 16)

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —     876,867   —     (1,388,905  143,905   (368,133  —     (368,133
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Balance at 31 December 2019

  2,200,000   (144,152  35,026   269   2,773,105   3,472   (43,203  (155,002  (212,159  —     (63,539  450,146   13,202,526   18,046,489   36,455   18,082,944 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

(*)

Included in Reserves in the consolidated statement of financial position.

The above consolidated statement of changes in equity should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

For the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

   Note   2019  2018  2017 

Cash flows from operating activities:

      

Profit for the year from

      

Continuing operations

     2,504,254   2,177,335   2,037,759 

Discontinued operations

     772,436   —     —   
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Profit for the year including discontinued operations

     3,276,690   2,177,335   2,037,759 

Adjustments for:

      

Depreciation and impairment of property, plant and equipment and investment properties

   11-14    2,199,830   1,894,445   1,501,579 

Amortization of intangible assets

   12-15    2,846,735   2,393,529   1,095,401 

Net finance expense

     1,442,773   983,881   165,387 

Fair value adjustments to derivatives

     (570,204  (1,719,610  (562,562

Income tax expense

   9    785,630   495,481   571,758 

(Gain) on sale of property, plant and equipment

     (47,169  (43,727  (33,837

Unrealized foreign exchange losses on operating assets

     1,832,636   2,954,304   966,340 

Provisions

     920,924   796,520   980,040 

Share of equity accounted investees

     15,712   87   —   

Adjustments to (earnings) due to disposal of assets held for sale

     (772,436  —     —   

(Gain) on sale of subsidiary

     —     (110,308  —   

Non-cash other adjustments

     (15,557  —     —   
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 
     11,915,564   9,821,937   6,721,865 

Change in operating assets/liabilities

      

Change in trade receivables

   19    (881,333  273,110   613,404 

Change in due from related parties

   39    10,025   (5,870  1,107 

Change in receivables from financial services

   20    1,651,180   (69,991  (1,931,538

Change in inventories

   22    2,035   (76,883  27,871 

Change in other current assets

   23    (299,790  53,957   (198,268

Change in othernon-current assets

   17    (38,112  142,133   15,012 

Change in due to related parties

   39    (33,135  40,072   (4,099

Change in trade and other payables

   34    92,427   (501,980  (507,043

Change in othernon-current liabilities

   28    (8,122  (242,384  (82,018

Change in employee benefit obligations

   30    (36,231  (32,764  (18,627

Change in short term contract asset

   21    (223,146  (711,928  —   

Change in long term contract asset

   21    (6,778  (3,513  —   

Change in deferred revenue

     45,402   54,391   131,486 

Change in short term contract liability

   32    34,652   255,756   —   

Change in long term contract liability

   32    10,292   131,598   —   

Changes in other working capital

     (506,303  (981,764  (265,518
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Cash generated from operations

     11,728,627   8,145,877   4,503,634 

Interest paid

     (2,090,718  (1,658,308  (909,881

Income tax paid

     (611,354  (657,715  (492,487
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net cash inflow from operating activities

     9,026,555   5,829,854   3,101,266 
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Cash flows from investing activities:

      

Acquisition of property, plant and equipment

   11    (3,195,069  (2,960,648  (2,937,195

Acquisition of intangible assets

   12    (2,821,111  (2,264,912  (1,172,847

Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment

     81,192   103,864   58,740 

Proceeds from/(payments for) advances given for acquisition of property, plant and equipment

     156,936   (204,817  205,580 

Contribution of increase of share capital in joint ventures/associates

     (38,000  (19,500  —   

Proceeds from sale of subsidiary

     2,219,644   118,528   —   

Payments for held to maturity investment

     —     —     (11,992

Cash inflows from financial asset at fair value through other comprehensive income

     84,655   —     —   

Cash outflows from financial asset at fair value through other comprehensive income

     (369,591  (39,877  —   

Interest received

     854,018   731,793   553,066 
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net cash outflow from investing activities

     (3,027,326  (4,535,569  (3,304,648
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

For the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

   Note   2019  2018  2017 

Cash flows from financing activities:

      

Dividends received for treasury share

     7,380   9,399   —   

Proceeds from derivative instruments

     1,924,363   1,054,345   —   

Repayments of derivative instruments

     (1,101,876  (710,522  —   

Proceeds from issues of loans and borrowings

     29,060,490   44,341,070   24,102,643 

Proceeds from issues of bonds

     311,649   2,188,313   209,808 

Repayment of borrowings

     (31,297,901  (43,987,127  (22,265,088

Repayment of bonds

     (225,794  (191,312  (379,660

Dividends paid to shareholders

     (1,010,000  (1,900,000  (2,990,706

Dividends paid tonon-controlling interest in subsidiaries

     (125,027  (58,778  (60,222

Acquisition of treasury shares

     (9,998  (94,620  —   

(Increase)/decrease in cash collateral related to loans

     204,077   (20,272  (183,518

Payments of lease liabilities

     (1,215,320  (1,164,879  —   
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net cash outflow from financing activities

     (3,477,957  (534,383  (1,566,743
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

     2,521,272   759,902   (1,770,125

Cash and cash equivalents at 1 January

     7,419,239   4,712,333   6,052,352 

Effects of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents

     298,204   1,947,004   430,106 
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents at 31 December

   24    10,238,715   7,419,239   4,712,333 
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

The above consolidated statement of cash flows should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notes.

F-8


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

Notes to the consolidated financial statements

 

   Page 

1. Reporting entity

   F-10F-14 

2. Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies

   F-11F-15 

3. Financial risk management

   F-50F-44 

4. Segment information

   F-52F-46 

5. Revenue

   F-55F-50 

6. Other income and expenses

   F-56F-52 

7. Employee benefit expenses

   F-57F-53 

8. Finance income and costs

   F-57F-53 

9. Income tax expense

   F-58F-54 

10. Expenses by nature

   F-61F-57 

11. Property, plant and equipment

   F-63F-59 

12. Intangible assets

   F-65F-61 

13. Impairment of assets

   F-68F-64 

14. Investment property

   F-69F-64 

15. Right of use assets

   F-72F-66 

16. Asset held for sale discontinued operation

   F-73F-67 

17. Othernon-current assets

   F-74F-68 

18. Deferred tax assets and liabilities

   F-75F-68 

19. Trade receivables and accrued revenue

   F-76F-69 

20. Receivables from financial services

   F-77F-70 

21. Contract assets

   F-77F-70 

22. Inventory

   F-77F-70 

23. Other current assets

   F-78F-70 

24. Cash and cash equivalents

   F-78F-71 

25. Financial assets

F-71

26. Equity

   F-79F-72 

26.27. Earnings per share

   F-81F-73 

27.28. Othernon-current liabilities

   F-82F-74 

28.29. Loans and borrowings

   F-82F-75 

29.30. Employee benefit

   F-85F-77 

30.31. Deferred revenue

   F-86F-78 

31.32. Contract liabilities

   F-86F-78 

32.33. Provisions

   F-87F-78 

33.34. Trade and other payables

   F-88F-80 

34.35. Derivative financial instruments

F-80

36. Financial instruments

   F-89 

35. Financial instruments37. Guarantees and purchase obligations

   F-98F-100 

36. Guarantees38. Commitments and purchase obligationscontingencies

F-100

39. Related parties

F-104

40. Subsidiaries

   F-108 

37. Commitments and contingencies

F-108

38. Related parties

F-114

39. Subsidiaries

F-118

40.41. Cash flow information

   F-121F-110 

41.42. Subsequent events

   F-121F-111 

F-9


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

1.

Reporting entity

Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri Anonim Sirketi (the “Company”) was incorporated in Turkey on 5on5 October 1993 and commenced its operations in 1994. The address of the Company’s registered office is Maltepe Aydinevler Mahallesi Inonu Caddesi No: 20, Kucukyali Ofispark/Istanbul. It is engaged in establishing and operating a Global System for Mobile Communications (“GSM”) network in Turkey and regional states.

In April 1998, the Company signed a license agreement (the “2G License”) with the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey (the “Turkish Ministry”), under which it was granted a 25 year25-year GSM license in exchange for a license fee of $500,000.USD 500,000. The License permits the Company to operate as a stand-alone GSM operator and releases it from some of the operating constraints in the Revenue Sharing Agreement, which was in effect prior to the 2G License. Under 2G licence,license, the Company pays in cash the Undersecretariat of the Treasury (the “Turkish Treasury”) a monthly tax levy, namely a ‘treasury share’ equal to 15% of the Company’s gross revenue from Turkish GSM operations. The Company continues to build and operate its GSM network and is authorized to, among other things, set its own tariffs within certain limits, charge peak andoff-peak rates, offer a variety of service and pricing packages, issue invoices directly to subscribers, collect payments and deal directly with subscribers. Following the 3G tender held by the Information Technologies and Communications Authority (“ICTA”) regarding the authorization for providingIMT-2000/UMTS services and infrastructure, the Company has been granted theA-Type license (the “3G License”) providing the widest frequency band, at a consideration of EUR 358,000 (excluding Value Added Tax (“VAT”)). Payment of the 3G license was made in cash, following the necessary approvals, on 30 April 2009.

On 26 August 2015, “Authorization Tender on IMT Services and Infrastructure” publicly known as 4.5G license tender, was held by the ICTA and the Company was awarded with a total frequency band of 172.4of172.4 MHz for 13 years. The tender price is EUR 1,623,460 (excluding VAT of 18%). IMT authorization period expires on 30 April 2029 and operators were able to commence service delivery for 4.5G starting from 1from1 April 2016. 2x1.4 MHz frequency band in 900MHz spectrum and 2 units of 2x5 MHz frequency bands in 2100 MHz spectrum were commenced on 1 December 2015, while remaining packages were commenced on 1 April 2016. For details please refer to Note 12.

The Company is obliged to pay the ICTA a monthly treasury share equal to 90% of 15% of gross revenue and 10% is paid for a universal service fund. In addition, the Company pays annual contributions in an amount equal to 0.35% of net revenue to the ICTA’s expenses and 5% of net revenue to ICTA as a frequency fee (TRx).

The Company’s parent is Turkcell Holding A.S. (“Turkcell Holding”), which holds 51% of the Company’s shares as of 31 December 2018.2019. The main shareholders of Turkcell Holding A.S. are TeliaSoneraTelia Finland Oyj (Sonera)Oy (“Telia”), Cukurova Group and Alfa Telecom Turkey Limited (“Alfa”) according to the information obtained from public sources.

After failureIn order to complyensure compliance with corporate governance principles for election of the Capital Markets Board (“CMB”), three independent board members the CMBwere appointed 3 independentin 2013. Additionally, two board members and 4 members,were appointed at the General Assembly dated 29 April 2013 as per the resolution of which 2CMB. Also in 2013, two members were chosen from the independent nominees list submitted by Sonera, as board members who satisfy the independence criteria in 2013.Telia to CMB. On 29 March 2018, in accordance with the shareholder proposal at the Ordinary General Assembly, 3three new members were elected to serve for 3 years instead of 3three members who are not among independent members appointed by the CMBCMB. Two new board members were appointed on 7 and meet the independence criteria. Since a member8 March 2019 in lieu of board members who had resigned at various dates in 2019. These two board members were reappointed for 3 years in Ordinary General Assembly Meeting which was held on 12 September 2019. One of directorsthe board members resigned from his assignment as of 11 July 2018, Turkcell’son 27 November 2019, and on 13 December 2019 a new board member was appointed for the vacant seat. The Company’s Board of Directors consists of a total of 6sevennon-executive members including 3three independent members as of 31 December 2018.2019.

F-10


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

1.

Reporting entity (continued)

 

The consolidated financial statements of the Company as at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019 comprise the Company and its subsidiaries (together referred to as the “Group”) and the Group’s interest in associates and a joint venture. Subsidiaries of the Company, their locations and their nature of operations are disclosed in Note 39.40. The Company’s and each of its subsidiaries’ and associate’s financial statements are prepared as at and for the year ended 31 December 2018.2019.

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies

This note provides a list of the significant accounting policies adopted in the preparation of these consolidated financial statements to the extent they have not already been disclosed in the other notes below. These policies have been consistently applied to all the years presented, unless otherwise stated. The consolidated financial statements are for the Group consisting of Turkcell İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş.the Company and its subsidiaries and the Group’s interest in associates and a joint venture.

 

(a)

Compliance with IFRS

The consolidated financial statements of the Group have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) and interpretations issued by the IFRS Interpretations Committee (“IFRS IC”) applicable to companies reporting under IFRS. The financial statements comply with IFRS as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”).

The accounting policies, presentation and methods of computation are consistent with those of the previous financial year and corresponding reporting period, unless otherwise stated.

The Group adopted IFRS 9, “Financial Instruments” and IFRS 15, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” for the first time for the year commencing 1 January 2018. The Group also elected to early adopt IFRS 16, “Leases” for the first time for the year commencing 1 January 2018.

The impacts of adoption of IFRS 9, IFRS 15 and IFRS 16 on the consolidated financial statements are explained in Note 2.ae.i.

The General Assembly has the power to amend and reissue the financial statements. The consolidated financial statements as at and for the year ended 31 December 2017 were authorized for issue by the Board of Directors on 15 February 2018.

The consolidated financial statements as at and for the year ended 31 December 2018 were authorized for issue by the Board of Directors on 20 February 2019.

The consolidated financial statements as at and for the year ended 31 December 2019 were authorized for issue by the Board of Directors on 20 February 2020 and updated to reflect subsequent events after the original date of authorisationauthorization for inclusion in its annual report on Form20-F.

 

(b)

Historical cost convention

The accompanying consolidated financial statements are based on the statutory records, with adjustments and reclassifications for the purpose of fair presentation in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB. The financial statements have been prepared on a historical cost basis, except for the following measured at fair value:

 

Derivative financial instruments,

 

Consideration payable in relation to the acquisition of Belarusian Telecom,

 

F-11Financial asset at fair value through other comprehensive income


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(c)

Functional and presentation currency

 

(i)

Transactions and balances

Transactions denominated in foreign currencies are translated into the functional currency using the exchange rates at the dates of the transactions. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies at the reporting date are translated into the functional currency using the exchange rates at that date.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(c)

Functional and presentation currency (continued)

(i)

Transactions and balances (continued)

Non-monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies that are measured at fair value are translated to the functional currency using the exchange rates at the date when the fair value was determined. Translation differences on assets and liabilities carried at fair value are reported as part of the fair value gain or loss. For example, translation differences onnon-monetary assets and liabilities such as equities held at fair value through profit or loss are recognisedrecognized in profit or loss as part of the fair value gain or loss and translation differences onnon-monetary assets such as equities classified as at fair value through other comprehensive income are recognisedrecognized in other comprehensive income.

Foreign exchange gains and losses are recognized in profit or loss, except:

 

For capitalized foreign exchange differences relating to borrowings to the extent that they are regarded as an adjustment to interest costs eligible for capitalization.

Foreign exchange differences are deferred in equity if they relate to qualifying cash flow hedges and qualifying net investment hedges or are attributable to part of the net investment in a foreign operation. Foreign exchange gains and losses are presented in the statement of profit or loss on a net basis within finance income or finance costs.

 

(ii)

Foreign operations

The results and financial position of foreign operations (none of which has the currency of a hyperinflationary economy) that have a functional currency different from the presentation currency are translated into the presentation currency as follows:

 

assetsAssets and liabilities for each balance sheet presented are translated at the closing rate at the date of that balance sheet,

 

incomeEquity for each balance sheet presented is translated at historic cost at the date of transaction,

Income and expenses for each statement of profit or loss and statement of comprehensive income are translated at average monthly exchange rates (unless this is not a reasonable approximation of the cumulative effect of the rates prevailing on the transaction dates, in which case income and expenses are translated at the dates of the transactions), and

 

allAll resulting exchange differences are recognized in other comprehensive income and accumulated in the foreign currency translation reserve, in equity.

On consolidation, exchange differences arising from the translation of any net investment in foreign entities, and of borrowings and other financial instruments designated as hedges of such investments,any net investment in foreign entities are recognized in other comprehensive income. When a foreign operation is sold or any borrowings forming part of the net investment are repaid, the associated exchange differences are reclassified to profit or loss, as part of the gain or loss on sale.

Goodwill and fair value adjustments arising on the acquisition of a foreign operation are treated as assets and liabilities of the foreign operation and translated at the closing rate.

 

(d)

Use of estimates and judgments

F-12

The preparation of the consolidated financial statements requires the use of accounting estimates. Management also needs to exercise judgment in applying the Group’s accounting policies. Actual results may differ from these estimates.


Estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Alterations to accounting estimates are recognized in the period in which the estimates are revised and in any future periods affected.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(d)

Use of estimates and judgments (continued)

The preparation of the consolidated financial statements requires the use of accounting estimates. Management also needs to exercise judgement in applying the Group’s accounting policies. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

Estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognized in the period in which the estimates are revised and in any future periods affected.

Information about significant areas of estimation, uncertainty and critical judgments in applying accounting policies that have the most significant effect on the amounts recognized in the consolidated financial statements are described below:

Allowance for doubtful receivables

The Group maintains an allowance for doubtful receivables for estimated losses resulting from the inability of the Group’s subscribers and customers to make required payments. The Group bases the allowance on the likelihood of recoverability of trade receivables, receivables from financial services and other receivables; when there was objective evidence of impairment as a result of one or more events that occurred after the initial recognition of asset a loss event and that loss event had an impact on the estimated future cash flows of the financial asset or group of financial assets that could be reliably estimated. The allowance is periodically reviewed. The allowance charged to expenses is determined in respect of receivable balances, calculated as a specified percentage of the outstanding balance in each aging group, with the percentage of the allowance increasing as the aging of the receivable becomes older.progresses.

Capitalization and useful lives of assets

The useful lives and residual values of the Group’s assets are estimated by management at the time the asset is acquired and regularly reviewed for appropriateness. The Group defines useful life of its assets in terms of the assets’ expected utility to the Group. This judgment is based on the experience of the Group with similar assets. In determining the useful life of an asset, the Group also follows technical and/or commercial obsolescence arising on changes or improvements from a change in the market. The useful lives of the telecommunication licenses are based on the duration of the license agreements.

Belarusian Telecom has 10 years of special GSM and UMTS services licenses acquired on 26 August 2008. In addition, the license period has been committed and signed for an additional 10 years for an insignificant fee. The amortization on the consolidated financial statements has been recognized on the assumption that the duration of the license would be extended. Starting from 1 March 2016, the license is valid from the date of the licensing authority’s decision on its issue and for an unlimited period.

Gross versus net presentation of revenue

When the Group acts as principal in sale of goods or rendering of services, revenue from customers and costs with suppliers are reported on a gross basis. When the Group acts as agent in sale of goods or rendering of services, revenue from customercustomers and costs withrelated to suppliers are reported on a net basis, representing the net margin earned. Whether the Group is acting as principal or agent depends on management’s analysis of both legal form and substance of the agreement between the Group and its business partners; such judgementsjudgments impact the amount of reported revenue and costs but do not impact reported assets, liabilities or cash flows.

Contracted handset sales

F-13The Company, the distributors and dealers offer joint campaigns to the subscribers which may include the sale of device by the dealer and/or distributor and a communication service to be provided by the Company. The Company does not recognize any revenue for the device in these transactions by considering the factors below:

The Company is not the primary obligor for the sale of handset,

The Company does not have control over the sale prices of handsets,

The Company has no inventory risk,

The Company has no responsibility on technical compatibility of equipment delivered to customers

The responsibility after sale belongs to the distributor and

The Company does not make any modification on the equipment.


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(d)

Use of estimates and judgments (continued)

 

Contracted handset sales

The Company, the distributors and dealers offer joint campaigns to the subscribers which may include the sale of device by the dealer and/or distributor and a communication service to be provided by the Company. The Company does not recognize any revenue for the device in these transactions by considering the below factors:

the Company is not primary obligor for the sale of handset,

the Company does not have control over the sale prices of handsets,

the Company has no inventory risk,

the Company has no responsibility on technical compability of equipment delivered to customers

the responsibility after sale belongs to the distributor and

the Company does not make any modification on the equipment.

Multiple performance obligations and price allocation

In arrangements which include multiple elementsperformance obligations where the Group acts as principal, the Group considers that these bundled elements involve consideration in the form of a fixed fee or a fixed fee coupled with a continuing payment stream. A good or service is distinct if both of the following criteria are met:

 

theThe good or service is capable of being distinct

 

theThe promise to transfer the good or service is distinct within the context of the contract.

The arrangement consideration is allocated to each performance obligation identified in the contract on a relative stand-alone selling prices. If an element of a transaction is not a distinct, then it is accounted for as an integral part of the remaining elements of the transaction.

Income taxes

The calculation of income taxes involves a degree of estimation and judgment in respect of certain items whose tax treatment cannot be finally determined until resolution has been reached with the relevant tax authority or, as appropriate, through formal legal process.

As part of the process of preparing the consolidated financial statements, the Group is required to estimate the income taxes in each of the jurisdictions and countries in which they operate.it operates. This process involves estimating the actual current tax exposure together with assessing temporary differences resulting from differing treatment of items, such as deferred revenue and reserves for tax and accounting purposes. The Group management assesses the likelihood that the deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income and to the extent the recovery is not considered probable the deferred asset is adjusted accordingly.

The recognition of deferred tax assets is based upon whether it is probable that future taxable profitsincome will be available, against which the temporary differences can be utilized.utilized to the extent the recovery from future taxable income is not considered probable the deferred asset is adjusted accordingly. Recognition, therefore, involves judgment regarding the future financial performance of the particular legal entity in which the deferred tax asset has been recognized.

F-14


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(d)

Use of estimates and judgments (continued)

Provisions, contingent liabilities and contingent assets

As detailed and disclosed in Note 37,38, the Group is involved in a number of investigations and legal proceedings (both as a plaintiff and as a defendant) during the year arising in the ordinary course of business. All of these investigations and litigations are evaluated by the Group Management in accordance with IASwithIAS 37“Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets” and disclosed or accounted in the consolidated financial statements. Future results or outcome of these investigations and litigations might differ from Group Management’s expectations. As at the reporting date, the Group Management believes that appropriate recognition criteria and measurement basis are applied to provisions, contingent liabilities and contingent assets and that sufficient information is disclosed in the notes to enable users to understand their nature, timing and amount by considering current conditions and circumstances.

The Group recognizes liabilities in the consolidated financial statements for the resolution of pending litigation when management determines that a loss is probable and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. No liability for an estimated loss is accrued in the consolidated financial statements for unfavorable outcomes when, after assessing the information available, (i) management concludes that it is not probable that a loss has been incurred in any of the pending litigation; or (ii) management is unable to estimate the loss or range of loss for any of the pending matters. The Group also discloses the contingency in circumstances where management concludes no loss is probable or reasonably estimable but it is reasonably possible that a loss may be incurred.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(d)

Use of estimates and judgments (continued)

Annual impairment review

The Company tests annually whether goodwill and intangible asset not yet available for use have suffered any impairment in accordance with IAS 36“Impairment of Assets”. Additionally, the carrying amounts of Company’s nonfinancial assets are reviewed at each reporting date to determine whether there is an indication of impairment. If any indication exists the assets recoverable amount is estimated based on fair value less cost of disposal calculations. These calculations require the use of estimates as discussed in Note 13.

As at 31 December 2014, the Company has impaired its assets in Crimea region amounting to TL 19,897. As at 31 December 2018, there is no impairment on assets in Luhansk and Donetsk regions (31 December 2017: TL 10,872).

Current and potential future political and economic changes in Belarus and Ukraine could have an adverse effect on the subsidiaries operating in these countries. The economic stability of Belarus and Ukraine depends on the economic measures that will be taken by the governments and the outcomes of the legal, administrative and political processes in these countries. These processes are beyond the control of the subsidiaries established in these countries.

Consequently, the subsidiaries operating within Belarus and Ukraine may subject to foreign currency and interest rate risks related to borrowings, the subscriber’s purchasing power, liquidity and increase in corporate and personal insolvencies, that may not necessarily be observable in other markets. The accompanying consolidated financial statements contain the Company management’s estimations on the economic and financial positions of its subsidiaries operating in Belarus and Ukraine. The future economic situation of Belarus and Ukraine might differ from the Company’s expectations. As at 31 December 2018, the Group’s management believes that their approach is appropriate in taking all the necessary measures to support the sustainability of these subsidiaries’ businesses in the current circumstances and the achievability of the financials projections used in the impairment assessments.

Fair value measurements and valuation processes

Some of the Company’s assets and liabilities are measured at fair value for financial reporting purposes. In estimating the fair value of an asset or a liability, the Company uses market-observable data to the extent it is available. Where Level 1 and 2 inputs are not available, the Company can engage third party qualified experts to perform the valuation, if necessary. The management works closely with the qualified external experts to establish the appropriate valuation techniques and inputs to the model. Information about the valuation techniques and inputs used in determining the fair value of various assets and liabilities areis disclosed in Note 35.36.

F-15


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(e)

Changes in accounting policies

Other than the adoption of the new and revised standards as explained in Note 2(ae)2(ab), the Group did not make any significant changes to its accounting policies during the current year.

As at 31 December 2018,2019, interest expense/income and fair value of derivativeexpense on financial instrumentsassets measured at amortized cost are shown netted offof on consolidated statement of profit or loss (Note 8). The Company has presented financials of 31 December 2018 and 2017 accordingly which amount is TL 255,019 and 2016 accordingly.TL 221,190.

As at 31 December 2018 revenue and cost of revenue from Turkcell Odeme Hizmetleri A.S. (“Turkcell Odeme”) has been classified under financial services which amounted to TL 177,203 (2017: TL 109,337) and TL (34,253) (2017: TL (15,119)) respectively, and trade receivables from Turkcell Odeme has been classified under receivables from financial services which amounted to TL 32,012 (Note 19). This classification has no impact on operating profit, profit for the year and cash flow statement.

Interest expense and income for derivative financial instruments and option premium charges are shown net of under finance income (Note 8).

 

(f)

Changes in accounting estimates

If the application of changes in the accounting estimates affects the financial results of a specific period, the changes in the accounting estimates are applied in that specific period, if they affect the financial results of current and following periods; the accounting estimate is applied prospectively in the period in which such change is made. A change in the measurement basis applied is a change in an accounting policy, and is not a change in an accounting estimate.

The Company does not have significant changes in accounting estimates during the year.

 

(g)

Comparative information and revision of prior period financial statements

The consolidated financial statements of the Group have been prepared consistent with prior periods.

 

(h)

Principles of consolidation and equity accounting

F-16

(i)

Business combinations

Business combinations are accounted for using the acquisition method. The consideration transferred in a business combination comprises:

The fair value of the assets transferred,

Liabilities incurred to the former owners of the acquired business,

Equity interests issued by the Group,


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(h)

Principles of consolidation and equity accounting (continued)

 

(i)

Business combinations (continued)

Business combinations are accounted for using the acquisition method. The consideration transferred in a business combination comprises:

 

the fair value of the assets transferred

liabilities incurred to the former owners of the acquired business

equity interests issued by the Group

theThe fair value of any asset or liability resulting from a contingent consideration arrangement, and

 

theThe fair value of anypre-existing equity interest in the subsidiary.

Acquisition-related costs are expensed as incurred.

Identifiable assets acquired and liabilities and contingent liabilities assumed in a business combination are, with limited exceptions, measured initially at their fair values at the acquisition date.

Goodwill is measured as the excess of the consideration transferred, amount of anynon-controlling interest in the acquired entity, and acquisition-date fair value of any previously held equity interest in the acquired entity over the fair value of the net identifiable assets acquired. If those amounts are less than the fair value of the net identifiable assets of the business acquired, the difference is recognized directly in profit or loss as a bargain purchase. The Group recognizes anynon-controlling interest in the acquired entity on anacquisition-by-acquisition basis either at fair value or at thenon-controlling interest’s proportionate share of the acquired entity’s net identifiable assets.

Where settlement of any part of cash consideration is deferred, the amounts payable in the future are discounted to their present value as at the date of exchange. The discount rate used is the entity’s incremental borrowing rate, being the rate at which a similar borrowing could be obtained from an independent financier under comparable terms and conditions.

Contingent consideration is classified either as equity or a financial liability. Amounts classified as a financial liability are subsequently remeasured to fair value with changes in fair value recognized in profit or loss. Contingent consideration classified as equity is not subject to remeasurement. Instead, any gain or loss at settlement is recorded as an adjustment to equity through other comprehensive income.

If the business combination is achieved in stages, the acquisition date carrying value of the acquirer’s previously held equity interest in the acquireacquiree is remeasured to fair value at the acquisition date. Any gains or losses arising from such remeasurement are recognized in profit or loss.

 

F-17


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(h)

Principles of consolidation and equity accounting (continued)

(ii)

Subsidiaries

Subsidiaries arecomprise all entities over which the Group has control. The Group controls an entity when the groupGroup is exposed to, or has rights to, variable returns from its involvement with the entity and has the ability to affect those returns through its power to direct the activities of the entity. Subsidiaries are fully consolidated from the date on which control is transferred to the Group. They are deconsolidated from the date that control ceases.

The Company reassesses whether or not it controls an investee if facts and circumstances indicate that there are changes to one or more of the three elements of control listed above.

Intercompany transactions, balances and unrealized gains on transactions between group companies are eliminated. Unrealized losses are also eliminated unless the transaction provides evidence of an impairment of the transferred asset.

Accounting policies of subsidiaries have been changed where necessary to ensure consistency with the policies adopted by the Group.

Non-controlling interests in the results and equity of subsidiaries are shown separately in the consolidated statement of profit or loss, statement of comprehensive income, statement of changes in equity and statement of financial position respectively.

Non -controlling interest has not been attributed to Belarus Telekom on the grounds that net assets of Belarus Telekom is negative, Belarus Telekom is financed solely by the Company and management’s assessment of relevant articles of the share purchase agreement with thenon-controlling shareholder.

Turkcell Finansman A.Ş. (“Turkcell Finansman”) sold financial loans amounting to TL 87,589 to Aktif Yatırım Bankası A.Ş. Turkcell Varlık Finansmanı Fund (“Fund”) founded by Aktif Yatırım Bankası A.Ş. on 14 April 2017 in order to create funds for issuance of Asset Backed Securities (“ABS”) which will be issued by the Fund in a structure where Turkcell Finansman will act as the source organization. Turkcell Finansman similarly sold second financial loans amounting to TL 89,607 to Aktif Yatırım Bankası A.Ş. Turkcell Varlık Finansmanı Fund (“Fund”) founded by Aktif Yatırım Bankası A.Ş. on 22 August 2017, third financial loans amounting to TL 90,272 on 16 February 2018 and fourth financial loans amounting to TL 56,716 on 20 December 2018. Turkcell Finansman transferred its contractual rights to receive cash flows from the financial loans that have been sold to the Fund resulting inde-recognition of the related assets from its consolidated financial statements. Moreover, the Company did not consolidate the Fund since the activities of the Fund are not controlled by the Company and the Fund has been defined as a structured entity.

F-18


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(h)

Principles of consolidation and equity accounting (continued)

(ii)

Subsidiaries (continued)

Non-controlling interest has not been attributed to Belarus Telekom on the grounds that net assets of Belarus Telekom is negative, Belarus Telekom is financed solely by the Company and management’s assessment of relevant articles of the share purchase agreement with thenon-controlling shareholder.

Turkcell Finansman A.Ş. (“Turkcell Finansman”) sold financial loans amounting to TL 87,589 on14 April 2017 to Aktif Yatırım Bankası A.Ş. Turkcell Varlık Finansmanı Fund (the “Fund”) founded by Aktif Yatırım Bankası A.Ş. in order to create funds for the issuance of Asset Backed Securities (“ABS”) which will be issued by the Fund in a structure where Turkcell Finansman will act as the source organization. Turkcell Finansman similarly sold second financial loans amounting to TL 89,607 on 22 August 2017, third financial loans amounting to TL 90,272 on 16 February 2018, fourth financial loans amounting to TL 56,716 on 20 December 2018, fifth financial loans amounting to TL 45,983 on 24 July 2019, and sixth financial loans amounting to TL 69,183 on 30 December 2019. The first four-ABS programs where Turkcell Finansman acted as the source organization, were completed as of 31 December 2019. Turkcell Finansman transferred its contractual rights to receive cash flows from the financial loans that have been sold to the Fund resulting inde-recognition of the related assets from its financial statements. Moreover, the Company did not consolidate the Fund since the activities of the Fund are not controlled by the Company and the Fund has been defined as a structured entity.

 

(iii)

Changes in ownership interests

The Group treats transactions withnon-controlling interests that do not result in a loss of control as transactions with equity owners of the Group. A change in ownership interest results in an adjustment between the carrying amounts of the controlling andnon-controlling interests to reflect their relative interests in the subsidiary. Any difference between the amount of the adjustment to thenon-controlling and any consideration paid or received is recognized in a separate reserve within equity attributable to owners of the Company.

When the Group ceases to consolidate or equity account for an investment because of a loss of control, joint control or significant influence, any retained interest in the entity is remeasured to its fair value with the change in carrying amount recognized in profit or loss. This fair value becomes the initial carrying amount for the purposes of subsequently accounting for the retained interest as an associate, joint venture or financial asset. In addition, any amounts previously recognized in other comprehensive income in respect of that entity are accounted for as if the Group had directly disposed of the related assets or liabilities. This may mean that amounts previously recognized in other comprehensive income are reclassified to profit or loss.

If the ownership interest in a joint venture or an associate is reduced but joint control or significant influence is retained, only a proportionate share of the amounts previously recognized in other comprehensive income are reclassified to profit or loss where appropriate.

 

(iv)

Business combinations under common control

Business combinations between entities or businesses under common control are excluded from the scope of IFRS 3. In a business combination under common control, assets and liabilities of the acquired entity are stated at predecessor carrying values. Any difference between the consideration given and the aggregate book value of the assets and liabilities of the acquired entity at the date of the transaction is recognized in equity. The acquired entity’s results and financial position are incorporated as if both entities (acquirer and acquiree) had always been combined, or using the results from the date when either entity joined the Group, where such a date is later.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(h)

Principles of consolidation and equity accounting (continued)

 

(v)

Put option over shares relating tonon-controlling interests

Where a put option is written by the Group on shares in an existing subsidiary held bynon-controlling interests, the Group recognizes a financial liability at the present value of the redemption amount to reflect the put option. If the ownership risks and rewards of the shares relating to the put option is attributable to Group, thenon-controlling interest is derecognized. The difference between the put option liability and thenon-controlling interests derecognized is recognized in equity. For business combinations after 1 January 2009, subsequent changes in the fair value of the put option liability are recognized in profit or loss.

Reserve for put option over shares relating tonon-controlling interests included in equity arises from the difference between the fair value of the put option written by Fintur Holdings B.V. (“Fintur”) onnon-controlling shares in one of its subsidiaries and the derecognizednon-controlling interests relating to that put option.

F-19


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(h)

Principles of consolidation and equity accounting (continued)

 

(vi)

Investments in associates and joint ventures

An associate is an entity over which the Group has significant influence, but not control or joint control. This is generally the case where the Group holds between 20% and 50% of the voting rights. Investments in associates are accounted for using the equity method of accounting after initially being recognized at cost.

A joint venture is a joint arrangement whereby the parties that have joint control of the arrangement have rights to the net assets of the joint arrangement. The results and assets and liabilities of joint ventures are incorporated in these consolidated financial statements using the equity method of accounting.

Under the equity method of accounting, an investment in an associate is initially recognized at cost and adjusted thereafter to recognize the Group’s share of the post-acquisition profits or losses of the investee in profit or loss, and the Group’s share of movements in other comprehensive income of the investee in other comprehensive income. Dividends received or receivable from associates are recognized as a reduction in the carrying amount of the investment.

When the Group’s share of losses in an equity-accounted investment equals or exceeds its interest in that entity, including any other unsecured long-term receivables, the Group does not recogniserecognize further losses, unless it has incurred obligations or made payments on behalf of the other entity.

Unrealized gains on transactions between the Group and its associates are eliminated to the extent of the Group’s interest in these entities. Unrealized losses are also eliminated unless the transaction provides evidence of an impairment of the asset transferred. Accounting policies of equity accounted investees have been changed where necessary to ensure consistency with the policies adopted by the Group.

On acquisition of an associate, any excess of the cost of the investment over the Group’s share of the net fair values of the associate’s identifiable assets and liabilities is recognized as goodwill, which is included in the carrying amount of the investment. Any excess of the Group’s share of the net fair value of the associate’s identifiable assets and liabilities over the cost of the investment is included as part of the Group’s share of the associate profit or loss in the period in which the investment is acquired.

The carrying amount of equity-accounted investments is tested for impairment in accordance with the policy described in (Note 16). The Group measures an associate that is classified as held for sale at the lower of its carrying amount at the date of classification as held for sale and fair value less costs of disposal. Equity accounting ceases once an associate is classified as held for sale.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(i)

Financial instruments

(i)

Classification

From 1 January 2018, the Group classifies its financial assets in the following measurement categories:

 

thoseThose to be measured subsequently at fair value (either through OCI or through profit or loss), and

 

thoseThose to be measured at amortisedamortized cost.

The classification depends on the Group’s business model for managing the financial assets and the contractual terms of the cash flows.

For assets measured at fair value, gains and losses will either be recorded in profit or loss or OCI. For investments in equity instruments that are not held for trading, this will depend on whether the Group has made an irrevocable election at the time of initial recognition to account for the equity investment at fair value through other comprehensive income (FVOCI).

The Group reclassifies debt investments when and only when its business model for managing those assets changes.

F-20


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(i)

Financial instruments (continued)

(ii)

Recognition and derecognition

Regular way purchases and sales of financial assets are recognized on trade date, the date on which the Group commits to purchase or sell the asset. Financial assets are derecognized when the rights to receive cash flows from the financial assets have expired or have been transferred and the Group has transferred substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership.

(iii)

Measurement

At initial recognition, the Group measures a financial asset at its fair value plus, in the case of a financial asset not at fair value through profit or loss (FVPL), transaction costs that are directly attributable to the acquisition of the financial asset. Transaction costs of financial assets carried at FVPL are expensed in profit or loss.

Financial assets with embedded derivatives are considered in their entirety when determining whether their cash flows are solely payment of principal and interest.

(i)

Debt instruments

Subsequent measurement of debt instruments depends on the Group’s business model for managing the asset and the cash flow characteristics of the asset. There are three measurement categories into which the Group classifies its debt instruments:

 

AmortisedAmortized cost: Assets that are held for collection of contractual cash flows where those cash flows represent solely payments of principal and interest are measured at amortisedamortized cost. Interest income from these financial assets is included in finance income using the effective interest rate method. Any gain or loss arising on derecognition is recognisedrecognized directly in profit or loss.

 

FVOCI: Assets that are held for collection of contractual cash flows and for selling the financial assets, where the assets’ cash flows represent solely payments of principal and interest, are measured at FVOCI. Movements in the carrying amount are taken through OCI, except for the recognition of impairment gains or losses, interest income and foreign exchange gains and losses which are recognisedrecognized in profit or loss. When the financial asset is derecognised,derecognized, the cumulative gain or loss previously recognisedrecognized in OCI is reclassified from equity to profit or loss. Interest income from these financial assets is included in finance income using the effective interest rate method.

FVPL: Assets that do not meet the criteria for amortised cost or FVOCI are measured at FVPL. A gain or loss on a debt instruments that is subsequently measured at FVPL is recognised in profit or loss in the period in which it arises.

Equity instruments

The Group subsequently measures all equity investments at fair value. Where the Group’s management has elected to present fair value gains and losses on equity investments in OCI, there is no subsequent reclassification of fair value gains and losses to profit or loss following the derecognition of the investment. Dividends from such investments continue to be recognised in profit or loss as other income when the Group’s right to receive payments is established.

Changes in the fair value of financial assets at FVPL are recognised in the statement of profit or loss as applicable. Impairment losses (and reversal of impairment losses) on equity investments measured at FVOCI are not reported separately from other changes in fair value.

F-21


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(i)

Financial instruments (continued)

 

(iv)(i)

ImpairmentDebt instruments (continued)

FVPL: Assets that do not meet the criteria for amortized cost or FVOCI are measured at FVPL. A gain or loss on a debt instruments that is subsequently measured at FVPL is recognized in profit or loss in the period in which it arises.

(ii)

Equity instruments

The Group subsequently measures all equity investments at fair value. Where the Group’s management has elected to present fair value gains and losses on equity investments in OCI, there is no subsequent reclassification of fair value gains and losses to profit or loss following the derecognition of the investment. Dividends from such investments continue to be recognized in profit or loss as other income when the Group’s right to receive payments is established.

Changes in the fair value of financial assets at FVPL are recognized in the statement of profit or loss as applicable. Impairment losses (and reversal of impairment losses) on equity investments measured at FVOCI are not reported separately from other changes in fair value.

Impairment

From 1 January 2018, the Group assesses on a forward looking basis the expected credit losses associated with its debt instruments carried at amortisedamortized cost and FVOCI. The impairment methodology applied depends on whether there has been a significant increase in credit risk.

Loss allowances are measured on either of the following bases.

 

12 month expected credit losses (ECLs): these are ECLs that result from possible default events within the 12 months after the reporting date;date and

 

lifetimeLifetime ECLs: these are ECLs that result from all possible default events over the expected life of a financial instrument.

The Group applies lifetime ECL measurement for all group companies except Turkcell Finansman A.S. which applies both 12 month and lifetime ECL (general approach).

Offsetting financial assets and financial liabilities

Financial assets and liabilities are offset and the net amount presented in the statement of financial position where the Group has a legally enforceable right to offset the recognized amounts, and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realize the asset and settle the liability simultaneously. This policy had also been applied before 1 January 2018.

Cash and cash equivalents

For the purpose of presentation in the statement of cash flows, cash and cash equivalents includes cash on hand, deposits held at call with financial institutions and other short-term, highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash and which are subject to an insignificant risk of changes in value.

Trade receivables

Trade receivables are amounts due from customers for goods sold or services performed in the ordinary course of business. If collection of the amounts is expected in one year or less they are classified as current assets. If not, they are presented asnon-current assets.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(i)

Financial instruments (continued)

(v)(ii)

Derivatives and hedging activitiesEquity instruments (continued)

Trade receivables (continued)

Trade receivables are recognized initially at fair value and subsequently measured at amortized cost using the effective interest method, less provision for impairment. See Note 36 for a description of the Group’s impairment policies.

Trade and other payables

These amounts represent liabilities for goods and services provided to the Group prior to the end of financial year which are unpaid. Trade and other payables are presented as current liabilities unless payment is not due within 12 months after the reporting period. They are recognized initially at their fair value and subsequently measured at amortized cost using the effective interest method.

Borrowings

Borrowings are initially recognized at fair value, net of transaction costs incurred. Borrowings are subsequently measured at amortized cost. Any difference between the proceeds (net of transaction costs) and the redemption amount is recognized in profit or loss over the period of the borrowings using the effective interest method. Fees paid on the establishment of loan facilities are recognized as transaction costs of the loan to the extent that it is probable that some or all of the facility will be drawn down. In this case, the fee is deferred until the draw down occurs. To the extent there is no evidence that it is probable that some or all of the facility will be drawn down, the fee is capitalized as a prepayment for liquidity services and amortized over the period of the facility to which it relates.

Borrowings are removed from the statement of financial position when the obligation specified in the contract is discharged, cancelled or expired. The difference between the carrying amount of a financial liability that has been extinguished or transferred to another party and the consideration paid, including anynon-cash assets transferred or liabilities assumed, is recognized in profit or loss.

Derivatives and hedging activities

Derivatives are initially recognisedrecognized at fair value on the date a derivative contract is entered into and are subsequently remeasured to their fair value at the end of each reporting period.

Forward foreign exchange, interest rate and foreign exchange swaps (IRS, Cross Currency Swaps etc.) and option transaction fair values are calculated with market levels of interest rates and Central Bank of Republic of Turkey (CBRT) exchange rates via Bloomberg financial terminal. If market levels are not available for valuation date, fair value for forward contracts will be the value of the discounted future value of the difference between contract price level and forward value of CBRT exchange rate with risk fee rates for the period. Interest rate and currency swaps will be valued with the difference of the discounted cash flows of each leg of the swaps using risk free rates and CBRT exchange rates. Option transactions will be valued with option pricing models using risk free rates and CBRT exchange rates.

The accounting for subsequent changes in fair value depends on whether the derivative is designated as a hedging instrument, and if so, the nature of the item being hedged. The groupGroup designates certain derivatives as hedges of a particular risk associated with the cash flows of recognisedrecognized assets and liabilities and highly probable forecast transactions (cash flow hedges).

At inception of the hedge relationship, the Group documents the economic relationship between hedging instruments and hedged items including whether changes in the cash flows of the hedging instruments are expected to offset changes in the cash flows of hedged items. The Group documents its risk management objective and strategy for undertaking its hedge transactions.

Cash flow hedges that qualify for hedge accounting

The effective portion of changes in the fair value of derivatives that are designated and qualify as cash flow hedges is recognised in the cash flow hedge reserve within equity. The gain or loss relating to the ineffective portion is recognised immediately in profit or loss.

Gains or losses relating to the effective portion of the change in intrinsic value of the options are recognised in the cash flow hedge reserve within equity. The changes in the time value of the options that relate to the hedged item (‘aligned time value’) are recognised within OCI in the costs of hedging reserve within equity.

Amounts accumulated in equity are reclassified in the periods when the hedged item affects profit or loss, as follows:

F-22


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

2.

2.    Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(i)

(i)    Financial instruments (continued)

 

(v)(i)

Derivatives and hedging activities (continued)Cash flow hedges that qualify for hedge accounting

CashThe effective portion of changes in the fair value of derivatives that are designated and qualify as cash flow hedges is recognized in the cash flow hedge reserve within equity. The gain or loss relating to the ineffective portion is recognized immediately in profit or loss.

Gains or losses relating to the effective portion of the change in intrinsic value of the options are recognized in the cash flow hedge reserve within equity. The changes in the time value of the options that qualify for hedge accounting (continued)relate to the hedged item (“aligned time value”) are recognized within OCI in the costs of hedging reserve within equity.

Amounts accumulated in equity are reclassified in the periods when the hedged item affects profit or loss, as follows:

 

Where the hedged item subsequently results in the recognition of anon-financial asset, both the deferred hedging gains and losses and the deferred time value of the option contracts or deferred forward points, if any, are included within the initial cost of the asset. The deferred amounts are ultimately recognisedrecognized in profit or loss as the hedged item affects profit or loss.

 

The gain or loss relating to the effective portion of the interest rate swaps hedging variable rate borrowings is recognisedrecognized in profit or loss within finance cost at the same time as the interest expense on the hedged borrowings.

When a hedging instrument expires, or is sold or terminated, or when a hedge no longer meets the criteria for hedge accounting, any cumulative deferred gain or loss and deferred costs of hedging in equity at that time remains in equity until the forecast transaction occurs, resulting in the recognition of anon-financial asset. When the forecast transaction is no longer expected to occur, the cumulative gain or loss and deferred costs of hedging that were reported in equity are immediately reclassified to profit or loss.

Certain derivative instruments do not qualify for hedge accounting. Changes in the fair value of any derivative instrument that does not qualify for hedge accounting are recognisedrecognized immediately in profit or loss.

The Group has started to apply hedge accounting as of 1 July 2018 for existing participating cross currency swap and cross currency swap transactions in accordance with IFRS 9 hedge accounting requirement. IFRS 9 includes new hedge accounting rules aiming alignment with risk management activities.

The Group enters into participating cross currency swap and cross currency swap transactions in order to hedge the changes in cash flows of foreign exchange denominated fixed and floating rate financial instruments. While applying cash flow hedge accounting, the effective portion of the changes in the fair value of the hedging instrument is accounted for under “other comprehensive income/expense items to be reclassified to profit or loss” as a “hedging reserve” in equity, and the ineffective portion is recognized in profit or loss. The changes recognized in equity is reclassified and included in profit or loss in the same period when the hedged cash flows effect the profit or loss. In addition, time value of options included in participating cross currency swaps are accounted for cost of hedging and recognized under other comprehensive income.

The new effectiveness test model may be qualitative depending on the complexity of hedging relationship provided that it is prospective only. The80-125% range in IAS 39 is replaced by an objectives-based test that focuses on the economic relationship between the hedged item and the hedging instrument, and the effect of credit risk on that economic relationship.

Under IFRS 9, a hedging relationship is discontinued in its entirety when as a whole it ceases to meet the qualifying criteria after considering the rebalancing of the hedging relationship. Voluntary discontinuation when the qualifying criteria are met is prohibited. Hedge accounting is discontinued when the risk management objective for the hedging relationship has changed, the hedging instrument expires or is sold,

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(i)

Financial instruments (continued)

(viii)(i)

Offsetting financial assets and financial liabilitiesCash flow hedges that qualify for hedge accounting (continued)

Financial assets

terminated or exercised, there is no longer an economic relationship between the hedged item and liabilities are offset andhedging instrument or when the neteffect of credit risk starts dominating the value changes that result from the economic relationship.

When the Group discontinues hedge accounting for a cash flow hedge it shall account for the amount presentedthat has been accumulated in the cash flow hedge reserve in accordance as follows;

if the hedged future cash flows are still expected to occur, that amount shall remain in the cash flow hedge reserve until the future cash flows occur.

When a hedging instrument expires, or is sold or terminated, or when a hedge no longer meets the criteria for hedge accounting, any cumulative deferred gain or loss and deferred costs of hedging in equity at that time remains in equity until the forecast transaction occurs, resulting in the recognition of anon-financial asset. When the forecast transaction is no longer expected to occur, the cumulative gain or loss and deferred costs of hedging that were reported in equity are immediately reclassified to profit or loss.

(ii)

Foreign currency hedge of net investments in foreign operations

The Company designates its foreign currency bank loans to hedge its net investment in a foreign operation. Foreign exchange gains or losses on the hedging instrument relating to the effective portion of the foreign currency hedge of net investments in foreign operations are recognized in other comprehensive income while any gains or losses relating to the ineffective portion is recognized in the income statement. Tax effects of foreign exchange gains or losses on the hedging instrument relating to the effective portion of the foreign currency hedge of net investments in foreign operations is recognized under other comprehensive income as well.

On disposal of the foreign operation, the cumulative value of any such gains or losses recorded in equity is transferred to the income statement of financial position where the Group has a legally enforcable right to offset the recognized amounts, and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realize the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.(Note 16).

Financial instruments—instruments – Accounting policies applied until 31 December 2017

The Group has applied IFRS 9 retrospectively, but has elected not to restate comparative information for prior periods. As a result, the comparative information provided continues to be accounted for in accordance with the Group’s previous accounting policy. Accounting policies that changed on adoption of IFRS 9 are as follows. The Group’s new accounting policies are explained above.

 

i)

Classification

Until 31 December 2017, the Group classified its financial assets in the following categories:

 

financialFinancial assets at fair value through profit or loss,

 

loansLoans and receivables,

 

held-to-maturityHeld-to-maturity investments, and

 

available-for-saleAvailable-for-sale financial assets.

The classification depended on the purpose for which the investments were acquired. Management determined the classification of its investments at initial recognition and, in the case of assets classified asheld-to-maturity,re-evaluated this designation at the end of each reporting period.

F-23


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(i)

Financial instruments (continued)

Financial instruments—instruments – Accounting policies applied until 31 December 2017 (continued)

 

(ii)

Reclassification

The Group could choose to reclassify anon-derivative trading financial asset out of the held for trading category if the financial asset was no longer held for the purpose of selling it in the near term. Financial assets other than loans and receivables were permitted to be reclassified out of the held for trading category only in rare circumstances arising from a single event that was unusual and highly unlikely to recur in the near term. In addition, the Group could choose to reclassify financial assets that would meet the definition of loans and receivables out of the held for trading oravailable-for-sale categories if the Group had the intention and ability to hold these financial assets for the foreseeable future or until maturity at the date of reclassification.

Reclassifications were made at fair value as of the reclassification date. Fair value became the new cost or amortized cost as applicable, and no reversals of fair value gains or losses recorded before reclassification date were subsequently made. Effective interest rates for financial assets reclassified to loans and receivables andheld-to-maturity categories were determined at the reclassification date. Further increases in estimates of cash flows adjusted effective interest rates prospectively.

 

(iii)

Subsequent measurement

The measurement at initial recognition did not change on adoption of IFRS 9.

Subsequent to initial recognition, loans and receivables andheld-to-maturity investments were carried at amortized cost using the effective interest method.

Available-for-sale financial assets and financial assets at fair value through profit or loss were subsequently carried at fair value. Gains or losses arising from changes in the fair value were recognized as follows:

 

forFor ‘financial assets at fair value through profit or loss’- in profit or loss

 

forForavailable-for-sale financial assets that are monetary securities denominated in a foreign currency- translation differences related to changes in the amortized cost of the security were recognized in profit or loss and other changes in the carrying amount were recognized in other comprehensive income

 

forFor other monetary andnon-monetary securities classified asavailable-for-sale- in other comprehensive income

Details on how the fair value of financial instruments is determined are disclosed in Note 35.36.

 

(iv)

Impairment

The Group assessed at the end of each reporting period whether there was objective evidence that a financial asset or group of financial assets was impaired. A financial asset or a group of financial assets was impaired and impairment losses were incurred only if there was objective evidence of impairment as a result of one or more events that occurred after the initial recognition of the asset (a ‘loss event’“loss event”) and that loss event had an impact on the estimated future cash flows of the financial asset or group of financial assets that could be reliably estimated. In the case of equity investments classified asavailable-for-sale, a significant or prolonged decline in the fair value of the security below its cost was considered an indicator that the assets were impaired.

For loans and receivables, the amount of the loss was measured as the difference between the asset’s carrying amount and the present value of estimated future cash flows (excluding future credit losses that have not been incurred) discounted at the financial asset’s original effective interest rate. The carrying

F-24


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(i)

Financial instruments (continued)

Financial instruments -Financial instruments – Accounting policies applied until 31 December 2017 (continued)

 

(iv)

Impairment (continued)

 

For loans and receivables, the amount of the loss was measured as the difference between the asset’s carrying amount and the present value of estimated future cash flows (excluding future credit losses that have not been incurred) discounted at the financial asset’s original effective interest rate. The carrying amount of the asset was reduced and the amount of the loss was recognisedrecognized in profit or loss. If a loan orheld-to-maturity investment had a variable interest rate, the discount rate for measuring any impairment loss was the current effective interest rate determined under the contract. As a practical expedient, the Group could measure impairment on the basis of an instrument’s fair value using an observable market price.

If, in a subsequent period, the amount of the impairment loss decreased and the decrease could be related objectively to an event occurring after the impairment was recognized (such as an improvement in the debtor’s credit rating), the reversal of the previously recognized impairment loss was recognized in profit or loss.

Impairment testing of trade receivables is described in Note 35.36.

If there was objective evidence of impairment foravailable-for-sale financial assets, the cumulative loss –cumulativeloss- measured as the difference between the acquisition cost and the current fair value, less any impairment loss on that financial asset previously recognized in profit or loss- was removed from equity and recognized in profit or loss.

Impairment losses on equity instruments that were recognisedrecognized in profit or loss were not reversed through profit or loss in a subsequent period.

If the fair value of a debt instrument classified asavailable-for-sale increased in a subsequent period and the increase could be objectively related to an event occurring after the impairment loss was recognisedrecognized in profit or loss, the impairment loss was reversed through profit or loss.

 

(j)

Cash and cash equivalents

For the purpose of presentation in the statement of cash flows, cash and cash equivalents includes cash on hand, deposits held at call with financial institutions, other short-term, highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash and which are subject to an insignificant risk of changes in value.

(k)

Trade receivables

Trade receivables are amounts due from customers for goods sold or services performed in the ordinary course of business. If collection of the amounts is expected in one year or less they are classified as current assets. If not, they are presented asnon-current assets.

Trade receivables are recognized initially at fair value and subsequently measured at amortized cost using the effective interest method, less provision for impairment. See Note 35 for a description of the Group’s impairment policies.

F-25


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(l)

Property, plant and equipment

 

(i)

Recognition and measurement

Items of property, plant and equipment are stated at historical cost less depreciation and impairment losses. Property, plant and equipment related to the Company and its subsidiaries operating in Turkey are adjusted for the effects of inflation during the hyperinflationary period ended on 31 December 2005. Since the inflation accounting commenced on 1 January 2011, property, plant and equipment related to the subsidiaries operating in Belarus are adjusted for the effects of inflation. However, the decrease in inflation rate in subsequent years led the three-year cumulative rate as of the end of 2014 to decrease to 65%. Accordingly, the economy of Belarus was considered to transitas transitioning out of hyperinflationary status and in 2015 isit was determined to be appropriate to cease applying IAS 29. Therefore, subsidiaries operating in Belarus ceased applying IAS 29 in 2015.

Historical cost includes expenditure that is directly attributable to the acquisition of the asset. The cost of self-constructed assets includes cost of materials and direct labor, any other costs directly attributable to bringing the asset to a working condition for its intended use and the costs of dismantling and removing the items and restoring the site on which they are located, if any.

Purchased software that is integral to the functionality of the related equipment is capitalized as part of that equipment. When parts of an item of property, plant and equipment have different useful lives, they are accounted for as separate items of property, plant and equipment.

Gains and losses on disposals are determined by comparing proceeds with the carrying amount. ThereThese are recognized included in profit or loss.

Changes in the obligation to dismantle, remove assets on sites and to restore sites on which they are located, other than changes deriving from the passing of time, are added or deducted from the cost of the assets in the period in which they occur. The amount deducted from the cost of the asset shall not exceed the balance of the carrying amount on the date of change, and any excess balance is recognized immediately in profit or loss.

An asset’s carrying amount is written down immediately to its recoverable amount if the asset’s carrying amount is greater than its estimated recoverable amount.

(ii)

Subsequent costs

Subsequent costs are included in the asset’s carrying amount or recognised as a separate asset, as appropriate, only when it is probable that future economic benefits associated with the item will flow to the group and the cost of the item can be measured reliably. The carrying amount of any component accounted for as a separate asset is derecognised when replaced. All other repairs and maintenance are charged to profit or loss during the reporting period in which they are incurred.

F-26


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(l)(j)

Property, plant and equipment (continued)

(i)

Recognition and measurement (continued)

of the carrying amount on the date of change, and any excess balance is recognized immediately in profit or loss. An asset’s carrying amount is written down immediately to its recoverable amount if the asset’s carrying amount is greater than its estimated recoverable amount.

(ii)

Subsequent costs

Subsequent costs are included in the asset’s carrying amount or recognized as a separate asset, as appropriate, only when it is probable that future economic benefits associated with the item will flow to the Group and the cost of the item can be measured reliably. The carrying amount of any component accounted for as a separate asset is derecognized when replaced. All other repairs and maintenance are charged to profit or loss during the reporting period in which they are incurred.

 

(iii)

Depreciation

Depreciation is calculated using the straight-line method to allocate their cost, net of their residual values, over their estimated useful lives. The property, plant and equipment acquired under finance leases is depreciated over the asset’s useful life or over the shorter of the asset’s useful life and the lease term if there is no reasonable certainty that the group will obtain ownership at the end of the lease term.

Land is not depreciated.

The estimated useful lives are as follows:

 

Buildings

   21 – 25 years 

Mobile network infrastructure

   4 – 20 years 

Fixed network infrastructure

   3 – 25 years 

Call center equipment

   4 – 8 years 

Equipment, fixtures and fittings

   2 – 10 years 

Motor vehicles

   4 – 6 years

Central betting terminals

5 – 10 years 

Leasehold improvements

   3 – 5 years 

Depreciation methods, useful lives and residual values are reviewed, and adjusted if appropriate, at the end of each reporting period.

 

(iv)

Borrowing costs

General and specific borrowing costs that are directly attributable to the acquisition, construction or production of a qualifying asset are capitalized during the period of time that is required to complete and prepare the asset for its intended use or sale. Qualifying assets are assets that necessarily take a substantial period of time to get ready for their intended use or sale.

Investment income earned on the temporary investment of specific borrowings pending their expenditure on qualifying assets is deducted from the borrowing costs eligible for capitalization.

Other borrowing costs are expensed in the period in which they are incurred.

 

(m)(k)

Intangible assets

 

(i)

Telecommunication licenses

Separately acquired telecommunication licenses are stated at historical cost adjusted for the effects of inflation during the hyperinflationary period, where applicable, less amortization and impairment losses.

Amortization

Amortization is recognized in the statement of profit or loss on a straight-line basis by reference to the license period. The useful lives for telecommunication licenses are as follows:

 

Telecommunications licenses

  

3 – 25 years

F-27


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(m)(k)

Intangible assets (continued)

 

(ii)(ii)

Computer software

Acquired computer software licenses are capitalized on the basis of the costs incurred to acquire and bring to use the specific software.

Costs associated with maintaining computer software programmesprograms are recognized as an expense as incurred.

Development costs that are directly attributable to the design and testing of identifiable and unique software products controlled by the groupGroup are recognisedrecognized as intangible assets when the following criteria are met:

 

itIt is technically feasible to complete the software sosuch that it will be available for use,

 

managementManagement intends to complete the software and use or sell it,

 

thereThere is an ability to use or sell the software,

 

itIt can be demonstrated how the software will generate probable future economic benefits,

 

adequateAdequate technical, financial and other resources to complete the development and to use or sell the software are available and

 

theThe expenditure attributable to the software during its development can be reliably measured.

Directly attributable costs that are capitalized as part of the software include employee costs and an appropriate portion of relevant overheads.

Research expenditure and development expenditure that do not meet the criteria above are recognized as an expense as incurred. Development costs previously recognized as an expense are not recognized as an asset in a subsequent period.

Capitalized development costs are recorded as intangible assets and amortized from the point at which the asset is ready for use.

Amortization

Amortization is recognized in the statement of profit or loss on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives. The useful lives for computer software are as follows:

 

Computer software

   –8– 8 years 

Amortization methods, useful lives and residual values are reviewed, and adjusted if appropriate, at the end of each reporting period.

 

(iii)

Other intangible assets

Other intangible assets that are acquired by the Group which have finite useful lives are stated at historical cost adjusted for the effects of inflation during the hyperinflationary period, where applicable, less amortization and impairment losses. Indefeasible Rights of Use (“IRU”) are rights to use a portion of an asset’s capacity granted for a fixed period of time. IRUs are recognized as intangible asset when the Group has specific indefeasible rights to use an identified portion of an underlying asset and the duration of the right is for the major part of the underlying asset’s useful economic life. IRUs are amortized over the shorter of the underlying asset’s useful economic life and the contract term.

F-28


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(m)(k)

Intangible assets (continued)

 

(iii)

Other intangible assets (continued)

 

Amortization

The Group amortizes intangible assets withAmortization is recognized in the statement of profit or loss on a limited useful life using the straight-line methodbasis over the following periods:estimated useful lives. The useful lives for computer software are as follows:

 

Transmission line software

   –10– 10 years 

Central betting system operating right

   7 – 10 years 

Customer base

   2 – 15 years 

Brand name

   9 – 10 years 

Indefeasible right of use

   15 years 

Amortization methods, useful lives and residual values are reviewed, and adjusted if appropriate, at the end of each reporting period.

Goodwill

Goodwill on acquisitions of subsidiaries is included in intangible assets. Goodwill is not amortized but it is tested for impairment annually, or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that it might be impaired, and is carried at cost less accumulated impairment losses. Gains and losses on the disposal of an entity include the carrying amount of goodwill relating to the entity sold.

Goodwill is allocated to cash-generating units for the purpose of impairment testing. The allocation is made to those cash-generating units or groups of cash-generating units that are expected to benefit from the business combination in which the goodwill arose. The units or groups of units are identified at the lowest level at which goodwill is monitored for internal management purposes, being the operating segments.

 

(n)(l)

Investment properties

Recognition and measurement

Investment properties are properties held for rental yields and/or for capital appreciation (including property under construction for such purposes). Investment properties are stated at historical cost less depreciation and impairment losses.

An investment property is derecognized upon disposal or when the investment property is permanently withdrawn from use and no future economic benefits are expected from the disposal. Any gain or loss arising on derecognition of the property (calculated as the difference between the net disposal proceeds and the carrying amount of the asset) is included in profit or loss in the period in which the property is derecognized.

Depreciation

F-29

Depreciation is calculated using the straight-line method to allocate their cost, net of their residual values, over their estimated useful lives. The estimated useful lives are as follows:


Investment Property

25 – 45 years

Depreciation methods, useful lives and residual values are reviewed, and adjusted if appropriate, at the end of each reporting period.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(n)

Investment properties (continued)

Depreciation

Depreciation is calculated using the straight-line method to allocate their cost, net of their residual values, over their estimated useful lives. The estimated useful lives are as follows:

Investment Property

25 -45 years

Depreciation methods, useful lives and residual values are reviewed, and adjusted if appropriate, at the end of each reporting period.

(o)(m)

Inventories

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realizable value. Net realizable value is the estimated selling price in the ordinary course of business, less the estimated costs necessary to make the sale. Cost of inventory is determined using the weighted average method and comprises all costs of purchase and other costs incurred in bringing the inventories to their present location and condition. Costs of purchased inventory are determined after deducting rebates and discounts. At 31 December 20182019 and 2017,2018, inventories mainly consisted of mainly mobile phones, modem, tablet,sim-cards, and other devices.tower construction materials.

 

(p)(n)

Impairment of assets

Goodwill and intangible assets that have an indefinite useful life are not subject to amortization and are tested annually for impairment, or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that they might be impaired. Other assets are tested for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable. An impairment loss is recognized for the amount by which the asset’s carrying amount exceeds its recoverable amount. The recoverable amount is the higher of an asset’s fair value less costs of disposal.disposal and its value in use. Fair value is the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. Value in use is the present value of the future cash flows expected to be derived from an asset or cash-generating unit. For the purposes of assessing impairment, assets are grouped at the lowest levels (cash-generating units) for which there are separately identifiable cash inflows which are largely independent of the cash inflows from other assets or groups of assets (cash-generating units).assets.Non-financial assets other than goodwill that suffered an impairment are reviewed for possible reversal of the impairment at the end of each reporting period.

 

(r)(o)

Employee benefits

 

(i)

Short-term obligations

Liabilities for salaries includingnon-monetary benefits that are expected to be settled wholly within 12within12 months after the end of the period in which the employees render the related service are recognized in respect of employees’ services up to the end of the reporting period and are measured at the amounts expected to be paid when the liabilities are settled. The liabilities are presented as trade and other payables in the statement of financial position.

 

(ii)

Termination benefits

In accordance with the labor law in Turkey, the Company and its subsidiaries in Turkey are required to makelump-sum payments to employees who have completed one year of service and whose employment is terminated without cause or who retire, are called up for military service or die. Such payments arepaymentsare calculated on the basis of 30 days’ pay up to a of maximum full TL 5,4346,380 as at 31 December 20182019 (31 December 2017:2018: TL 4,732)5,434), per year of employment at the rate of pay applicable at the date of retirement or termination. Termination benefits paid to key executive officers are presented as other expenses. Reserve for employee termination benefits is computed and reflected in the consolidated financial statements on a current basis. Discount rate used for calculating employee termination benefit as of 31 December 20182019 is 4.41%(313.60% (31 December 2017: 3.33%2018: 4.41%). The reserve is calculated by estimating the present value of future probable obligation of the Company and its subsidiaries in Turkey arising from retirement of employees. Reserve for employee termination benefits is calculated annually by independent actuaries using the projected unit credit method.

F-30


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(r)(o)

Employee benefits (continued)

 

(iii)

Defined contribution plans

For defined contribution plans, the Group pays contributions to publicly or privately administered pension insurance plans on a mandatory, contractual or voluntary basis. The Group has no further payment obligations once the contributions have been paid. The contributions are recognized as employee benefit expense when they are due. Prepaid contributions are recognized as an asset to the extent that a cash refund or a reduction in the future payments is available.

 

(iv)

Share-based payments

The Group provides a cash-settled share-based payment plan for selected employees in return for their services. For cash-settled share-based payment transactions, the Group measures services acquired and the liability incurred at the fair value of the liability. Liabilities for cash-settled share-based payment plan are recognized as employee benefit expense over the relevant service period. The fair value of the liability isre-measured at each reporting date and at the settlement date. Any changes in fair value are recognized in profit or loss for the period.

 

(v)

Personnel bonus

Provision for bonus is provided when the bonus is a legal obligation, or past practice would make the bonus a constructive obligation and the Group is able to make a reliable estimate of the obligation.

 

(s)(p)

Provisions

A provision is recognized if, as a result of a past event, the Group has a present legal or constructive obligation that can be estimated reliably, and it is probable that an outflow of resources will be required to settle the obligation.

Where there are a number of similar obligations, the likelihood that an outflow will be required in settlement is determined by considering the class of obligations as a whole. A provision is recognized even if the likelihood of an outflow with respect to any one item included in the same class of obligations may be small.

Provisions are measured at the present value of management’s best estimate of the expenditureoutflow required to settle the present obligation at the end of the reporting period. The discount rate used to determine the present value is apre-tax rate that reflects current market assessments of the time value of money and the risks specific to the liability. The increase in the provision due to the passage of time is recognized as interest expense.

Onerous contracts

Present obligation arising under an onerous contract is recognized and measured as a provision. An onerous contract is considered to exist where the Group has a contract under which the unavoidable costs of meeting the obligations under the contract exceed the economic benefits expected to be received under it.

Dismantling, removal and restoring sites obligation

The Group is required to incur certain costs in respect of a liability to dismantle and remove assets and to restore sites on which the assets were located. The dismantling costs are calculated according to best estimate of future expected payments discounted at apre-tax discount rate that reflects current market assessments of the time value of money and the risks specific to the liability.

F-31


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(t)(r)

Revenue

Revenue is recognized at the amount of the transaction price that is allocated to the performance obligation. The transaction price is the amount of consideration to which an entity expects to be entitled in exchange for transferring promised goods or services to a customer. Revenue is recognized when control is transferred to the customer.

Revenue from telecommunication services includes postpaid and prepaid revenue from voice, data, messaging and value added services, interconnect revenue, monthly fixed fees, SIM card sales and roaming revenue. An entity transfers control of a service over time and, therefore, satisfies a performance obligation and recognizes revenue from telecommunication services over time.

With respect to prepaid revenue, the Group generally collects cash in advance by selling prepaid top up to distributors. In such cases, the Group does not recognize revenue until subscribers use the telecommunication services.

Services may be bundled with other products and services and these bundled elements involve consideration in the form of a fixed fee or a fixed fee coupled with a continuing payment stream. A good or service is distinct if both of the following criteria are met:

 

theThe good or service is capable of being distinct,

 

theThe promise to transfer the good or service is distinct within the context of the contract.

The arrangement consideration is allocated to each performance obligation identified in the contract on a relative stand-alone selling prices.price. If an element of a transaction is not a distinct, then it is accounted for as an integral part of the remaining elements of the transaction.

Revenue from device sales is recognized when control of the device has transferred, being the time when delivered to the end customer. For device sales made to intermediaries, revenue is recognized the time when control of the device has transferred, being when the products are delivered to the intermediary and the intermediary has no general right to return the device to receive a refund. If control is not transferred, revenue is deferred until sale of the device to an end customer by the intermediary or expiry of any right of return.

The Company,Group, the distributors and dealers offer joint campaigns to the subscribers which may include the sale of device by the dealer and/or the distributor and the sale of communication service by the Company.Group. In certain campaigns, dealers make the handset sale to the subscribers, the instalments of which will be collected by the CompanyGroup based on the letters of undertaking signed by the subscribers. With the letter of undertaking, the dealer assigns its receivables from handset salesales to the distributor and the distributor assigns its receivables to the Company.Group.

The CompanyGroup pays the distributor the net present value of the instalments to be collected from the subscribers and recognizes contracted receivables in its statement of financial position. The undue portion of assigned receivables from the distributors which were paid upfront by the CompanyGroup is classified as “undue assigned contracted receivables” in trade receivables (Note 19). When monthly installment is invoiced to the subscriber, related portion is presented as “receivables from subscribers”. The CompanyGroup collects the contracted receivables in installments during the contract period and does not recognize any revenue for the handset in these transactions as the CompanyGroup does not act as principal for the sale of handset.

Starting from 2014, the subscribers has anhave the option to buy handsets using bank loans, the instalments of which are collected by the CompanyGroup on behalf of the bank. The CompanyGroup does not bear any credit risk in these transactions. Since the CompanyGroup collects receivables during the contract period and acts as agent for the sale of handset, the CompanyGroup does not recognize any revenue for the handset in these transactions.

Starting from 2016 the Group and distributors started to offer the option to buy a device through consumer financing loan, which will be collected by Turkcell Finansman. The Group carries a risk of collection in

F-32


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(t)(r)

Revenue (continued)

 

Starting from 2016 the Company and distributors started to offer the option to buy a device through Turkcell Financing loan, which will be collected by the Company. The Group carries a risk of collection in these transactions. Turkcell Finansman collects the purchased credit from the subscriber during the contract period, and does not record revenue related to the device since it is not the main contractor in the device sale. Revenue from financial services comprise of interest income generated from consumer financing activities. Interest income is recognized as it accrues, using the effective interest method.

Monthly fixed fees represent a fixed amount charged to postpaid subscribers on a monthly basis without regard to the level of usage. Fixed fees are recognized on a monthly basis when billed. Monthly fixed fees are included in telecommunication services revenues.

Revenues from the betting business mainly comprise of mainly the net takings earned to a maximum of 1.4% of gross takings as the head agent of fixed odds betting games and mobile agent revenues of 7.25% of mobile agency turnover after deducting VAT and gaming tax as the head agent. Revenues from the betting business are recognized at the time all services related to the games are fully rendered. Under the agreement signed with Spor Toto Teşkilat Müdürlüğü A.Ş. (“Spor Toto”), Inteltek Internet Teknoloji Yatırım ve Danışmanlık A.Ş. (“Inteltek”) is obliged to undertake any excess payout, which is presented on a net basis.

Azerinteltek QSC (“Azerinteltek”) received authorization from Azeridmanservis Limited Liability Company set under the Ministry of Youth and Sport of the Republic of Azerbaijan to organize, operate, manage and develop the fixed odds and paramutual sports betting business. Since Azerinteltek acts as principal, total consideration received from the player less payout (distribution to players) and amounts collected from players on behalf of Ministry of Sports is recognized at the time all services related to the games are fully rendered.

Azerinteltek has been authorized for the Lottery games by Azerlotereya. Azerinteltek has been generating commission revenue over Lottery games turnover through its own agencies by applying 15% commission rate according to the agreement between Azerinteltek and Azerlotereya. Commission revenues are recognized at the time all services related to the games are fully rendered.

Call center revenues are recognized at the time services are rendered during the contractual period.

When the Group sells goods or services as a principal, revenue and operating costs are recorded on a gross basis. When the Group sells goods or services as an agent, revenue and operating costs are recorded on a net basis, representing the net margin earned. Whether the Group is considered to be acting as principal or agent in the transaction depends on management’s analysis described below and such judgementsjudgments impact the amount of reported revenue and operating costs but do not impact reported assets, liabilities or cash flows:

Indicators that an entity is a principal:

 

theThe entity is primarily responsible for fulfilling the promise to provide the specified good or service.service,

 

theThe entity has inventory risk before the specified good or service has been transferred to a customer or after transfer of control to the customer,

 

theThe entity has discretion in establishing the price for the specified good or service.

The Company and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey, Directorate General of Communications mutually agreed to extend the contract, to establish and operate mobile communication infrastructure and operation in uncovered areas, until 30 June 2020 and to add mobile broadband services to the existing infrastructure providing GSM services under Universal Service Law and to operate the new and existing networks together. As of 31 December 2019, the Company has recognized TL 191,235 (31 December 2018: TL 376,765) revenue from its operations related to this contract. Since the Company acts as principal, revenue and operating costs are reported on a gross basis in these consolidated financial statements.

F-33The revenue recognition policy for other revenues is to recognize revenue as services are provided.


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(t)(r)

Revenue (continued)

 

The Company and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey, Directorate General of Communications signed a contract to continue the contract to establish and operate mobile communication infrastructure and operation in uncovered areas, until 31 December 2019 and to add mobile broadband services to the existing infrastructure providing GSM services under Universal Service Law and to operate the new and existing networks together. As of 31 December 2018, the Company has recognized TL 376,765 (31 December 2017: TL 257,866) revenue from its operations related to this contract. Since the Company acts as principal, revenue and operating costs are reported on a gross basis in these consolidated financial statements.

The revenue recognition policy for other revenues is to recognize revenue as services are provided.

Contract costs eligible for capitalization as incremental costs of obtaining a contract comprise commission on sale relating to postpaid contracts with acquired or retained subscribers. Contract costs are capitalized in the month of service activation if the Group expects to recover those costs. Contract costs comprise sales commissions to dealers and to own salesforce which can be directly attributed to an acquired or retained contract. Contract costs are classified as intangible assets in the consolidated financial statements. The asset is amortisedamortized on a straight linestraight-line basis over the customer life timelifetime it relates to consistent with the pattern of recognition of the associated revenue.

Revenue - Accounting policies applied until 31 December 2017

The Group adopted the new standard on the required effective date using the modified retrospective method which requires the recognition of the cumulative effect of initially applying IFRS 15, as at 1 January 2018, to retained earnings and not restate prior years. As a result, the comparative information provided continues to be accounted for in accordance with the Group’s previous accounting policy. Accounting policies that changed on adoption of IFRS 15 are as follows. The Group’s new accounting policies are explained above.

Contract cost

Contract costs were capitalized under prepaid expenses and amortisedamortized on a straight line basis over the contact term.

 

(u)

Trade and other payables

These amounts represent liabilities for goods and services provided to the Group prior to the end of financial year which are unpaid. Trade and other payables are presented as current liabilities unless payment is not due within 12 months after the reporting period. They are recognized initially at their fair value and subsequently measured at amortized cost using the effective interest method.

(v)    Borrowings

Borrowings are initially recognized at fair value, net of transaction costs incurred. Borrowings are subsequently measured at amortized cost. Any difference between the proceeds (net of transaction costs) and the redemption amount is recognized in profit or loss over the period of the borrowings using the effective interest method. Fees paid on the establishment of loan facilities are recognized as transaction costs of the loan to the extent that it is probable that some or all of the facility will be drawn down. In this case, the fee is deferred until the draw down occurs. To the extent there is no evidence that it is probable that some or all of the facility will be drawn down, the fee is capitalized as a prepayment for liquidity services and amortized over the period of the facility to which it relates.

Borrowings are removed from the statement of financial position when the obligation specified in the contract is discharged, cancelled or expired. The difference between the carrying amount of a financial liability that has been extinguished or transferred to another party and the consideration paid, including anynon-cash assets transferred or liabilities assumed, is recognized in profit or loss.

F-34


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(w)(s)

Income taxes

The income tax expense or credit for the period is the tax payable on the current period’s taxable income based on the applicable income tax rate for each jurisdiction adjusted by changes in deferred tax assets and liabilities attributable to temporary differences and to unused tax losses.

Income tax expense is recognized in the statement of profit or loss, except to the extent that it relates to items recognized in other comprehensive income or directly in equity. In this case, the tax is also recognized in other comprehensive income or directly in equity, respectively.

The current income tax charge is calculated on the basis of the tax laws enacted or substantively enacted at the end of the reporting period in the countries where the Company’s subsidiaries and associates operate and generate taxable income. Management periodically evaluates positions taken in tax returns with respect to situations in which applicable tax regulation is subject to interpretation. It establishes provisions where appropriate on the basis of amounts expected to be paid to the tax authorities. Deferred income tax is provided in full, using the liability method, on temporary differences arising between the tax bases of assets and liabilities and their carrying amounts in the consolidated financial statements. However, deferred tax liabilities are not recognisedrecognized if they arise from the initial recognition of goodwill. Deferred income tax is also not accounted for if it arises from initial recognition of an asset or liability in a transaction other than a business combination that at the time of the transaction affects neither accounting nor taxable profit or loss. Deferred income tax is determined using tax rates (and laws) that have been enacted or substantially enacted by the end of the reporting period and are expected to apply when the related deferred income tax asset is realized or the deferred income tax liability is settled. Deferred tax assets are recognized only if it is probable that future taxable amounts will be available to utilize those temporary differences and losses.

Deferred tax liabilities and assets are not recognized for temporary differences between the carrying amount and tax bases of investments in foreign operations where the companyCompany is able to control the timing of the reversal of the temporary differences and it is probable that the differences will not reverse in the foreseeable future.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(s)

Income taxes (continued)

Deferred tax assets and liabilities are offset when there is a legally enforceable right to offset current tax assets and liabilities and when the deferred tax balances relate to the same taxation authority. Current tax assets and tax liabilities are offset where the entity has a legally enforceable right to offset and intends either to settle on a net basis, or to realize the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

Companies within the Group may be entitled to claim special tax deductions for investments in qualifying assets or in relation to qualifying expenditure (e.g., the Research and Development Tax Incentive regime in Turkey or other investment allowances). The Group accounts for such allowances as tax credits, which means that the allowance reduces income tax payable and current tax expense. A deferred tax asset is recognized for unclaimed tax credits that are carried forward as deferred tax assets.

 

(x)(t)

Earnings per share

The Group does not have any potential ordinary shares in issue, therefore basic and diluted earnings per share (“EPS”) are equal. Since basic and diluted EPS are equal, the Group presents both basic and diluted EPS on one line described as “Basic and diluted EPS”.

Basic EPS is calculated by dividing the profit attributable to ordinary shareholders of the Company by the weighted averageweighted-average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the financial year, excluding treasury shares. In Turkey, entities can increase their share capital by distributing “Bonus share” to shareholders from retained earnings. In computing earnings per share, such “Bonus share” distributions are treated as issued shares. Accordingly, the retrospective effect for such share distributions is taken into consideration when determining the weighted-average number of shares outstanding.

 

F-35


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(y)(u)

Government grants

Grants from the government are recognized at their fair value where there is a reasonable assurance that the grant will be received, and the Group will comply with all attached conditions.

Government grants relating to costs are deferred and recognized in profit or loss over the period necessary to match them with the costs that they are intended to compensate.

Government grants relating to property, plant and equipment are included innon-current liabilities as deferred government grants, and are credited to profit or loss on a straight-line basis over the expected useful lives of the related assets.

 

(z)(v)

Non-current asset held for sale and discontinued operations

Non-current assets are classified as held for sale if their carrying amount will be recovered principally through a sale transaction rather than through continuing use, and a sale is considered highly probable. They are measured at the lower of their carrying amount and fair value less costs of disposal.

An impairment loss is recognized for any initial or subsequent write-down of the asset to fair value less costs of disposal. A gain is recognized for any subsequent increases in fair value less costs of disposal of an asset, but not in excess of any cumulative impairment loss previously recognized. A gain or loss not previously recognized by the date of the sale of thenon-current asset is recognized at the date of derecognition.

An associate must meet the conditions to be classified as held for sale. It is first measured in accordance with applicable standards. Such standard is IAS 28, and sowhereby the share of profits and remeasurement of carrying amounts are done in accordance with normal associate rules up to the point of classification as held for sale.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(v)

Non-current asset held for sale and discontinued operations (continued)

The associate or joint venture is then measured in accordance with IFRS 5. It is measured at the lower of carrying amount and fair value less costs of disposal. Equity accounting is ceased from the date the held for sale criteria are met.

Non-current assets classified as held for sale are presented separately from the other assets in the statement of financial position.

A discontinued operation is a component of the entity that has been disposed of or is classified as held for sale and that represents a separate major line of business or geographical area of operations, is part of a singleco-ordinated coordinated plan to dispose of such a line of business or area of operations, or is a subsidiary acquired exclusively with a view to resale. The results of discontinued operations are presented separately in the statement of profit or loss.

 

(aa)(w)

Equity

Ordinary shares are classified as equity. Incremental costs directly attributable to the issue of new shares are shown in equity as a deduction, net of tax, from the proceeds.

Where any Group company purchases the Company’s equity instruments, for example as the result of a sharebuy-back plan, the consideration paid, including any directly attributable incremental costs (net of income taxes) is deducted from equity attributable to the owners of the Company as treasury shares until the shares are cancelled or reissued. Where such ordinary shares are subsequently reissued, any consideration received, net of any directly attributable incremental transaction costs and the related income tax effects, is included in equity attributable to the owners of the Company.

 

F-36


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(ab)(y)

Dividends

Provision is made for the amount of any dividend declared, being appropriately authorisedauthorized and no longer at the discretion of the Company, on or before the end of the reporting period but not distributed at the end of the reporting period.

 

(ac)(z)

Subsequent events

Events after the reporting date; Includesincludes all events between the reporting date and the date on which the financial statements are authorized for issue, even if any announcement of profit or other selected financial information has been made publicly disclosed.

In case of events requiring correction after the reporting date, the Group corrects this new situation accordingly. Events that are not required to be adjusted subsequent to the reporting date are disclosed in the notes to the financial statements in the consolidated financial statements.

 

(ad)(aa)

Leases

At inception of a contract, the Group assesses whether a contract is, or contains a lease. A contract is, or contains, a lease if the contract conveys the right to control the use of an identified asset for a period of time in exchange for consideration. To assess whether a contract conveys the right to control the use of an identified asset, The Group assessassesses whether:

 

theThe contract involved the use of an identified asset – this may be specified explicitly or implicitlyimplicitly;

 

theThe asset should be physically distinct or represent substantially all of the capacity of a physically distinct asset. If the supplier has a substantive substitution right, the asset is not identified;

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(aa)

Leases (continued)

 

theThe Group has the right to obtain substantially all of the economic benefits from the use of an asset throughout the period of use;use and

 

theThe Group has the right to direct use of the asset. The Group has the right when it has the decision-making rights that are most relevant to changing the how and for what purpose the asset is used is predetermined, the Group has the right the use of asset if either:used. If these decision are predetermined;

 

theThe Group has the right to operate the asset or;or,

 

theThe Group designed the asset in a way that predetermines how and for what purpose it is used.

At inception or on reassessment of a contract that contains a lease component, the Group allocates the consideration in the contract to each lease component on the basis of their relative stand-alone prices.

Right of use asset

The Group recognizes aright-of use asset and a lease liability at the lease commencement date.

The right of use asset is initially recognized at cost comprising of:

 

amountAmount of the initial measurement of the lease liability;liability,

 

anyAny lease payments made at or before the commencement date, less any lease incentives received;received,

 

anyAny initial direct costs incurred by the Group;Group and

An estimate of costs to be incurred by the lessee in dismantling and removing the underlying asset, restoring the site on which it is located or restoring the underlying asset to the condition required by the terms and conditions of the lease, unless those costs are incurred to produce inventories. The lessee incurs the obligation for those costs either at the commencement date or as a consequence of having used the underlying asset during a particular period.

Theright-of-use asset is subsequently depreciated using the straight-line method from the commencement date to the earlier of the end date of the useful life of theright-of-use asset ofor the end date of the lease term. The estimated useful lives ofright-of-use assets are determined on the same basis as those property and equipment. In addition, theright-of-use asset is periodically reduced by impairment losses, if any, and adjusted for certain remeasurements of the lease liability (Note 28)29).

Lease Liability

The lease liability is initially measured at the present value of the lease payments that are not paid at the commencement date, discounted using the interest rate implicit in the lease or, if that rate cannot be readily determined, the Group’s incremental borrowing rate. The Group uses its incremental borrowing rate as the discount rate.

Lease payments included in the measurement of the lease liability comprise the following:

 

F-37Fixed payments, includingin-substance fixed payments,

Variable lease payments that depend on an index or a rate, initially measured using the index or rate as the commencement date,

Amounts expected to be payable under a residual value guarantee and

The exercise price under a purchase option that the Group is reasonably certain to exercise, lease payments in an optional renewable period if the Group is reasonably certain to exercise an extension option, and penalties for early termination of a lease if the Group is reasonably certain to terminate early.


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(ad)(aa)

Leases (continued)

Lease Liability (continued)

The lease liability is initially measured at the present value of the lease payments that are not paid at the commencement date, discounted using the interest rate implicit in the lease or, if that rate cannot be readily determined, the Group’ incremental borrowing rate. Group uses its incremental borrowing rate as the discount rate.

Lease payments included in the measurement of the lease liability comprise the following:

 

fixed payments, includingin-substance fixed payments;

variable lease payments that depend on an index or a rate, initially measured using the index or rate as the commencement date;

amounts expected to be payable under a residual value guarantee; and

the exercise price under a purchase option that the Group is reasonably certain to exercise, lease payments in an optional renewable period if the Group is reasonably certain to exercise an extension option, and penalties for early termination of a lease unless the Group is reasonably certain to terminate early.

After initial recognition, the lease liability is measured (a) increasing the carrying amount to reflect interest on lease liability; (b) reducing the carrying amount to reflect the lease payments made;made, and (c) remeasuring the carrying amount to reflect any reassessment or lease modifications or to reflect revisedin-substance fixed lease payments.

Where, (a) there is a change in the lease term as a result of reassessment of certainty to exercise an exerciseextension option, or not to exercise a termination option as discussed above; or (b) there is a change in the assessment of an option to purchase the underlying asset, assessed considering the events and circumstances in the context of a purchase option, the Group remeasures the lease liabilities to reflect changes to lease payments by discounting the revised lease payments using a revised discount rate. The Group determines the revised discount rate as the interest rate implicit in the lease for the remainder of the lease term, if that rate can be readily determined, or the its incremental borrowing rate at the date of reassessment, if the interest rate implicit in the lease cannot be readily determined.

Where, (a) there is a change in the amounts expected to be payable under a residual value guarantee; or (b) there is a change in the future lease payments resulting from a change in an index or a rate used to determine those payments, including change to reflect changes in market rental rates following a market rent review, the Group remeasures the lease liabilities by discounting the revised lease payments using an unchanged discount rate, unless the change in lease payments results from a change in floating interest rates. In such case, the Group useuses the revised discount rate that reflects changes in the interest rate.

The Group recognisesrecognizes the amount of the remeasurement of lease liability as an adjustment to the right of use asset. Where the carrying amount of the right of use asset is reduced zero and there is further reduction in the measurement of the lease liability, the Group recognisesrecognizes any remaining amount of the remeasurement in profit or loss.

The Group accounts for a lease modification as a separate lease if both:

 

theThe modification increases the scope of the lease by adding the right to use one or more underlying assets;assets and

 

theThe consideration for the lease increases by an amount commensurate with the stand-alone price for the increase in scope and any appropriate adjustments to that stand-alone price to reflect the circumstances of the particular contract.

F-38


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(ad)

Leases (continued)

The Group as a Lessor

When the Group acts an intermediate lessor, it accounts for its interests in the head lease and thesub-lease separately. It assesses the lease classification of asub-lease with reference to theright-of-use-asset arising from the head lease, not with reference to the underlying asset.

If an arrangement contains lease andnon-lease components, the Group applies IFRS 15 to allocate the consideration in the contract.

Leases - Accounting policies applied until 31 December 2017

The Group adopted IFRS 16 using modified retrospective approach—approach – option 2 application under which the cumulative effect of initially applying the Standard recognisedrecognized at the date of initial application at 1at1 January 2018. As a result, the comparative information provided continues to be accounted for in accordance with the Group’s previous accounting policy. Accounting policies that changed on adoption of IFRS 16 are as follows. The Group’s new accounting policies are explained above.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(aa)

Leases (continued)

Leases – Accounting policies applied until 31 December 2017 (continued)

Leases of property, plant and equipment where the group,Group, as lessee, had substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership were classified as finance leases. Finance leases were capitalisedcapitalized at the lease’s inception at the fair value of the leased property or, if lower, the present value of the minimum lease payments. The corresponding rental obligations, net of finance charges, were included in other short-term andlong-term payables. Each lease payment was allocated between the liability and finance cost. The finance cost was charged to the profit or loss over the lease period so as to produce a constant periodic rate of interest on the remaining balance of the liability for each period. The property and equipment acquired under finance leases was depreciated over the asset’s useful life or over the shorter of the asset’s useful life and the lease term if there was no reasonable certainty that the Group will obtain ownership at the end of the lease term.

Leases in which a significant portion of the risks and rewards of ownership were not transferred to the Group as lessee were classified as operating leases. Payments made under operating leases (net of any incentives received from the lessor) were charged to profit or loss on a straight-line basis over the period of the lease.

 

(ae)(ab)

New standards and interpretations

 

i)

Amendments to IFRSs affecting amounts reported and/or disclosures in the consolidated financial statements

This note explainsThe Group has elected to early adopt the impact‘Amendments to IFRS 9, IAS 39 and IFRS 7 Interest Rate Benchmark Reform’ issued in September 2019. In accordance with the transition provisions, the amendments have been adopted retrospectively to hedging relationships that existed at the start of the adoptionreporting period or were designated thereafter.

The amendments provide temporary relief from applying specific hedge accounting requirements to hedging relationships directly affected by IBOR reform. The reliefs have the effect that IBOR reform should not generally cause hedge accounting to terminate. However, any hedge ineffectiveness should continue to be recorded in the income statement. Furthermore, the amendments set out triggers for when the reliefs will end, which include the uncertainty arising from interest rate benchmark reform no longer being present.

In summary, the reliefs provided by the amendments that apply to the Group are:

When considering the ‘highly probable’ requirement, the Group has assumed that the USD LIBOR interest rate on which our hedged debts are based does not change as a result of IBOR reform.

In assessing whether the hedge is expected to be highly effective on a forward-looking basis the Group has assumed that the USD LIBOR interest rate on which the cash flows of the hedged debt and the interest rate swap that hedges it are based is not altered by IBOR reform.

The Group has not recycled the cash flow hedge reserve relating to the period after the reforms are expected to take effect.

Note 3 provides the required disclosures of the uncertainty arising from IBOR reform for hedging relationships for which the Group applied the reliefs.

ii)

Standards, amendments and interpretations applicable as at 31 December 2019

Amendment to IFRS 9, Financial Instruments, IFRS 15 Revenue“Financial instruments”;effective from Contracts with Customers and IFRS 16 Leasesannual periods beginning on the Group’s consolidatedor after 1 January 2019. This amendment confirmed two points: (1) that reasonable compensation for prepayments can be both negative or positive cash flows when considering whether a financial statements.asset

The impacts of adoption of IFRS 9, IFRS 15 and IFRS 16 on the consolidated financial statements as at 31 December 2018 are stated as below. The adoptions of these standards do not have a significant impact on the consolidated other comprehensive income (OCI) and consolidated statement of cash flows.

The following tables show the adjustments recognised for each individual line item. Line items that were not affected by the changes have not been included. As a result, thesub-totals and totals disclosed cannot be recalculated from the numbers provided. The adjustments are explained in more detail by standard below.

F-39


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

      31 December
2018 As
reported
   Effect Of
Change
Due to
IFRS 9
   Effect Of
Change
Due to
IFRS 15
   Effect Of
Change
Due to
IFRS 16
   31 December
2018 without
Adoptions
 

Assets

            
  

Property, plant and equipment

   11,116,316    —      —      —      11,116,316 
  

Right-of-use assets

   1,649,602    —      —      1,649,602    —   
  

Intangible assets

   10,050,172    —      1,059,866    —      8,990,306 
  

Investment properties

   15,425    —      —      —      15425 
  

Trade receivables

   115,001    (608   (3,513   —      119,122 
  

Contract assets

   3,513    —      3,513    —      —   
  

Receivables from financial services

   884,686    —      —      —      884,686 
  

Deferred tax assets

   152,732    —      —      14,696    138,036 
  

Investments in equity accounted investees

   19,413    —      —      —      19,413 
  

Othernon-current assets

   421,306    (228   (10,849   (161,426   593,809 
    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Totalnon-current assets

   24,428,166    (836   1,049,017    1,502,872    21,877,113 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
  

Inventories

   180,434    —      —      —      180,434 
  

Trade receivables

   2,505,990    49,567    (703,742   6,926    3,153,239 
  

Due from related parties

   13,533    67    —      —      13,466 
  

Receivables from financial services

   3,286,243    (40,463   —      —      3,326,706 
  

Derivative financial instruments

   1,356,062    —      —      —      1,356,062 
  

Held to maturity investments

   —      (51,863   —      —      51,863 
  

Financial asset at fair value through profit or loss

   9,409    9,409    —      —      —   
  

Financial asset at fair value through other comprehensive income

   42,454    42,454    —      —      —   
  

Contract assets

   711,928    —      711,928    —      —   
  

Cash and cash equivalents

   7,419,239    (2,364   —      —      7,421,603 
  

Other current assets

   1,091,512    87    (137,997   (312,872   1,542,294 
    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Subtotal

     16,616,804    6,894    (129,811   (305,946   17,045,667 
    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Assets classified as held for sale

   1,720,305    —      —      —      1,720,305 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total current assets

   18,337,109    6,894    (129,811   (305,946   18,765,972 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total assets

     42,765,275    6,058    919,206    1,196,926    40,643,085 
    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Equity

            
  

Share capital

   2,200,000    —      —      —      2,200,000 
  

Share premium

   269    —      —      —      269 
  

Treasury shares (-)

   (141,534   —      —      —      (141,534
  

Additional paid in capital

   35,026    —      —      —      35,026 
  

Reserves

   2,503,537    (154   8,958    (740   2,495,473 
  

Remeasurements of employee termination benefit

   (34,871   —      —      —      (34,871
  

Retained earnings

   11,359,317    4,989    667,946    (71,464   10,757,846 
    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total equity attributable to equity holders of Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS (“the Company”)

   15,921,744    4,835    676,904    (72,204   15,312,209 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Non-controlling interests

   131,810    —      —      —      131,810 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total equity

     16,053,554    4,835    676,904    (72,204   15,444,019 
    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

F-40


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

      31 December
2018 As
reported
   Effect Of
Change
Due to
IFRS 9
   Effect Of
Change
Due to
IFRS 15
   Effect Of
Change
Due to
IFRS 16
   31 December
2018 without
Adoptions
 
Liabilities                       
  

Borrowings

   13,119,636    —      —      902,285    12,217,351 
  

Employee benefit obligations

   224,747    —      —      —      224,747 
  

Provisions

   268,722    —      —      —      268,722 
  

Deferred tax liabilities

   862,360    1,223    193,854    —      667,283 
  

Contract liabilities

   131,598    —      131,598    —      —   
  

Othernon-current liabilities

   364,610    —      (102,887   —      467,497 
    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Totalnon-current liabilities

   14,971,673    1,223    222,565    902,285    13,845,600 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
  

Borrowings

   7,035,909    —      —      366,845    6,669,064 
  

Current tax liabilities

   133,597    —      —      —      133,597 
  

Trade and other payables

   3,788,174    —      1,786    —      3,786,388 
  

Due to related parties

   45,331    —      17,951    —      27,380 
  

Contract liabilities

   255,756    —      255,756    —      —   
  

Deferred revenue

   8,948    —      (255,756   —      264,704 
  

Provisions

   307,068    —      —      —      307,068 
  

Derivative financial instruments

   165,265    —      —      —      165,265 
    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total current liabilities

   11,740,048    —      19,737    366,845    11,353,466 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total liabilities

   26,711,721    1,223    242,302    1,269,130    25,199,066 
    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total equity and liabilities

   42,765,275    6,058    919,206    1,196,926    40,643,085 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

F-41


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

   31 December
2018 As
reported
  Effect Of
Change
Due to
IFRS 9
  Effect Of
Change
Due to
IFRS 15
  Effect Of
Change
Due to
IFRS 16
  31 December
2018 without
Adoptions
 

Revenue

   20,350,557   —     (18,132  —     20,368,689 

Revenue from financial services

   941,918   —     308   —     941,610 
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total revenue

   21,292,475   —     (17,824  —     21,310,299 
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Cost of revenue

   (13,785,448  —     (329,447  51,098   (13,507,099

Cost of revenue from financial services

   (360,545  —     —     —     (360,545
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total cost of revenue

   (14,145,993  —     (329,447  51,098   (13,867,644
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Gross profit

   6,565,109   —     (347,579  51,098   6,861,590 

Gross profit from financial services

   581,373   —     308   —     581,065 
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total gross profit

   7,146,482   —     (347,271  51,098   7,442,655 
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Other income

   241,435   —     —     35,012   206,423 

Selling and marketing expenses

   (1,626,714  141,527   523,210   51,208   (2,342,659

Administrative expenses

   (673,370  225,778   —     50,724   (949,872

Net impairment losses on financial and contract assets

   (346,390  (346,390  —     —     —   

Other expenses

   (381,582  —     —     (44,431  (337,151
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Operating profit

   4,359,861   20,915   175,939   143,611   4,019,396 
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Finance income

   1,932,133   —     —     892   1,931,241 

Finance costs

   (3,619,091  (14  —     (230,663  (3,388,414
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net finance costs

   (1,686,958  (14  —     (229,771  (1,457,173
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Share of profit of equity accounted investees

   (87  —     —     —     (87
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Profit before income tax

   2,672,816   20,901   175,939   (86,160  2,562,136 
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Income tax expense

   (495,481  (4,764  (38,015  14,696   (467,398
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Profit for the period

   2,177,335   16,137   137,924   (71,464  2,094,738 
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Profit for the year is attributable to:

      

Owners of the Company

   2,021,065   16,137   137,924   (71,464  1,938,468 

Non-controlling interests (*)

   156,270   —     —     —     156,270 
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total

   2,177,335   16,137   137,924   (71,464  2,094,738 
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Basic and diluted earnings per share for profit attributable to owners of the Company (in full TL)

   0.93   0.01   0.06   (0.03  0.89 

F-42


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(ae)

New standards and interpretations (continued)

i)

Amendments to IFRSs affecting amounts reported and/or disclosures in the consolidated financial statements (continued)

IFRS 9 Financial Instruments – Impact of adoption

IFRS 9 replaces the provisions of IAS 39 that relate to the recognition, classification and measurement of financial assets and financial liabilities, derecognition of financial instruments, impairment of financial assets and hedge accounting.

The Group has taken advantage of the exemption allowing it not to restate comparative information for prior periods with respect to classification and measurement (including impairment) changes. Differences in the carrying amounts of financial assets and financial liabilities resulting from the adoption of IFRS 9 are recognized in retained earnings and reserves as at 1 January 2018.

The adoption of IFRS 9 Financial Instruments from 1 January 2018 resulted in changes in accounting policies and adjustments to the amounts recognised in the consolidated financial statements as stated below:

The total impact on the Group’s retained earnings as at 1 January 2018 is as follows:

1 January 2018

Retained Earnings Opening – 31 December 2017

11,312,276

Increase in provision for receivables from financial services

(52,951

Decrease in provision for other financial assets

38,384

Deferred tax effect

3,419

Total impact of adoption in accordance with IFRS 9

(11,148

Retained Earnings Opening – 1 January 2018 (Including IFRS9- excluding IFRS 15)

11,301,128

On the date of initial application, 1 January 2018, the financial instruments of the Company were as follows, with any reclassifications noted;

Non-current financial assets  Original (IAS 39)   New (IFRS 9)   Original   New   Difference 

Trade receivables

   Amortized cost    Amortized cost    155,634    154,392    (1,242

Receivables from financial services

   Amortized cost    Amortized cost    1,297,597    1,297,597    —   

Held to maturity investments

   Held to maturity    Amortized cost    654    654    —   

Current financial assets

          

Trade receivables

   Amortized cost    Amortized cost    2,848,572    2,888,862    40,290 

Due from related parties

   Amortized cost    Amortized cost    5,299    5,522    223 

Receivables from financial services

   Amortized cost    Amortized cost    2,950,523    2,897,572    (52,951

Derivatives

   FVPL    FVPL    981,396    981,396    —   

Cash and cash equivalents

   Amortized cost    Amortized cost    4,712,333    4,711,452    (881

Held to maturity investments

   Held to maturity    Amortized cost    11,338    11,332    (6

Current financial liabilities

          

Derivatives

   FVPL    FVPL    110,108    110,108    —   

F-43


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(ae)

New standards and interpretations (continued)

i)

Amendments to IFRSs affecting amounts reported and/or disclosures in the consolidated financial statements (continued)

IFRS 9 Financial Instruments – Impact of adoption (continued)

Impairment of financial assets

The group recognizes impairment charges for financial assets that are subject to the expected credit loss model in accordance with IFRS 9 as below:

Trade receivables resulting from operations

Financial services receivables

Cash and cash equivalents

Financial investments

Other receivables

Other assets

Financial services receivables

On 1 January 2018, credit risks were assessed for these loans in accordance with the impairment methodology and TL (52,951) has been recognized under retained earnings.

The reconciliation of impairment provision and opening balances for financial services receivables as of 1 January 2018 is stated as below:

1 January 2018

At 1 January 2018 (calculated under IAS 39)

72,992

Amounts restated through opening retained earnings

52,951

At 1 January 2018 (calculated under IFRS 9)

125,943

Current year provision at profit or loss statement – IFRS 9

190,509

Current year provision at profit or loss statement if IAS 39 was applied

202,998

Other financial assets

The group applies the IFRS 9 simplified approach to measuring expected credit losses which uses a lifetime expected loss allowance for its financial assets comprising of trade receivables and contract assets.

The reconciliation of impairment provision and opening balances for other financial assets as of 1 January 2018 is stated as below:

1 January 2018

At 1 January 2018 (calculated under IAS 39)

705,440

Amounts restated through opening retained earnings

(38,384

At 1 January 2018 (calculated under IFRS 9)

667,056

Current year provision at profit or loss statement-IFRS 9

418,799

Current year provision at profit or loss statement if IAS 39 was applied

427,211

F-44


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(ae)

New standards and interpretations (continued)

i)

Amendments to IFRSs affecting amounts reported and/or disclosures in the consolidated financial statements (continued)

IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers – Impact of adoption

The Group adopted the new standard on the required effective date using the modified retrospective method which requires the recognition of the cumulative effect of initially applying IFRS 15 as at 1 January 2018 to retained earnings and not restate prior years.

The impact of adoption of IFRS 15, “Revenue from contracts with customers” on retained earnings as of 1 January 2018 is stated as below:

1 January 2018

Retained earnings 1 January 2018 - (including IFRS 9 effects-excluding
IFRS 15 effects)

11,301,128

Recognition of asset for subscriber acquisition cost

830,011

Decrease in current assets andnon-current assets

(132,920

Deferred tax effect

(144,632

Other

(22,437

Adjustment to retained earnings from adoption of IFRS 15

530,022

Opening retained earnings 1 January 2018 - (including IFRS 9 and IFRS 15 effects)

11,831,150

Contract costs capitalized prior to IFRS 15 have been classified under prepaid expenses. As of 1 January 2018, contract costs excluding the new incremental costs amounting to 156,879 TL has been classified from prepaid expenses to intangible assets.

Details of contract costs and related accumulated depreciation for the period 1 January—31 December 2018 has been disclosed under Note 12.

IFRS 16 Leases – Impact of adoption

Details of adoption on IFRS16 for the period 1 January - 31 December 2018 has been disclosed under Note 15.

The Group early adopted IFRS 16 with a date of initial application of 1 January 2018.

The Group adopted IFRS 16 using modified retrospective approach - option 2 application under which the cumulative effect of initially applying the Standard recognised at the date of initial application at 1 January 2018.

The amount of TL 542,179 of the right to use of the asset is attributable to the classification of the prepaid lease expenses accounted for under prepaid expenses before the application of IFRS 16.

F-45


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(ae)

New standards and interpretations (continued)

i)

Amendments to IFRSs affecting amounts reported and/or disclosures in the consolidated financial statements (continued)

IFRS 16 Leases – Impact of adoption (continued)

On transition to IFRS 16, the Group elected to apply practical expedient to grandfather the assessment of which transitions are leases. It applied IFRS 16 only to contracts that were previously identified as leases. Contracts that were not identified as leases under IAS 17 and IFRIC 4 were not reassessed for whether there is a lease. Therefore, the definition of a lease under IFRS 16 was applied only to contracts entered into or changed on or after 1 January 2018.

On transition the Group did not elect to apply recognition exemption for short-term leases by class of underlying assets and leases forlow-value items which shall be appliedlease-by-lease basis on both transition and subsequently.

As a lessee, the Group previously classified leases as operating and finance leases based on its assessment of whether the lease transferred significantly all of the risks and rewards incidental to ownership of the underlying asset to the Group. At transition lease liabilities were measured at the present value of the remaining lease payments, discounted at the Group’s incremental borrowing rate at 1 January 2018. The Group measuredright-of-use assets at an amount equal to the lease liability, adjusted by the amount of any prepaid or accrued lease payments under IFRS 16 modified retrospective approach option 2 application and used the following practical expedients;

Group applied a single discount rate to a portfolio of leases with similar characteristics

Adjusted theright-of-use assets by the amount of IAS 37 onerous contract provision immediately before the date of initial application

Excluded initial direct costs from measuring theright-of-use asset at the date of initial application

Used hindsight when determining the lease term when the contract contains options to renew or terminate the lease.

F-46


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

(ae)(ab)

New standards and interpretations (continued)

 

ii)

Standards, amendments and interpretations applicable as at 31 December 2018

Amendments to IFRS 4, ‘Insurance contracts’ regarding the implementation of IFRS 9, ‘Financial Instruments’; effective from annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2018. These amendments introduce two approaches: an overlay approach and a deferral approach. The amended standard will:

give all companies that issue insurance contracts the option to recognise in other comprehensive income, rather than profit or loss, the volatility that could arise when IFRS 9 is applied before the new insurance contracts standard is issued; and

give companies whose activities are predominantly connected with insurance an optional temporary exemption from applying IFRS 9 until 2021. The entities that defer the application of IFRS 9 will continue to apply the existing financial instruments standard IAS 39.

Amendment to IAS 40, ‘Investment property’ relating to transfers of investment property; effective from annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2018. These amendments clarify that to transfer to, or from, investment properties there must be a change in use. To conclude if a property has changed use there should be an assessment of whether the property meets the definition. This change must be supported by evidence.

Amendments to IFRS 2, ‘Share based payments’ on clarifying how to account for certain types of share-based payment transactions; effective from annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2018. This amendment clarifies the measurement basis for cash-settled, share-based payments and the accounting for modifications that change an award from cash-settled to equity-settled. It also introduces an exception to the principles in IFRS 2 that will require an award to be treated as if it was wholly equity-settled, where an employer is obliged to withhold an amount for the employee’s tax obligation associated with a share-based payment and pay that amount to the tax authority.

Annual improvements 2014-2016;effective from annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2018. These amendments impact 2 standards:

IFRS 1, ‘First time adoption of IFRS’, regarding the deletion of short-term exemptions for first-time adopters regarding IFRS 7, IAS 19 and IFRS 10,

IAS 28, ‘Investments in associates and joint venture’ regarding measuring an associate or joint venture at fair value.

IFRIC 22, ‘Foreign currency transactions and advance consideration’; effective from annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2018. This IFRIC addresses foreign currency transactions or parts of transactions where there is consideration that is denominated or priced in a foreign currency. The interpretation provides guidance for when a single payment/receipt is made as well as for situations where multiple payments/receipts are made. The guidance aims to reduce diversity in practice.

F-47


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies2019 (continued)

 

(ae)

New standards and interpretations (continued)

iii)

Standards, amendments and interpretationssolely has cash flows that are issued but notprincipal and interest and (2) that when a financial liability measured at amortized cost is modified without this resulting inde-recognition, a gain or loss should be recognized immediately in profit or loss. The gain or loss is calculated as the difference between the original contractual cash flows and the modified cash flows discounted at the original effective as at 31 December 2018interest rate. This means that the difference cannot be spread over the remaining life of the instrument which may be a change in practice from IAS 39.

 

Amendment to IFRS 9, ‘Financial instruments’;effective from annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019. This amendment confirm that when a financial liability measured at amortised cost is modified without this resulting inde-recognition, a gain or loss should be recognised immediately in profit or loss. The gain or loss is calculated as the difference between the original contractual cash flows and the modified cash flows discounted at the original effective interest rate. This means that the difference cannot be spread over the remaining life of the instrument which may be a change in practice from IAS 39.

Amendment to IAS 28, ‘Investments“Investments in associates and joint venture’venture”;effective from annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019. These amendments clarify that companies account for long-term interests in associate or joint venture to which the equity method is not applied using IFRS 9.

 

IFRIC 23, ‘Uncertainty“Uncertainty over income tax treatments’treatments”;effective from annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019. This IFRIC clarifies how the recognition and measurement requirements of IASofIAS 12 ‘Income taxes’, are applied where there is uncertainty over income tax treatments. The IFRS IC had clarified previously that IAS 12, not IAS 37 ‘Provisions,“Provisions, contingent liabilities and contingent assets’assets”, applies to accounting for uncertain income tax treatments. IFRIC 23 explains how to recogniserecognize and measure deferred and current income tax assets and liabilities where there is uncertainty over a tax treatment. An uncertain tax treatment is any tax treatment applied by an entity where there is uncertainty over whether that treatment will be accepted by the tax authority. For example, a decision to claim a deduction for a specific expense or not to include a specific item of income in a tax return is an uncertain tax treatment if its acceptability is uncertain under tax law. IFRIC 23 applies to all aspects of income tax accounting where there is an uncertainty regarding the treatment of an item, including taxable profit or loss, the tax bases of assets and liabilities, tax losses and credits and tax rates.rates:

 

Annual improvements 2015-2017;effective from annual periods beginning on or after1 January 2019. These amendments include minor changes to:

IFRS 17, ‘Insurance contracts’;3, “Business combinations”, – a company remeasures its previously held interest in a joint operation when it obtains control of the business.

IFRS 11, “Joint arrangements”, – a company does not remeasure its previously held interest in a joint operation when it obtains joint control of the business.

IAS 12, “Income taxes” – a company accounts for all income tax consequences of dividend payments in the same way.

IAS 23, “Borrowing costs” – a company treats as part of general borrowings any borrowing originally made to develop an asset when the asset is ready for its intended use or sale.

Amendments to IAS 19, “Employee benefits” on plan amendment, curtailment or settlement;effective from annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2021. This standard replaces IFRS 4, which currently permits a wide variety of practices in accounting for insurance contracts. IFRS 17 will fundamentally change the accounting by all entities that issue insurance contracts and investment contracts with discretionary participation features.2019. These amendments require an entity to:

 

F-48Use updated assumptions to determine current service cost and net interest for the reminder of the period after a plan amendment, curtailment or settlement; and

Recognize in profit or loss as part of past service cost, or a gain or loss on settlement, any reduction in a surplus, even if that surplus was not previously recognized because of the impact of the asset ceiling.


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

2.

Basis of preparation and summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

(ae)(ab)

New standards and interpretations (continued)

 

(iii)iii)

Standards, amendments and interpretations that are issued but not effective as at 31 December 2018 (continued)2019

Annual improvements 2015-2017;effective from annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019. These amendments include minor changes to:

IFRS 3, ‘Business combinations’, – a company remeasures its previously held interest in a joint operation when it obtains control of the business.

IFRS 11, ‘Joint arrangements’, – a company does not remeasure its previously held interest in a joint operation when it obtains joint control of the business.

IAS 12, ‘Income taxes’ – a company accounts for all income tax consequences of dividend payments in the same way.

IAS 23, ‘Borrowing costs’ – a company treats as part of general borrowings any borrowing originally made to develop an asset when the asset is ready for its intended use or sale.

Amendments to IAS 19, ‘Employee benefits’ on plan amendment, curtailment or settlement’; effective from annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019. These amendments require an entity to:

use updated assumptions to determine current service cost and net interest for the reminder of the period after a plan amendment, curtailment or settlement; and

recognise in profit or loss as part of past service cost, or a gain or loss on settlement, any reduction in a surplus, even if that surplus was not previously recognised because of the impact of the asset ceiling.

 

Amendments to IAS 1 and IAS 8 on the definition of material;effective from Annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2020. These amendments to IAS 1, ‘Presentation“Presentation of financial statements’statements”, and IAS 8, ‘Accounting“Accounting policies, changes in accounting estimates and errors’errors”, and consequential amendments to other IFRSs:

 

i) useUse a consistent definition of materiality throughout IFRSs and the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting;Reporting,

 

ii) clarifyClarify the explanation of the definition of material;material, and

 

iii) incorporateIncorporate some of the guidance in IAS 1 about immaterial information.information

This amendment has no material effect on the Group’s financial statements.

 

Amendments to IFRS 3 - definition of a business;effective from Annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2020. This amendment revises the definition of a business. According to feedback received by the IASB, application of the current guidance is commonly thought to be too complex, and it results in too many transactions qualifying as business combinations. This amendment has no material effect on the Group’s financial statements.

The Company does not expected

IFRS 17, “Insurance contracts”;effective from annual periods beginning on or after1 January 2021. This standard replaces IFRS 4, which currently permits a wide variety of practices in accounting for insurance contracts. IFRS 17 will fundamentally change the accounting by all entities that issue insurance contracts and investment contracts with discretionary participation features. This amendment has no material impact of new standards and interpretationseffect on Company’s accounting policies.

F-49the Group’s financial statements.


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

3.

Financial risk management

This note explains the Group’s exposure to financial risks and how these risks could affect the Group’s future financial performance. Current year profit and loss information has been included where relevant to add further context.

The Group’s risk management is carried out by a central treasury department (“Group Treasury) under policies approved byare set to determine and analyze the Audit Committee. Group Treasury identifies, evaluatesrisks faced, to establish the appropriate risk limits and manages financial risks in closeco-operation withto observe the commitment to those limits. These policies are constantly reviewed to make sure they reflect the Group’s operating units. The Audit Committee provides written principles for overall risk management, as well as policies covering specific areas, such as foreign exchange risk, interest rate risk, credit risk, use of derivative financial instrumentsoperations andnon-derivative financial instruments, and investment of excess liquidity. In addition, Risk Early Detection Committee was established the changes in accordance with the New Turkish Commercial Code effective from 1 July 2012.market conditions.

Credit risk

At the reporting date, there were no significant concentrations of credit risk. The maximum exposure to credit risk is represented by the carrying amount of cash and cash equivalents, financial asset at fair value through profit or loss ,other comprehensive income, financial asset at amortize cost, derivative financial instruments, trade receivables, receivables from financial services, due from related parties and other assets (Note 35)36).

Management has a credit policy in place and the exposure to credit risk is monitored on an ongoing basis. The Group may require collateral in respect of financial assets. Also, the Group may demand letters of guarantee from third parties related to certain projects or contracts. The Group may also demand certain pledges from counterparties if necessary in return for the credit support it gives related to certain financings (Note 19).

In monitoring customer credit risk, customers are grouped according to whether they are subscribers, financial services customers, other corporate customers and aging profile, maturity and existence of previous financial difficulties. Trade receivables and accrued income are mainly related to the Group’s subscribers. The Group’s exposure to credit risk on trade receivables is influenced mainly by the individual

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

3.

Financial risk management (continued)

Credit risk (continued)

payment characteristics of postpaid subscribers. The Group establishes an allowance for impairment that represents its estimate of incurred losses in respect of trade and other receivables.

This allowance comprise ofcomprises the general provision which is determined based on a loss event.

Investments are preferred to be in liquid securities. The counterparty limits are set monthly depending on their ratings from the most credible rating agencies and the amount of theirpaid-in capital and/or shareholders equity. Policies are in place to review thepaid-in capital and rating of counterparties periodically to ensure credit worthiness.

Transactions involving derivatives are executed withThe Group signs local and international counterpartiesderivate agreements in order to be able to execute financial derivative transactions with whom the Group has signed international agreements and whichfinancial institutions that are believed to have soundsufficient credit ratings.

The Group’s policy is to provide financial guarantees only to subsidiaries and distributors. At 31 December 2018,2019, guarantees of TL 4,988,5803,323,318 were outstanding (31 December 2017:2018: TL 3,720,954)4,988,580).

F-50


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

3.

Financial risk management (continued)

Liquidity risk

Prudent liquidity risk management implies maintaining sufficient cash and the availability of funding through an adequate amount of committed credit facilities to meet obligations when due and to close out market positions. At the end of the reporting period the Group held deposits at call of TL 587,007 (2017:632,022 (31 December 2018: TL 603,553)587,007) that are expected to readily generate cash inflows for managing liquidity risk. Due to the dynamic nature of the underlying businesses, the Group Treasury maintains flexibility in funding by maintaining availability under committed credit lines.

Management monitors rolling forecasts of the Group’s liquidity reserve (Note 35)36) and cash and cash equivalents (Note 24) on the basis of expected cash flows. In addition, the Group’s liquidity management policy involves projecting cash flows in major currencies and considering the level of liquid assets necessary to meet these, monitoring balance sheet liquidity ratios against internal and external regulatory requirements and maintaining debt financing plans.

Market risk

Market risk is the risk that changes in market prices, such as foreign exchange rates, interest rates and equity prices affect the Group’s income or the value of its holdings of financial instruments. The objective of market risk management is to manage and control market risk exposures within acceptable parameters, while optimizing the return on risk.

The Group uses derivatives in order to manage market risks. All such transactions are carried at within the guidelines set by the Group Treasury.

 

 (i)

Foreign exchange risk

The Group operates internationally and is exposed to foreign exchange risk arising from foreign currency transactions, primarily with respect to the USD, EUR and RMB. Foreign exchange risk arises from recognized assets and liabilities denominated in a currency that is not the functional currency of the relevant Group entity. The Group holds a significant portion of its cash and cash equivalent in foreign currencycurrencies in order to manage foreign exchange risk. In additional,addition, derivative financial instruments are used to manage exposure to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates and as of 1 July 2018 the Company applies hedge accounting.

Foreign exchange risk arising from the net assetsDetails of the subsidiary Fintur is not managed by the Group.

Details of Company’s foreign exchange risk is disclosed in Note 35.36.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

3.

Financial risk management (continued)

Market risk (continued)

 

 (ii)

Interest rate risk

The Group’s exposure to interest rate risk is related to its financial assets and liabilities. The Group manage its financial liabilities by providing an appropriate distribution between fixed and floating rate loans. Floating rate exposures can be changed to fixed rate exposures based on short term and long term market expectations via financial derivatives. The use of financial derivatives is governed by the Group Treasury’s policies approved by the Audit Committee, which provide written principles on the use of derivatives.

The Group’s borrowings and receivables are carried at amortized cost. The borrowings are periodically contractually repriced (Note 35)36) and to that extent are also exposed to the risk of future changes in market interest rates.

Effect of IBOR reform

F-51

Following the financial crisis, the reform and replacement of benchmark interest rates such as USD LIBOR and other interbank offered rates (‘IBORs’) has become a priority for global regulators. There is currently uncertainty around the timing and precise nature of these changes. The Group’s risk exposure that is directly affected by the interest rate benchmark reform is its USD 65,3387-year floating-rate debt. The Group has hedged this debt with participating cross currency swap, and it has designated the participating cross currency swap in a cash flow hedge of the variability in cash flows of the debt, due to changes in 6 month USD LIBOR that is the current benchmark interest rate. The nominal amount of the hedging instruments in those hedging relationships is USD 65,338.


The Group treasury department oversees The Group’s USD LIBOR transition plan. This transition project will include changes to systems, processes, risk and valuation models, as well as managing related tax and accounting implications. The Group currently anticipates that the areas of greatest change will be amendments to the contractual terms of USD LIBOR-referenced floating-rate debt and participating cross currency swap, and updating hedge designations.

Effect of IBOR reform – significant assumptions

In calculating the change in fair value attributable to the hedged risk of floating-rate debt, the Group has made the following assumptions that reflect its current expectations:

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As atThe floating-rate debt will move to an alternative benchmark rate during 2022, and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosedspread will be similar to the spread included in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded offparticipating cross currency swap used as the hedging instrument;

No other changes to the nearest thousand currency unitsterms of the floating-rate debt are anticipated; and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

The Group has incorporated the uncertainty over when the floating-rate debt will move to an alternative benchmark rate, the resulting adjustment to the spread, and the other aspects of the reform that have not yet been finalized by adding an additional spread to the discount rate used in the calculation.

 

4.

Segment information

The Group has two reportable segments in accordance with its integrated communication and technology services strategy—Turkcell Turkey and Turkcell International. While some of these strategic segments offer the same types of services, they are managed separately because they operate in different geographical locations and are affected by different economic conditions.

Operating segments are reported in a manner consistent with the internal reporting provided to the chief operating decision maker. The chief operating decision maker function is carried out by the Board of Directors, however Board of Directors may transfer the authorities, other than recognized by the law, to the General Manager and other directors.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

4.

Segment information (continued)

Turkcell Turkey reportable segment includes the operations of Turkcell,the Company, Turkcell Superonline Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. (“Turkcell Superonline”), Turkcell Satis ve Dijital Is Servisleri Hizmetleri A.S. (“Turkcell Satis”), group call center operations of Global Bilgi Pazarlama Danismanlık ve Cagri Servisi Hizmetleri A.S. (“Turkcell Global Bilgi”), Turktell Bilisim Servisleri A.S. (“Turktell”), Turkcell Teknoloji Arastirma ve Gelistirme A.S. (“Turkcell Teknoloji”), Kule Hizmet ve Isletmecilik A.S. (“Global Tower”), Rehberlik Hizmetleri Servisi A.S. (“Rehberlik”), Turkcell Odeme Hizmetleri A.S. (“Turkcell Odeme”) and Turkcell Gayrimenkul Hizmetleri A.S. (“Turkcell Gayrimenkul”). Turkcell International reportable segment includes the operations of Kibris Mobile Telekomunikasyon Limited Sirketi (“Kibris Telekom”), East Asian Consortium B.V. (“Eastasia”), Lifecell LLC (“lifecell”), Lifecell Ventures Coöperatief U.A (“Lifecell Ventures”), Beltel Telekomunikasyon Hizmetleri A.S. (“Beltel”), CJSC Belarusian Telecommunications Network (“Belarusian Telecom”), LLC UkrTower (“UkrTower”), LLC Global Bilgi (“Global LLC”), Turkcell Europe GmbH (“Turkcell Europe”), Lifetech LLC (“Lifetech”), Beltower LLC (“Beltower”) and Lifecell Digital Limited (“LificellLifecell Digital”). The operations of these legal entities aggregated into one reportable segment as the nature of services are similar and most of them share similar economic characteristics. OtherThe other reportable segment mainly comprises the information and entertainment services in Turkey and Azerbaijan,non-group call center operations of Turkcell Global Bilgi, Turkcell Finansman, A.Ş. (“ Turkcell Finansman”), Turkcell Özel Finansman A.Ş. (“TÖFAŞ”), Turkcell Enerji Cozumleri ve Elektrik Satıs Ticaret A.S (“Turkcell Enerji”) Paycell LLC, (“Paycell”),Turkcell Odeme, Turkcell Sigorta Aracılık Hizmetleri A.Ş (“Turkcell Sigorta”), Türkiye’nin Otomobili Girişim Grubu Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. (“(“Türkiye’nin Otomobili”) and Sofra Kurumsal ve Ödüllendirme Hizmetleri A.Ş.(“Sofra”).

The Board primarily uses adjusted EBITDA to assess the performance of the operating segments. Adjusted EBITDA definition includes revenue, cost of revenue excluding depreciation and amortization, selling and marketing expenses and administrative expenses.

Adjusted EBITDA is not a financial measure defined by IFRS as a measurement of financial performance and may not be comparable to other similarly-titledsimilarly titled indicators used by other companies. Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to the consolidated profit for the year is included in the accompanying notes.

F-52


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

4.

Segment information (continued)

 

 Turkcell Turkey Turkcell International All other segments Intersegment
eliminations
 Consolidated   Turkcell Turkey Turkcell International All other segments Intersegment
eliminations
 Consolidated 
 2018 2017 2018 2017 2018 2017 2018 2017 2018 2017   2019 2018 2019 2018 2019 2018 2019 2018 2019 2018 

Total segment revenue

 18,265,777  15,450,136  1,456,980  1,067,078  1,933,831  1,187,454  (364,113 (72,604 21,292,475  17,632,064    21,487,156  18,092,586  2,002,789  1,456,980  2,217,979  2,113,681  (570,789 (370,772 25,137,135  21,292,475 

Inter-segment revenue

 (42,344 (31,690 (69,657 (40,897 (252,112 (17 364,113  72,604   —     —      (79,318 (46,355 (94,703 (69,657 (396,768 (254,760 570,789  370,772   —     —   

Revenues from external customers

  18,223,433   15,418,446   1,387,323   1,026,181   1,681,719   1,187,437   —     —     21,292,475   17,632,064    21,407,838   18,046,231   1,908,086   1,387,323   1,821,211   1,858,921   —     —     25,137,135   21,292,475 

Adjusted EBITDA

 7,534,291  5,593,837  612,697  263,962  665,470  374,314  (24,476 (3,859 8,787,982  6,228,254    8,789,179  7,403,822  903,896  612,697  765,798  801,687  (32,454 (30,224 10,426,419  8,787,982 

Bad debt expense

 (248,171 49,468  (4,088 (6,070 (94,131 (79,676  —     —    (346,390 (36,278

Net impairment losses on financial and contract assets

   (223,879 (248,171 (5,109 (4,088 (109,869 (94,131  —     —    (338,857 (346,390
 Turkcell Turkey Turkcell International All other segments Intersegment
eliminations
 Consolidated   Turkcell Turkey Turkcell International All other segments Intersegment
eliminations
 Consolidated 
 2017 2016 2017 2016 2017 2016 2017 2016 2017 2016   2018 2017 2018 2017 2018 2017 2018 2017 2018 2017 

Total segment revenue

 15,450,136  12,787,592  1,067,078  874,692  1,187,454  661,923  (72,604 (38,646 17,632,064  14,285,561    18,092,586  15,340,866  1,456,980  1,067,078  2,113,681  1,297,545  (370,772 (73,425 21,292,475  17,632,064 

Inter-segment revenue

 (31,690 (19,680 (40,897 (18,964 (17 (2 72,604  38,646   —     —      (46,355 (31,757 (69,657 (40,897 (254,760 (771 370,772  73,425   —     —   

Revenues from external customers

  15,418,446   12,767,912   1,026,181   855,728   1,187,437   661,921   —     —     17,632,064   14,285,561    18,046,231   15,309,109   1,387,323   1,026,181   1,858,921   1,296,774   —     —     21,292,475   17,632,064 

Adjusted EBITDA

 5,593,837  4,160,861  263,962  235,348  374,314  222,849  (3,859 451  6,228,254  4,619,509    7,403,822  5,504,124  612,697  263,962  801,687  467,580  (30,224 (7,412 8,787,982  6,228,254 

Bad debt expense

 49,468  (195,472 (6,070 (5,956 (79,676 (9,956  —     —    (36,278 (211,384

Net impairment (losses)/gains on financial and contract assets

   (248,171 49,468  (4,088 (6,070 (94,131 (79,676  —     —    (346,390 (36,278

F-53


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

4.

Segment information (continued)

 

  2018   2017   2016   2019   2018   2017 

Profit for the period

   2,177,335    2,037,759    1,543,803    3,276,690    2,177,335    2,037,759 

Add(Less):

            

Profit/(loss) from discontinued operations

   —      —      42,164 

(Profit)/loss from discontinued operations

   (772,436   —      —   

Profit from continuing operations

   2,177,335    2,037,759    1,585,967    2,504,254    2,177,335    2,037,759 

Income tax expense

   495,481    571,758    423,160    785,630    495,481    571,758 

Finance income

   (1,932,133   (818,436   (961,642   (297,450   (1,677,114   (597,246

Finance costs

   3,619,091    1,141,302    1,134,441    2,025,118    3,364,072    920,112 

Other income

   (241,435   (74,438   (78,569   (140,705   (241,435   (74,438

Other expenses

   381,582    773,329    312,801    487,295    381,582    773,329 

Depreciation and amortization

   4,287,974    2,596,980    2,203,351    5,046,565    4,287,974    2,596,980 

Share of loss of equity accounted investees

   87    —      —      15,712    87    —   
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

Consolidated adjusted EBITDA

   8,787,982    6,228,254    4,619,509    10,426,419    8,787,982    6,228,254 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

Geographical information

In presenting the information on the basis of geographical segments, segment revenue is based on the geographical location of operations and segment assets are based on the geographical location of the assets.

 

  2018   2017   2016   2019   2018   2017 

Revenues

            

Turkey

   19,636,682    16,431,863    13,321,503    23,229,046    19,636,682    16,431,863 

Ukraine

   923,181    664,643    573,951    1,322,116    923,181    664,643 

Belarus

   293,181    209,884    149,005    366,314    293,181    209,884 

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

   209,109    169,014    148,637 

Netherlands

   8,396    366    —   

Germany

   2,154    1,580    3,016 

Azerbaijan

   268,471    174,021    108,329    —      268,471    174,021 

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

   169,014    148,637    129,785 

Germany

   1,580    3,016    2,988 

Netherlands

   366    —      —   
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 
   21,292,475    17,632,064    14,285,561    25,137,135    21,292,475    17,632,064 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

 

  31 December
2018
   31 December
2017
   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
 

Non-current assets

        

Turkey

   21,037,351    18,098,228    22,737,468    21,037,351 

Ukraine

   2,751,277    1,408,783    3,030,095    2,751,277 

Belarus

   293,622    141,802    219,281    293,622 

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

   177,380    138,371    198,732    177,380 

Azerbaijan

   —      13,663 

Unallocatednon-current assets

   168,536    112,516    197,255    168,536 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 
   24,428,166    19,913,363    26,382,831    24,428,166 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

F-54


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

5.

Revenue

 

 Turkcell Turkey Turkcell International Other Intersegment
eliminations
 Consolidated   Turkcell Turkey   Turkcell International   Other   Intersegment
eliminations
 Consolidated 
2018 2017 2018 2017 2018 2017 2018 2017 2018 2017   2019   2018   2019   2018   2019   2018   2019 2018 2019   2018 

Telecommunication services

 16,752,587  14,236,174  1,281,595  952,246   —     —    56,485  72,604  17,977,697  15,115,816    19,157,657    16,636,497    1,780,793    1,281,595    —      —      (60,147 (58,335 20,878,303    17,859,757 

Equipment revenues

 1,337,495  1,089,699  101,350  69,801   —     —     —     —    1,438,845  1,159,500    2,130,135    1,209,745    115,905    101,350    —      —      —     —    2,246,040    1,311,095 

Revenue from financial services

  —     —     —     —    941,918  605,663   —     —    941,918  605,663    —      —      —      —      1,141,712    1,121,768    (839 (2,647 1,140,873    1,119,121 

Call center revenues

  —     —    9,763  7,706  211,195  224,973  17,786   —    203,172  232,679    21,851    12,954    17,008    9,763    308,126    211,195    (34,542 (30,740 312,443    203,172 

Commission fees on betting business

  —     —     —     —    200,315  181,886   —     —    200,315  181,886    —      —      —      —      132,300    200,315    —     —    132,300    200,315 

Revenue from betting business

  —     —     —     —    268,470  174,021   —     —    268,470  174,021    —      —      —      —      —      268,470    —     —     —      268,470 

Other

 175,695  124,263  64,272  37,325  311,933  911  289,842   —    262,058  162,499    177,513    233,390    89,083    64,272    635,841    311,933    (475,261 (279,050 427,176    330,545 
 

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

 

Total

  18,265,777   15,450,136   1,456,980   1,067,078   1,933,831   1,187,454   364,113   72,604   21,292,475   17,632,064    21,487,156    18,092,586    2,002,789    1,456,980    2,217,979    2,113,681    (570,789  (370,772  25,137,135    21,292,475 
 

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

 
 Turkcell Turkey Turkcell International Other Intersegment
eliminations
 Consolidated 
2017 2016 2017 2016 2017 2016 2017 2016 2017 2016 

Telecommunication services

 14,236,174  12,126,395  952,246  796,225   —     —    72,604  38,646  15,115,816  12,883,974 

Equipment revenues

 1,089,699  579,820  69,801  44,532   —     —     —     —    1,159,500  624,352 

Revenue from financial services

  —     —     —     —    605,663  184,698   —     —    605,663  184,698 

Call center revenues

  —     —    7,706  7,084  224,973  191,480   —     —    232,679  198,564 

Commission fees on betting business

  —     —     —     —    181,886  176,167   —     —    181,886  176,167 

Revenue from betting business

  —     —     —     —    174,021  108,329   —     —    174,021  108,329 

Other

 124,263  81,377  37,325  26,851  911  1,249   —     —    162,499  109,477 
 

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

 

Total

  15,450,136   12,787,592   1,067,078   874,692   1,187,454   661,923   72,604   38,646   17,632,064   14,285,561 
 

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

 

 

F-55

   Turkcell Turkey   Turkcell International   Other   Intersegment
eliminations
  Consolidated 
  2018   2017   2018   2017   2018   2017   2018  2017  2018   2017 

Telecommunication services

   16,636,497    14,159,955    1,281,595    952,246    —      —      (58,335  (71,143  17,859,757    15,041,058 

Equipment revenues

   1,209,745    1,033,647    101,350    69,801    —      —      —     —     1,311,095    1,103,448 

Revenue from financial services

   —      —      —      —      1,121,768    715,754    (2,647  (754  1,119,121    715,000 

Call center revenues

   12,954    8,395    9,763    7,706    211,195    224,973    (30,740  (8,395  203,172    232,679 

Commission fees on betting business

   —      —      —      —      200,315    181,886    —     —     200,315    181,886 

Revenue from betting business

   —      —      —      —      268,470    174,021    —     —     268,470    174,021 

Other

   233,390    138,869    64,272    37,325    311,933    911    (279,050  6,867   330,545    183,972 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

   18,092,586    15,340,866    1,456,980    1,067,078    2,113,681    1,297,545    (370,772  (73,425  21,292,475    17,632,064 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

5.

Revenue (continued)

 

   2018 
   Turkcell
Turkey
   Turkcell
International
   Other   Intersegment
eliminations
   Consolidated 

Telecommunication Services

   16,752,587    1,281,595    —      56,485    17,977,697 

At a point in time

   267,329        —      7,493    259,836 

Over time

   16,485,258    1,281,595    —      48,992    17,717,861 

Equipment Related

   1,337,495    101,350    —      —      1,438,845 

At a point in time

   1,330,808    101,350    —      —      1,432,158 

Over time

   6,687    —      —      —      6,687 

Call Center

   —      9,763    211,195    17,786    203,172 

At a point in time

   —      —      —      —      —   

Over time

   —      9,763    211,195    17,786    203,172 

Commision fees on betting business

   —      —      200,315    —      200,315 

At a point in time

   —      —      —      —      —   

Over time

   —      —      200,315    —      200,315 

Revenue from betting business

   —      —      268,470    —      268,470 

At a point in time

   —      —      —      —      —   

Over time

   —      —      268,470    —      268,470 

Revenue from financial operations

   —      —      941,918    —      941,918 

At a point in time

   —      —      38,955    —      38,955 

Over time

   —      —      902,963    —      902,963 

All other segments

   175,695    64,272    311,933    289,842    262,058 

At a point in time

   12,211    8,556    7,576    —      28,343 

Over time

   163,484    55,716    304,357    289,842    233,715 

Total

   18,265,777    1,456,980    1,933,831    364,113    21,292,475 

At a point in time

   1,610,348    109,906    46,531    7,493    1,759,292 

Over time

   16,655,429    1,347,074    1,887,300    356,620    19,533,183 

6.

Other income and expense

Other income amounted to TL 241,435, TL 74,438 and TL 78,569 for the years ended 31 December 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.
   2019 
   Turkcell
Turkey
   Turkcell
International
   Other   Intersegment
eliminations
  Consolidated 

Telecommunication Services

   19,157,657    1,780,793    —      (60,147  20,878,303 

At a point in time

   198,734    10,555    —      —     209,289 

Over time

   18,958,923    1,770,238    —      (60,147  20,669,014 

Equipment Related

   2,130,135    115,905    —      —     2,246,040 

At a point in time

   2,050,055    115,905    —      —     2,165,960 

Over time

   80,080    —      —      —     80,080 

Revenue from financial operations

   —      —      1,141,712    (839  1,140,873 

At a point in time

   —      —      222,930    (839  222,091 

Over time

   —      —      918,782    —     918,782 

Call Center

   21,851    17,008    308,126    (34,542  312,443 

At a point in time

   —      —      —      —     —   

Over time

   21,851    17,008    308,126    (34,542  312,443 

Commission fees on betting business

   —      —      132,300    —     132,300 

At a point in time

   —      —      —      —     —   

Over time

   —      —      132,300    —     132,300 

Revenue from betting business

   —      —      —      —     —   

At a point in time

   —      —      —      —     —   

Over time

   —      —      —      —     —   

All other segments

   177,513    89,083    635,841    (475,261  427,176 

At a point in time

   37,726    19,300    2,306    (657  58,675 

Over time

   139,787    69,783    633,535    (474,604  368,501 

Total

   21,487,156    2,002,789    2,217,979    (570,789  25,137,135 

At a point in time

   2,286,515    145,760    225,236    (1,496  2,656,015 

Over time

   19,200,641    1,857,029    1,992,743    (569,293  22,481,120 

Other expenses amounted to TL 381,582, TL 773,329 and TL 312,801 for years ended 31 December 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Other income for the years ended 31 December 2018 mainly consist of reversal of legal provisions, gain on sale of investments and fixed assets and gain on modification of lease contract .

Other income for the years ended 31 December 2017 and 2016 mainly consist of gain on sale of fixed assets and reversal of legal provisions (Note 37).

Other expenses for the year ended 31 December 2018 mainly consist of donations and litigation expenses, loss on modification of lease contract.

Other income for the year ended 31 December 2017 and 2016 mainly consist of donations and litigation expenses (Note 37).

F-56


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

5.

Revenue (continued)

   2018 
   Turkcell
Turkey
   Turkcell
International
   Other   Intersegment
eliminations
  Consolidated 

Telecommunication Services

   16,636,497    1,281,595    —      (58,335  17,859,757 

At a point in time

   102,524    —      —      (11,504  91,020 

Over time

   16,533,973    1,281,595    —      (46,831  17,768,737 

Equipment Related

   1,209,745    101,350    —      —     1,311,095 

At a point in time

   1,203,058    101,350    —      —     1,304,408 

Over time

   6,687    —      —      —     6,687 

Revenue from financial operations

   —      —      1,121,768    (2,647  1,119,121 

At a point in time

   —      —      254,383    (2,647  251,736 

Over time

   —      —      867,385    —     867,385 

Call Center

   12,954    9,763    211,195    (30,740  203,172 

At a point in time

   —      —      —      —     —   

Over time

   12,954    9,763    211,195    (30,740  203,172 

Commission fees on betting business

   —      —      200,315    —     200,315 

At a point in time

   —      —      —      —     —   

Over time

   —      —      200,315    —     200,315 

Revenue from betting business

   —      —      268,470    —     268,470 

At a point in time

   —      —      —      —     —   

Over time

   —      —      268,470    —     268,470 

All other segments

   233,390    64,272    311,933    (279,050  330,545 

At a point in time

   142,504    8,556    7,576    —     158,636 

Over time

   90,886    55,716    304,357    (279,050  171,909 

Total

   18,092,586    1,456,980    2,113,681    (370,772  21,292,475 

At a point in time

   1,448,086    109,906    261,959    (14,151  1,805,800 

Over time

   16,644,500    1,347,074    1,851,722    (356,621  19,486,675 

6.

Other income and expense

Other income amounted to TL 140,705, TL 241,435 and TL 74,438 for the years ended 31 December 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Other income for the year ended 31 December 2019 comprises gain on sale of fixed assets amounted toTL 47,169, rent income amounted to TL 6,522 and other miscellaneous expenses. Other income for the year ended 31 December 2018 consists of gain on sale of fixed assets amounted to TL 43,727, reversal of legal provisions amounted to TL 21,054 and other miscellaneous expenses. Other income for the year ended 31 December 2017 comprises gain on sale of fixed assets amounted to TL 33,837 and other miscellaneous expenses.

Other expenses amounted to TL 487,295, TL 381,582 and TL 773,329 for years ended 31 December 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Other expenses for the year ended 31 December 2019 mainly consist of tax settlements, restructuring costs and litigation expenses amounted to TL 199,000, TL 91,710 and TL 29,444, respectively. Other expenses for the years ended 31 December 2018 and 2017 mainly consist of donations and litigation expenses amounted to TL 176,321 (2017: TL 113,085) and TL 87,099 (2017: TL 585,585).

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

7.

Employee benefit expenses

 

   2018   2017   2016 

Wages and salaries (*)

   2,030,641    1,746,147    1,450,262 

Employee termination benefits (**)

   29,140    32,862    32,977 

Defined contribution plans

   9,361    8,107    7,722 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   2,069,142    1,787,116    1,490,961 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

   2019   2018   2017 

Wages and salaries (*)

   2,503,611    2,030,641    1,746,147 

Employee termination benefits (**)

   31,799    29,140    32,862 

Defined contribution plans

   12,785    9,361    8,107 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   2,548,195    2,069,142    1,787,116 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

(*)

Wages and salaries include compulsory social security contributions, bonuses and share based payments.

(**)

Remeasurements of employee termination benefits for the years ended 31 December 2019, 2018 2017 and 20162017 amounting to TL (12,699),36,385, TL 3,738(12,699) and TL 34,5323,738 respectively are reflected in other comprehensive income.

Employee benefit expenses are recognized in cost of revenue, selling and marketing expenses and administrative expenses.

 

8.

Finance income and costs

Recognized in the statement of profit or loss:

 

   2018   2017   2016 

Fair value gains on derivative financial instruments and interest

   654,933    317,542    282,408 

Cash flow hedges – reclassified to profit or loss

   568,370    —      —   

Interest income on bank deposits

   395,045    278,599    158,206 

Interest income on financial assets measured at amortized cost

   204,191    185,004    445,943 

Credit finance income

   50,828    36,186    74,522 

Other

   58,766    1,105    563 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Finance income

   1,932,133    818,436    961,642 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net foreign exchange losses

   (2,695,045   (718,501   (782,463

Interest expenses for financial liabilities

measured at amortized cost

   (807,120   (385,386   (343,290

Late payment interest expense

   —      (29,115   —   

Other

   (116,926   (8,300   (8,688
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Finance costs

   (3,619,091   (1,141,302   (1,134,441
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net finance costs

   (1,686,958   (322,866   (172,799
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   2019   2018   2017 

Interest income

   288,010    395,045    278,599 

Net fair value gains on derivative financial instruments and interest (*)

   —      654,933    317,542 

Cash flow hedges – reclassified to profit or loss (*)

   —      568,370    —   

Other

   9,440    58,766    1,105 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Finance income

   297,450    1,677,114    597,246 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net foreign exchange losses

   (1,039,618   (2,695,045   (718,501

Net interest expenses for financial assets and liabilities measured at amortized cost

   (864,492   (552,101   (193,311

Net fair value losses on derivative financial instruments and interest (*)

   (550,438   —      —   

Cash flow hedges – reclassified to profit or loss (*)

   461,133    —      —   

Other

   (31,703   (116,926   (8,300
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Finance costs

   (2,025,118   (3,364,072   (920,112
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net finance costs

   (1,727,668   (1,686,958   (322,866
  

 

 

   

 

 

 �� 

 

 

 

(*)

Interest expense/income and fair value of derivative financial instruments are shown netted off in the consolidated statement of profit or loss.

Finance incomes for the years ended 31 December 2019, are mainly attributable to interest income on bank deposits.

Finance income for the years ended 31 December 2018 2017 and 20162017 are mainly attributable to interest income on contracted handset sales, changes in fair value of derivative financial instruments, interest income on bank deposits and cash flow hedge.

ForeignNet foreign exchange losses mainly include foreign exchange losses on borrowings, and bonds issued amounting to TL 2,378,910 and TL 1,335,308 as of 31 December 2018.cash and cash equivalents.

Finance costs for year ended 31 December 2019, 2018 and 2017 are mainly attributable to the financing costs of borrowings, foreign exchange losses from operating and financing activities.

Finance costs

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 2016 is mainly attributable31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the financing costs of borrowings, 4.5G license fees payable, foreign exchange losses of Belarusian Telecom operatingnearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Belarus and foreign exchange losses of lifecell operating in Ukraine.Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

8.

Finance income and costs (continued)

Foreign exchange losses from Belarusian Telecom and lifecell exclude foreign exchange losses incurred in the foreign operations’ individual financial statements, which have been recognized directly in equity under foreign currency translation reserve in the consolidated financial statements in accordance with the accounting policy for net investment in foreign operations as disclosed in Note 2c.

 

9.

Income tax expense

F-57

   2019   2018   2017 

Current income tax expense

   (570,509   (654,953   (437,967

Deferred income tax (expense)/credit

   (215,121   159,472    (133,791
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total income tax expense

   (785,630   (495,481   (571,758
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Income tax expense is attributable to profit from continuing operations.


Income tax relating to each component of other
comprehensive income
            
   Before tax   Tax (expense)/
credit
   Net of tax 

2019

      

Foreign currency translation differences

   536,796    (99,234   437,562 

Change in cash flow hedge reserve

   (217,877   47,933    (169,944

Change in cost of hedging reserve

   75,605    (16,634   58,971 

Fair value reserve

   4,451    (979   3,472 

Hedges of net investments in foreign operations

   (55,389   12,186    (43,203

Remeasurements of employee termination benefits

   (36,385   8,005    (28,380
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   307,201    (48,723   258,478 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

2018

      

Foreign currency translation differences

   850,188    (226,667   623,521 

Change in cash flow hedge reserve

   19,156    (4,214   14,942 

Change in cost of hedging reserve

   (347,602   76,472    (271,130

Remeasurements of employee termination benefits

   12,699    (2,794   9,905 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   534,441    (157,203   377,238 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

2017

      

Foreign currency translation differences

   100,149    (107,299   (7,150

Remeasurements of employee termination benefits

   (3,738   748    (2,990
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   96,411    (106,551   (10,140
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

9.

Income tax expense

   2018   2017   2016 

Current income tax expense

   (654,953   (437,967   (200,663

Deferred income tax (expense)/credit

   159,472    (133,791   (222,497
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total income tax expense

   (495,481   (571,758   (423,160
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Income tax expense is attributable to profit from continuing operations.

Income tax relating to each component of other comprehensive income

      
   Before tax   Tax (expense)/
credit
   Net of tax 

2018

      

Foreign currency translation differences

   850,188    (226,667   623,521 

Change in cash flow hedge reserve

   19,156    (4,214   14,942 

Change in cost of hedging reserve

   (347,602   76,472    (271,130

Remeasurements of employee termination benefits

   12,699    (2,794   9,905 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   534,441    (157,203   377,238 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

2017

      

Foreign currency translation differences

   100,149    (107,299   (7,150

Remeasurements of employee termination benefits

   (3,738   748    (2,990
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   96,411    (106,551   (10,140
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

2016

      

Foreign currency translation differences

   218,472    (87,381   131,091 

Remeasurements of employee termination benefits

   (34,532   7,066    (27,466
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   183,940    (80,315   103,625 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

F-58


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

9.

Income tax expense (continued)

 

Reconciliation of income tax expense

 

  2018   2017   2016   2019   2018   2017 

Profit from continuing operations before income tax expense

   2,672,816    2,609,517    2,009,127    3,289,884    2,672,816    2,609,517 

(Loss) from discontinued operations before income tax expense

   —      —      (42,164   772,436    —      —   
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

Profit before income tax expense

   2,672,816    2,609,517    1,966,963    4,062,320    2,672,816    2,609,517 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

Tax at the Turkey’s tax rate

   (588,020   (521,903   (393,393   (893,710   (588,020   (521,903

Difference in overseas tax rates

   7,617    4,133    (15,935   (12,580   7,617    4,133 

Effect of exemptions (*)

   198,160    73,916    104,244    123,878    198,160    73,916 

Effect of amounts which are not deductible

   (91,778   (102,102   (78,571

Tax exemption from subsidiary sale(**)

   24,268    —      —   

Utilization of previously unrecognized tax losses

   —      —      1,253 

Effect of amounts which are not deductible and permanent differences

   (134,538   (91,778   (102,102

Tax exemption from subsidiary sale (**)

   169,936    24,268    —   

Change in unrecognized deferred tax assets (***)

   (50,551   (41,340   (30,616   (46,865   (50,551   (41,340

Adjustments for current tax of prior years

   2,510    11,280    (8,176   3,880    2,510    11,280 

Tax effect of investment in associate

   —      —      —   

Tax effect of investment in associate and joint venture

   2,592    —      —   

Other

   2,313    4,258    (1,966   1,777    2,313    4,258 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

Total income tax expense

   (495,481   (571,758   (423,160   (785,630   (495,481   (571,758
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

 

(*)

Mainly comprises of research and development tax credit andexemption effect. For the year ended 31 December 2018, includes the exemption effect of Fintur amounted to TL 76,164.

(**)

TheFor the years ended 31 December 2019 and 2018, includes the Group’s transfer of its total shareholding in Fintur and Azerinteltek, controlled by Inteltek to one of other shareholder of Azerinteltek, Baltech Investment LLC (Notrespectively (Note 39).

(***)

Mainly comprises of tax losses for which no deferred tax asset has been recognized.

The Turkish entities within the Group are subject to corporate tax at the rate of 20%. Corporate tax is applied on taxable corporate income, which is calculated from the statutory accounting profit by adding backnon-deductible expenses, and by deducting tax exempt income. On December 5, 2017, Turkey’s Law No. 7061 on the Amendment of SomeCertain Tax Laws and Some Other Laws, and which was adopted onon28 November 28, 2017, was published in the Official Gazette. The Law increases the corporate tax rate under the Corporate Tax Law, No. 5520, from the current 20% rate to 22% for tax years 2018, 2019, and 2020; the change took effect on the Law’s date of publication. The corporate tax rate is expected to decrease to 20% from 2021 onwards.

In Turkey, there is no procedure for a final and definitive agreement on tax assessments. Companies file their tax returns at the end of untilby the 25th day of the forthfourth month following the closeclosing of the accounting year to which they relate. Corporate tax payment is made untilby the end of the month in which the tax return is filed. TaxThe tax authorities may, however, examine such returns and the underlying accounting records, and may revise assessments within five years.a five-year period. Advance tax returns are filed on a quarterly basis.

In Turkey, the transfer pricing provisions have been stated under the Article 13 of Corporate Tax Law with the heading of “disguised profit distribution via transfer pricing”. The General Communiqué on disguised profit distribution via Transfer Pricing, dated 18 November 2007 sets out the details aboutof implementation.

F-59


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

9.

Income tax expense (continued)

If a taxpayer enters into transactions regarding the sale or purchase of goods and services with related parties, where the prices are not set in accordance with arm’s length principle, then related profits are considered to be distributed in a disguised manner through transfer pricing. Such disguised profit distributions through transfer pricing are not accepted as tax deductible for corporate income tax purposes.

The deduction of 100% of the research and development expenses is allowed when the taxpayers are made these expenditures exclusively for new technology and information researches.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

9.

Income tax expense (continued)

Reconciliation of income tax expense (continued)

Dividend payments of Turkish resident corporations to Turkish real persons, foreign corporations and foreign real persons are subject to 15% withholding tax. It is possible to apply reduced withholding tax rate for dividend payments made to abroad, under the scope of provisions of an applicable double taxation treaty. On the other hand, dividend payments made to Turkish resident companies are not subject to withholding tax.

Dividend income of Turkish taxpayers received from other Turkish taxpayers is exempted from corporate tax. However, dividends received from participation shares and stocks of fund and investment partnerships cannot utilize from this exemption.

75% of the profits arising from the sale of affiliate shares, founders’ shares, redeemed shares and preemptive rights that are held by the corporations for at least two years are exempted from corporate tax. However, as of 5 December 2017, the date of the publication of the Law No. 7061, 50% part of the profits arising from the sale of the immovable properties that are included in the assets of the corporations for two years are exempted from corporate tax. The exemption rate ishad been 75% beforeprior to this date. In order to benefit from these exemptions, profits must be recorded under a passive fund account inon the balance sheet and not withdrawn for 5 years. Also, the sale amounts must be received until the end of the second calendar year following the sale.

Pursuant to Article10/13-h of Law No.7143 which was published in the Official Gazette dated 18 May 2018 and numbered 30425;

 

forFor the resident real persons and institutions,

 

Income from the sale ofnon-resident subsidiary shares,

 

Participation income fromnon-resident subsidiaries,

 

Commercial income through permanent establishment and permanent representatives abroad,

including those obtained until the date 31 October 2018, are exempted from income tax or corporation tax under condition that incomes are transferred from the effective date of Article until 31December31 December 2018. In accordance with the President DecisionPresidential Decree dated 29 August 2018 and numbered 48, the terms of the Article hashave been extended for 6 months. In this way, including those obtained until the date 30 April 2019, income from the sale ofnon-resident subsidiary’s shares are exempted from corporation tax under condition that incomes are transferred until 30 June 2019.

 

forFor the resident real persons and institutions, income from the liquidation ofnon-resident institutions are exempt from income tax or corporation tax under condition that incomes are transferred to Turkey until the date 31 December 2018. In accordance with the President Decision dated 29 August 2018 and numbered 48, the terms of the Article hashave been extended for 6 months. In this way, income from the liquidation ofnon-resident institutions are exempted from corporation tax under condition that incomes are transferred until 30 June 2019.

F-60


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

10.

Expenses by nature

Breakdown of expenses by nature for the years ended 31 December 2019, 2018 2017 and 20162017 is as follows:

Cost of revenue:

 

  2018   2017   2016   2019   2018   2017 

Depreciation and amortization

   (4,287,974   (2,596,980   (2,203,351

Depreciation and amortization (*)

   (5,046,565   (4,287,974   (2,596,980

Cost of goods sold

   (2,278,283   (1,284,180   (965,054

Treasury share

   (1,884,556   (1,669,807   (1,491,503   (2,191,427   (1,884,556   (1,669,807

Interconnection and termination expenses

   (1,763,414   (1,607,079   (1,420,233   (1,909,614   (1,763,414   (1,607,079

Employee benefit expenses

   (1,202,485   (1,046,544   (859,143   (1,501,617   (1,193,953   (1,041,755

Cost of goods sold

   (1,108,734   (870,226   (551,656

Frequency expenses

   (622,390   (278,727   (229,396   (802,950   (622,390   (278,727

Radio expenses

   (508,884   (844,941   (828,222   (734,583   (508,884   (844,941

Cost of revenue from financial services (*)

   (348,492   (270,366   (68,546

Transmission expenses

   (326,080   (218,221   (139,185   (335,980   (326,080   (218,221

Universal service fund

   (256,454   (221,431   (192,045   (297,053   (256,454   (221,431

Cost of revenue from financial services (**)

   (240,297   (378,477   (283,000

Roaming expenses

   (226,806   (177,258   (128,429   (238,147   (226,806   (177,258

Billing and archiving expenses

   (50,929   (55,185   (61,647   (48,970   (50,929   (55,185

Others

   (1,558,795   (1,493,409   (1,063,251   (1,457,994   (1,361,896   (1,390,736
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 
   (14,145,993   (11,350,174   (9,236,607   (17,083,480   (14,145,993   (11,350,174
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

 

(*)

As at 31 December 2018,2019, depreciation and amortization expenses includesinclude depreciation and amortization expenses related to the financial services amounting to TL 12,05326,478 (31 December 2018: TL 16,321; 31 December 2017: TL 6,343;8,828).

(**)

As at 31 December 2016:2019, cost of revenue from financial services includes employee benefit expenses related to the financial services amounting to TL 1,677)11,358 (31 December 2018: TL 8,532; 31 December 2017: TL 4,789).

Selling and marketing expenses:

 

  2018   2017   2016   2019   2018   2017 

Selling expenses

   (555,158   (898,936   (757,869

Marketing expenses

   (551,127   (532,989   (518,382   (554,538   (551,127   (532,989

Employee benefit expenses

   (440,976   (394,421   (354,380   (551,801   (440,976   (394,421

Selling expenses

   (349,269   (555,158   (898,936

Frequency usage fees related to prepaid subscribers (**)

   —      (82,994   (186,530   —      —      (82,994

Others

   (79,453   (96,080   (93,786   (99,581   (79,453   (96,080
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 
   (1,626,714   (2,005,420   (1,910,947   (1,555,189   (1,626,714   (2,005,420
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

 

(**)

As of 31 DecemberStarting from 1 January 2018, Frequencyfrequency usage fees related to prepaid subscribers are shown under net impairment losses on financial and contract assets according to IFRS 9.

F-61


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

10.

Expenses by nature (continued)

 

Administrative expenses:

 

  2018   2017   2016   2019   2018   2017 

Employee benefit expenses

   (425,681   (346,151   (277,438   (483,419   (425,681   (346,151

Collection expenses

   (57,097   (37,525   (20,415

Consultancy expenses

   (51,308   (38,252   (50,247

Travel and entertainment expenses

   (38,406   (30,957   (18,913   (34,644   (38,406   (30,957

Consultancy expenses

   (38,252   (50,247   (54,315

Collection expenses

   (37,525   (20,415   (20,827

Maintenance and repair expenses

   (26,867   (24,342   (20,315   (26,610   (26,867   (24,342

Rent expenses

   —      (36,280   (30,314   —      —      (36,280

Net impairment expense recognized on receivables

   —      (36,278   (211,384   —      —      (36,278

Other

   (106,639   (100,526   (88,343   (126,677   (106,639   (100,526
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 
   (673,370   (645,196   (721,849   (779,755   (673,370   (645,196
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

Net impairment losses on financial and contract assets:

 

   2018   2017 

Net impairment losses on financial and contract assets

   (346,390   —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   (346,390   —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

   2019   2018   2017 

Net impairment losses on financial and contract assets

   (338,857   (346,390   —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   (338,857   (346,390   —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

F-62


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

11.

Property, plant and equipment

 

 Balance as at
1 January 2018
 Additions Disposals Transfers Impairment
expenses/
(reversals)
 Disposal of
subsidiary
 Effects of
movements in
exchange rates
 Transfer to
investment
property
 Balance as at
31 December
2018
   Balance as at
1 January 2019
   Additions   Disposals Transfers Impairment
expenses/
(reversals)
 Effects of
movements in
exchange rates
   Balance as at
31 December
2019
 

Cost

                    

Network infrastructure (All operational)

 15,480,128  650,610  (232,888 2,270,262   —    (15,081 979,247   —    19,132,278    19,132,278    708,891    (756,889 1,982,073   —    956,638    22,022,991 

Land and buildings

 786,058  28,828  (2,535 156,540   —     —    6,831  (45,821 929,901    929,901    52,877    —    220,637   —    7,908    1,211,323 

Equipment, fixtures and fittings

 728,202  59,311  (15,827 10,712   —    (4,041 25,143   —    803,500    803,500    97,225    (48,813 1,446   —    13,051    866,409 

Motor vehicles

 37,216  3,121  (775  —     —    (1,400 1,944   —    40,106    40,106    3,833    (491  —     —    1,070    44,518 

Leasehold improvements

 314,867  5,998  (547 3,123   —    (1,639 5,690   —    327,492    327,492    5,418    (7 317   —    2,617    335,837 

Construction in progress

 672,294  2,260,360  (670 (2,448,448 (10,744  —    39,295   —    512,087    512,087    2,354,918    (2,058 (2,216,841 (3,125 21,347    666,328 
 

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

 

Total

  18,018,765   3,008,228   (253,242  (7,811  (10,744  (22,161  1,058,150   (45,821  21,745,364    21,745,364    3,223,162    (808,258  (12,368  (3,125  1,002,631    25,147,406 
 

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

 

Accumulated depreciation

                    

Network infrastructure (All operational)

 7,326,559  1,693,374  (218,894  —    23,568  (6,887 628,497   —    9,446,217    9,446,217    2,006,650    (738,527 31,327  14,543  622,603    11,382,813 

Land and buildings

 209,918  50,514  (274  —    9   —    4,686  (25,765 239,088    239,088    58,292    —    (16,359  —    4,605    285,626 

Equipment, fixtures and fittings

 539,827  77,694  (10,839  —    49  (2,694 29,470   —    633,507    633,507    80,254    (39,143 (11,440  —    10,749    673,927 

Motor vehicles

 31,306  2,637  (712  —     —    (918 1,917   —    34,230    34,230    2,923    (296  —     —    983    37,840 

Leasehold improvements

 245,747  30,233  (547  —    12  (1,639 2,200   —    276,006    276,006    30,776    (7  —    339  1,595    308,709 
 

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

 

Total

  8,353,357   1,854,452   (231,266  —     23,638   (12,138  666,770   (25,765  10,629,048    10,629,048    2,178,895    (777,973  3,528   14,882   640,535    12,688,915 
 

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

 

Net book amount

  9,665,408   1,153,776   (21,976  (7,811  (34,382  (10,023  391,380   (20,056  11,116,316    11,116,316    1,044,267    (30,285  (15,896  (18,007  362,096    12,458,491 
 

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

 

Depreciation expenses for the years ended 31 December 2019, 2018 2017 and 20162017 amounting to TL 2,196,902, TL 1,888,834 and TL 1,499,242, and TL 1,278,009, respectively include impairment losses and are recognized in cost of revenue.

Impairment losses on property, plant and equipment for the years ended 31 December 2019, 2018 2017 and 20162017 are TL 18,007, TL 34,382 and TL 39,721, and TL 43,198, respectively and are recognized in depreciation expenses.

Capitalization rates and amounts other than borrowings made specifically for the purpose of acquiring a qualifying asset are 6.8%6.5%, 10.0%6.8% and 9.9%10.0%, TL 123,449 and TL 75,054 and TL 66,513 and TL 76,899 for the years ended 31 December 2019, 2018 2017 and 20162017 respectively.

Impaired network infrastructure mainly consists of damaged or technologically inadequate mobile and fixed network infrastructure investments.

The networkNetwork infrastructure mainly consists of mobile and fixed network infrastructure investments.

F-63


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

11.

Property, plant and equipment (continued)

 Balance as at
1 January 2017
 Additions Disposals Transfers Impairment
expenses/
(reversals)
 Effects of
movements in
exchange rates
 Transfer from
investment
property
 Balance as at
31 December
2017
   Balance as at
1 January 2018
   Additions   Disposals Transfers Impairment
expenses/
(reversals)
 Disposal of
subsidiary
 Effects of
movements in
exchange rates
   Transfer to
investment
property
 Balance as at
31 December
2018
 

Cost

                     

Network infrastructure (All operational)

 13,897,308  574,301  (1,009,922 1,907,022   —    111,419   —    15,480,128    15,480,128    650,610    (232,888 2,270,262   —    (15,081 979,247    —    19,132,278 

Land and buildings

 519,702  162,206  (1,340 39,130   —    1,766  64,594  786,058    786,058    28,828    (2,535 156,540   —     —    6,831    (45,821 929,901 

Equipment, fixtures and fittings

 617,732  117,087  (10,854 2,209   —    2,028   —    728,202    728,202    59,311    (15,827 10,712   —    (4,041 25,143    —    803,500 

Motor vehicles

 34,136  4,415  (1,719  —     —    384   —    37,216    37,216    3,121    (775  —     —    (1,400 1,944    —    40,106 

Leasehold improvements

 311,761  7,400  (5,041 486   —    261   —    314,867    314,867    5,998    (547 3,123   —    (1,639 5,690    —    327,492 

Construction in progress

 566,523  2,063,329   —    (1,949,000 (14,535 5,977   —    672,294    672,294    2,260,360    (670 (2,448,448 (10,744  —    39,295    —    512,087 
 

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

  

 

 

Total

  15,947,162   2,928,738   (1,028,876  (153  (14,535  121,835   64,594   18,018,765    18,018,765    3,008,228    (253,242  (7,811  (10,744  (22,161  1,058,150    (45,821  21,745,364 
 

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

  

 

 

Accumulated depreciation

                     

Network infrastructure (All operational)

 6,843,580  1,353,419  (990,719  —    23,589  96,690   —    7,326,559    7,326,559    1,693,374    (218,894  —    23,568  (6,887 628,497    —    9,446,217 

Land and buildings

 159,351  26,295  (221  —    1,482  645  22,366  209,918    209,918    50,514    (274  —    9   —    4,686    (25,765 239,088 

Equipment, fixtures and fittings

 497,606  48,393  (8,202  —    115  1,915   —    539,827    539,827    77,694    (10,839  —    49  (2,694 29,470    —    633,507 

Motor vehicles

 30,252  2,276  (1,642  —     —    420   —    31,306    31,306    2,637    (712  —     —    (918 1,917    —    34,230 

Leasehold improvements

 220,668  29,138  (4,417  —     —    358   —    245,747    245,747    30,233    (547  —    12  (1,639 2,200    —    276,006 
 

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

  

 

 

Total

  7,751,457   1,459,521   (1,005,201  —     25,186   100,028   22,366   8,353,357    8,353,357    1,854,452    (231,266  —     23,638   (12,138  666,770    (25,765  10,629,048 
 

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

  

 

 

Net book amount

  8,195,705   1,469,217   (23,675  (153  (39,721  21,807   42,228   9,665,408    9,665,408    1,153,776    (21,976  (7,811  (34,382  (10,023  391,380    (20,056  11,116,316 
 

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

  

 

 

F-64


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

12.

Intangible assets

Turkcell - 2G License

On 27 April 1998, the Company was granted a25-year GSM license (the “2G License”) for a consideration of USD 500,000, the carrying amount of the 2G license is TL 195,425149,443 at 31 December 20182019 (31 December 2017:2018: TL 241,407)195,425) and it is amortized over 25 years.

Turkcell - 3G License

On 30 April 2009, the Company signed a license agreement (the “3G License”) with the ICTA, which provides authorization for providing IMT 2000/UMTS services and infrastructure. The Company acquired theA-type license providing the widest frequency band for a consideration of EUR 358,000 (excluding VAT). The license is effective for 20 years starting from 30 April 2009. The carrying amount of the 3G License is TL 397,543359,071 at 31 December 20182019 (31 December 2017:2018: TL 436,014)397,543) and it is amortized over 25 years.

Turkcell - 4.5G License

On 26 August 2015, the “Authorization Tender on IMT Services and Infrastructure” publicly known as the 4.5G license tender, was held by the Information Technologies and Communication Authority and the Company was granted a total frequency band of 172.4M Hz for 13 years for a consideration of EUR 1,623,460 (excluding VAT).

IMT authorization period expires on 30 April 2029 and operators commenced service delivery for 4.5G from 1 April 2016. 2x1.4 MHz frequency band in 900MHz spectrum and 2 units of 2x5 MHz frequency band in 2100 MHz spectrum were commenced on 1 December 2015, while remaining packages were commenced on 1 April 2016.

The carrying amount of the 4.5G License is TL 4,125,7433,723,232 at 31 December 2018 (312019(31 December 2017:2018: TL 4,528,254)4,125,743).

F-65


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

12.

Intangible assets (continued)

 

  Balance at
1 January 2018
   Impact of
IFRS 15
adaption
   Additions   Disposals Transfers Impairment Disposal of
subsidiary
 Effects of movements
in exchange rates
   Balance at
31 December
2018
   Balance at
1 January 2019
   Additions   Disposals Transfers Impairment Effects of movements
in exchange rates
   Balance at
31 December
2019
 

Cost

                         

Telecommunication licenses

   8,139,628    —      6,394    (220,986 466,379   —     —    331,583    8,722,998    8,722,998    8,871    (17,035 29,161   —    388,622    9,132,617 

Computer software

   7,117,116    —      1,175,040    (4,822 159,453   —    (18,370 110,621    8,539,038    8,539,038    1,441,780    (44,952 89,729   —    108,329    10,133,924 

Transmission line software

   71,820    —      1,319    —     —     —     —     —      73,139    73,139    1,240    —     —     —     —      74,379 

Central betting system operating right

   11,981    —      —      —     —     —     —     —      11,981    11,981    445    —     —     —     —      12,426 

Indefeasible right of usage

   112,556    —      5,062    —     —     —     —     —      117,618    117,618    —      —     —     —     —      117,618 

Brand name

   7,040    —      —      —     —     —     —     —      7,040    7,040    700    —     —     —     —      7,740 

Customer base

   15,512    —      —      —     —     —     —     —      15,512    15,512    —      —     —     —     —      15,512 

Goodwill

   32,834    —      —      —     —     —     —     —      32,834    32,834    —      —     —     —     —      32,834 

Subscriber acquisition cost

   —      1,431,901    583,809    —     —     —     —    18,343    2,034,053    2,034,053    1,232,539    (39,496  —     —    21,763    3,248,859 

Other

   42,749    —      7,473    (37 11   —    (191  —      50,005    50,005    50,334    (61 (8,972  —    2,636    93,942 

Construction in progress

   127,637    —      485,815    —    (618,032  —     —    22,587    18,007    18,007    85,202    —    (96,991 (585 7,819    13,452 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

 

Total

   15,678,873    1,431,901    2,264,912    (225,845  7,811   —     (18,561  483,134    19,622,225    19,622,225   ��2,821,111    (101,544  12,927   (585  529,169    22,883,303 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

 

Accumulated amortization

                         

Telecommunication licenses

   2,419,230    —      533,311    (184,582  —     —     —    180,276    2,948,235    2,948,235    611,197    (17,035  —    17  90,554    3,632,968 

Computer software

   4,770,880    —      663,967    (3,071  —    3,232  (12,793 59,680    5,481,895    5,481,895    768,238    (41,214 7,770  1,902  71,542    6,290,133 

Transmission line software

   62,468    —      4,549    —     —     —     —     —      67,017    67,017    4,585    —     —     —     —      71,602 

Central betting system operating right

   11,491    —      583    —     —     —     —     —      12,074    12,074    301    —     —     —     —      12,375 

Indefeasible right of usage

   23,274    —      8,581    —     —     —     —     —      31,855    31,855    8,565    —     —     —     —      40,420 

Brand name

   6,512    —      528    —     —     —     —     —      7,040    7,040    —      —     —     —     —      7,040 

Customer base

   11,774    —      437    —     —     —     —     —      12,211    12,211    437    —     —     —     —      12,648 

Subscriber acquisition cost

   —      601,890    360,232    —     —     —     —    12,078    974,200    974,200    495,861    (39,496  —     —    17,041    1,447,606 

Other

   32,834    —      4,899    (31  —     —    (176  —      37,526    37,526    29,032    (61 (7,940 36  1,856    60,449 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

 

Total

   7,338,463    601,890    1,577,087    (187,684  —     3,232   (12,969  252,034    9,572,053    9,572,053    1,918,216    (97,806  (170  1,955   180,993    11,575,241 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

 

Net book amount

   8,340,410    830,011    687,825    (38,161  7,811   (3,232  (5,592  231,100    10,050,172    10,050,172    902,895    (3,738  13,097   (2,540  348,176    11,308,062 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

   

 

 

Amortization expenses for the years ended 31 December 2019, 2018 2017 and 20162017 amounting to TL 1,920,756, TL 1,580,319 and TL 1,095,401and TL 921,812,1,095,401, respectively include impairment losses and are recognized in cost of revenue.

Impairment losses on intangible assets for the years ended 31 December 2019, 2018 2017 and 20162017 are TL 2,540, TL 3,232 and TL 1,986, and TL 3,181 respectively and are recognized in amortization expenses.

Computer software includes capitalized software development costs that meet the definition of an intangible asset. The amount of capitalized development costs is TL 171,442 for the year ended 31 December 2018 (31 December 2017: TL 124,504). The amortization expenses related to capitalized software development costs for the years ended 31 December 2018, 2017 and 2016 amounting to TL 40,934, TL 37,532 and TL 30,148, respectively are recognized in cost of revenue.

F-66


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

12.

Intangible assets (continued)

 

   Balance at
1 January 2017
   Additions   Disposals  Transfers  

Impairment
  Effects of movements
in exchange rates
   Balance at
31 December 2017
 

Cost

           

Telecommunication licenses

   8,039,431    10,154    —     69,945   —     20,098    8,139,628 

Computer software

   6,076,405    470,457    (8,624  569,153   —     9,725    7,117,116 

Transmission line software

   71,602    218    —     —     —     —      71,820 

Central betting system operating right

   11,981    —      —     —     —     —      11,981 

Indefeasible right of usage

   46,017    66,539    —     —     —     —      112,556 

Brand name

   7,040    —      —     —     —     —      7,040 

Customer base

   15,512    —      —     —     —     —      15,512 

Goodwill

   32,834    —      —     —     —     —      32,834 

Other

   38,321    5,016    —     (588  —     —      42,749 

Construction in progress

   142,875    620,463    —     (638,357  —     2,656    127,637 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

   14,482,018    1,172,847    (8,624  153   —     32,479    15,678,873 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Accumulated amortization

           

Telecommunication licenses

   1,878,895    537,162    —     —     —     3,173    2,419,230 

Computer software

   4,237,996    537,805    (8,120  —     1,219   1,980    4,770,880 

Transmission line software

   58,203    3,498    —     —     767   —      62,468 

Central betting system operating right

   10,588    903    —     —     —     —      11,491 

Indefeasible right of usage

   18,785    4,489    —     —     —     —      23,274 

Brand name

   5,808    704    —     —     —     —      6,512 

Customer base

   11,286    488    —     —     —     —      11,774 

Other

   24,468    8,366    —     —     —     —      32,834 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

   6,246,029    1,093,415    (8,120  —     1,986   5,153    7,338,463 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net book amount

   8,235,989    79,432    (504  153   (1,986  27,326    8,340,410 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Computer software includes capitalized software development costs that meet the definition of an intangible asset. The amount of capitalized development costs is TL 206,064 for the year ended 31 December 2019 (31 December 2018: TL 171,442). The amortization expenses related to capitalized software development costs for the years ended 31 December 2019, 2018 and 2017 amounting to TL 47,591, TL 40,934 and TL 37,532, respectively are recognized in cost of revenue.

 

F-67

 �� Balance at
1 January 2018
   Impact of
IFRS 15
adaption
   Additions   Disposals  Transfers  Impairment  Disposal of
subsidiary
  Effects of movements
in exchange rates
   Balance at
31 December
2018
 

Cost

              

Telecommunication licenses

   8,139,628    —      6,394    (220,986  466,379   —     —     331,583    8,722,998 

Computer software

   7,117,116    —      1,175,040    (4,822  159,453   —     (18,370  110,621    8,539,038 

Transmission line software

   71,820    —      1,319    —     —     —     —     —      73,139 

Central betting system operating right

   11,981    —      —      —     —     —     —     —      11,981 

Indefeasible right of usage

   112,556    —      5,062    —     —     —     —     —      117,618 

Brand name

   7,040    —      —      —     —     —     —     —      7,040 

Customer base

   15,512    —      —      —     —     —     —     —      15,512 

Goodwill

   32,834    —      —      —     —     —     —     —      32,834 

Subscriber acquisition cost

   —      1,431,901    583,809    —     —     —     —     18,343    2,034,053 

Other

   42,749    —      7,473    (37  11   —     (191  —      50,005 

Construction in progress

   127,637    —      485,815    —     (618,032  —     —     22,587    18,007 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

   15,678,873    1,431,901    2,264,912    (225,845  7,811   —     (18,561  483,134    19,622,225 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Accumulated amortization

              

Telecommunication licenses

   2,419,230    —      533,311    (184,582  —     —     —     180,276    2,948,235 

Computer software

   4,770,880    —      663,967    (3,071  —     3,232   (12,793  59,680    5,481,895 

Transmission line software

   62,468    —      4,549    —     —     —     —     —      67,017 

Central betting system operating right

   11,491    —      583    —     —     —     —     —      12,074 

Indefeasible right of usage

   23,274    —      8,581    —     —     —     —     —      31,855 

Brand name

   6,512    —      528    —     —     —     —     —      7,040 

Customer base

   11,774    —      437    —     —     —     —     —      12,211 

Subscriber acquisition cost

   —      601,890    360,232    —     —     —     —     12,078    974,200 

Other

   32,834    —      4,899    (31  —     —     (176  —      37,526 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

   7,338,463    601,890    1,577,087    (187,684  —     3,232   (12,969  252,034    9,572,053 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net book amount

   8,340,410    830,011    687,825    (38,161  7,811   (3,232  (5,592  231,100    10,050,172 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

13.

Impairment of assets

The Group’s cash-generating units (CGUs) are reviewed at each reporting date to determine whether there is any indication of impairment. If any such indication exists, then the recoverable amount of the CGU is estimated. The recoverable amount of the CGU is its fair value less cost of disposal. Ukraine and Belarus CGUs were tested for impairment at 31At31 December 2018. None of these CGUs contains goodwill or an intangible asset with an indefinite useful life.

lifecell

At 31 December 2018, impairment of Ukraine CGU was tested using the assumption that lifecell was the CGU.

The recoverable amount of lifecell is determined based on fair value less cost of disposal calculations which require the use of assumptions. The calculations use cash flow projections based on financial budgets approved by management covering asix-year period. Cash flows beyond thesix-year period are extrapolated using the estimated growth rate.

Sensitivity analysis was performed on the change in WACC by+0.5%/-0.5% (31 December 2017:+0.5%/-0.5%).

The assumptions used in recoverable amount calculations of lifecell for the year 2018 and 2017 were respectively:

Apost-tax WACC rate of 27.0% for the period from 2019, to 2024, apost-tax WACC rate of 26.3% for the period after 2024 and a terminal growth rate of 5.3% were used to extrapolate cash flows beyond the6-year forecasts period based on the business plans.

Apost-tax WACC rate of 26.5% for the period from 2018 to 2022, apost-tax WACC rate of 25.9% for the period after 2022 and a terminal growth rate of 6.0% were used to extrapolate cash flows beyond the6-year forecasts period based on the business plans.

As the recoverable amount of lifecell was higher than its carrying amount, no impairment charge was recognized.

Belarusian Telecom

The aggregate carrying amount of goodwill arising from the acquisition of Belarusian Telecom was impaired at 31 December 2011. The cumulative impairment loss recognized in the statement of profit or losstest has been carried out since there is TL 228,774.

At 31 December 2018, impairment of Belarus CGU was tested using the assumption that Belarusian Telecom was the CGU.

The recoverable amount of Belarusian Telecom is determined based on fair value less cost of disposal calculations which require the use of assumptions. The calculations use cash flow projections based on financial budgets approved by management covering a five-year period. Cash flows beyond the five-year period are extrapolated using the estimated growth rate.

Sensitivity analysis was performed on the change in WACC by+0.5%/-0.5% (31 December 2017:+0.5%/-0.5%).

F-68


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

13.

Impairment of assets (continued)

The assumptions used in recoverable amount calculations of Belarusian Telecom for the year 2018 and 2017 were respectively:

Apost-tax WACC rate of 22.8% for the period from 2019 to 2024, apost-tax WACC rate of 22.4% for the period after 2024, and a terminal growth rate of 5.0% were used to extrapolate cash flows beyond the6-year forecast period based on the business plan.

Apost-tax WACC rate of 25.4% for the period from 2018 to 2022, apost-tax WACC rate of 24.9% for the period after 2022, and a terminal growth rate of 8.0% were used to extrapolate cash flows beyond the5-year forecast period based on the business plan.

As the recoverable amount of Belarusian Telecom was higher than its carrying amount, no impairment charge was recognized.    

Turkcell Superonline

As at 31 December 2018,indicator in any of the aggregate carrying amount of goodwill allocated to Turkcell Superonline is TL 32,834 (31 December 2017: TL 32,834). No impairment test was performed for goodwill allocated to Turkcell Superonline on the grounds of materiality.Group’s CGUs.

 

14.

Investment properties

 

   31 December
2018
   31 December
2017
 

Cost

    

Opening balance

   99,938    165,472 

Disposal

   —      (940

Transfer to property, plant and equipment (*)

   45,821    (64,594
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Closing balance

   145,759    99,938 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Accumulated depreciation

    

Opening balance

   (98,958   (119,202

Transfer to property, plant and equipment

   (25,765   22,366 

Depreciation and impairment charges during the year

   (5,611   (2,337

Disposal

   —      215 

Other

   —      —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Closing balance

   (130,334   (98,958
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net book amount

   15,425    980 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

(*)

During the year ended 31 December 2017, the Group transferred its building located in Istanbul, Tepebası from investment properties to property, plant and equipment due to the change in purpose of use.

   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
 

Cost

    

Opening balance

   145,759    99,938 

Addition

   987    —   

Transfer to property, plant and equipment

   (100,463   45,821 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Closing balance

   46,283    145,759 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Accumulated depreciation

    

Opening balance

   (130,334   (98,958

Transfer to property, plant and equipment

   103,262    (25,765

Depreciation and impairment charges during the year

   (2,928   (5,611
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Closing balance

   (30,000   (130,334
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net book amount

   16,283    15,425 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Determination of the fair values of the Group’s investment properties

The Group engages qualified external experts, authorized by the Capital Markets Board of Turkey, to perform the valuation of investment properties. Management works closely with the qualified external experts to establish the appropriate valuation techniques and inputs to the model. The fair values of these investment properties were determined using a variety of valuation methods:directincome capitalization approach andincome capitalization approach, replacement cost approachandmarket approach. In estimating the fair values of the properties, the highest and best use of the property is its current use.

F-69


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

14.

Investment properties (continued)

Rent income from investment properties during the year ended 31 December 20182019 is TL 4,078 (31 December 2018: TL 3,092 (31and 31 December 2017: TL 2,821 and 31 December 2016: TL 2,317)2,821). There is noTL 522 direct operating expense for investment properties during the year ended 31 December 20182019 (31 December 2017: TL 222018: None and 31 December 2016:2017: TL 22).

The Group’s investment properties and their fair values at 31 December 20182019 and 20172018 are as follows:

31 December 2019Level 1Level 2Level 3Valuation Method

Investment properties in Gebze

—  —  21,520Income capitalization approach

Investment properties in Ankara

—  —  14,400Market approach

Investment properties in Istanbul

—  —  14,585Market approach

—  —  50,505

 

31 December 2018  Level 1   Level 2   Level 3   Valuation Method

Investment properties in Gebze

   —      —      17,960   Income capitalization approach

Investment properties in Ankara

   —      —      15,915   Market approach

Investment properties in Istanbul

   —      —      13,800   Market approach

Investment properties in Aydın

—  —  2,110Market approach

49,785

31 December 2017Level 1Level 2Level 3Valuation Method

Investment properties in Izmir

—  —  52,110Replacement cost approach

Investment properties in Gebze

—  —  16,690Income capitalization approach

Investment properties in Ankara

—  —  15,160Market approach

Investment properties in Istanbul

—  —  13,000Market approach

Investment properties in Adana

—  —  3,150Replacement cost approach

Investment properties in Balıkesir

—  —  3,112Replacement cost approach

Other investment properties

—  —  3,970Replacement cost approach

Other investment properties

—  —  2,146Market approach
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   
   —      —      109,33847,675   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

F-70


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

14.

Investment properties (continued)

Determination of the fair values of the Group’s investment properties (continued)

 

Significant unobservable inputs and sensitivity of fair values of respective investment properties are as follows:

Fair values of the investment properties determined based on the “direct capitalization” approach will increase/(decrease) significantly, when there is a significant decrease/ (increase) in capitalization rate and a significant increase/(decrease) in current market rentals. Capitalization rate is calculated by dividing comparable properties’ annual net operating income by the selling price of the respective properties.

In the “income capitalization” approach, a significant increase/(decrease) in rentals will cause a significant increase/(decrease) in the fair value. In addition, a slight decrease/(increase) in risk premium and discount rate which are calculated by considering the current market conditions will cause a significant increase/(decrease) in the fair value.

In the “replacement cost approach”, a significant increase/(decrease) of construction costs and miscellaneous costs of any similar properties in the market will cause a significant increase/(decrease) in the fair value.

In the “market approach”, a significant increase/(decrease) in the market value of any properties which are located in the similar areas with similar conditions will cause a significant increase/(decrease) in the fair value.

F-71


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

15.

Right of use assets

As of 1 January 2018, The Company provided a right of use asset equal to the lease liability adjusted for prepaid or accrued rent payments. In accordance with this methodology, the application of IFRS 16 does not have an impact on the Group’s retained earnings as of 1 January 2018.

Closing balances of right of use assets as of 1 January31 December 2019 and 31 December 2018 and depreciation and amortization expenses for the years endedended31 December 2019 and 31 December 2018 is stated as below:

 

   Tangible  Intangible    
   Site Rent  Building  Network
equipment
  Other  Total  Right
of way
  License  Total  Total 

Balance at 1 January

   1,077,517   146,826   226,243   115,652   1,566,238   12,321   —     12,321   1,578,559 

Depreciation and amortization charge for the year

   (451,850  (43,563  (181,741  (81,325  (758,479  (6,458  (48,273  (54,731  (813,210

Balance at 31 December

   1,021,638   135,158   50,538   109,883   1,317,217   8,643   323,742   332,385   1,649,602 
   Tangible  Intangible    
   Site Rent  Building  Network
equipment
  Other  Total  Right
of way
  License  Total  Total 

Balance at 1 January 2019

   1,021,638   135,158   50,538   109,883   1,317,217   8,643   323,742   332,385   1,649,602 

Depreciation and amortization charge for the year

   (506,386  (54,605  (150,282  (159,784  (871,057  (8,849  (46,073  (54,922  (925,979

Balance at 31 December 2019

   1,082,193   96,073   69,036   132,364   1,379,666   22,984   380,446   403,430   1,783,096 

   Tangible  Intangible    
   Site Rent  Building  Network
equipment
  Other  Total  Right
of way
  License  Total  Total 

Balance at 1 January 2018

   1,077,517   146,826   226,243   115,652   1,566,238   12,321   —     12,321   1,578,559 

Depreciation and amortization charge for the year

   (451,850  (43,563  (181,741  (81,325  (758,479  (6,458  (48,273  (54,731  (813,210

Balance at 31 December 2018

   1,021,638   135,158   50,538   109,883   1,317,217   8,643   323,742   332,385   1,649,602 

As at 31 December 2018,2019, the Company has additions to right of use assets amountamounting to TL 1,156,9731,209,008 (31 December 2018: TL 1,156,973) and interest expense on lease liabilities amounting to TL 282,769 (31 December 2018: TL 210,200). Depreciation expense amounting to TL 925,979 (31 December 2018: TL 813,210) is TL 210,200.recognized in cost of revenues.

F-72


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

16.

Asset held for sale and discontinued operations

Disposal of Fintur

In 2016, the Group has committed to plan to exit from Fintur operations in relevant jurisdictions and initiated an active program to locate a buyer for its associate. In this regard, Fintur has been classified as held for sale and reported as discontinued operation starting from 1 October 2016.

Equity accounting for Fintur ceased startingas of from 1 October 2016, and in accordance with IFRS 5, Fintur has been measured at the lower of the carrying amount and fair value less costs to sell.

The delay during 2018 in the sales process during 2018 was caused by events and circumstances beyond the Company’s control.

Fintur, has transferred its total shareholding in Azertel Telekomunikasyon Yatırım Dış Ticaret A.Ş. (“Azertel”) to Azerbaijan International Telecom LLC (“Azintelecom”) at the price of EURofEUR 221,687 on 5 March 2018. The signing of definitive agreement, the transfer of shares to Azintelecom and the transfer of proceeds to Fintur were completed simultaneously. The transaction has no impact on consolidated financial statements since Fintur is classified as “assets held for sale” in the statement of financial position.

Fintur has completed the transfer of all its shares in Geocell LLC to Silknet JSC on 20on20 March 2018, a joint stock company organized under the laws of Georgia, for a total consideration of USD 153,000 upon receiving the necessary regulatory approvals. The transaction has no impact on consolidated financial statements since Fintur is classified as “assets held for sale” in the statement of financial position.

Fintur, has transferred its total shareholding in Kcell JSC to Kazakhtelecom JSC (“Kazakhtelecom”), established in Kazakhstan, a fixed line operator controlled by the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan through sovereign wealth fundSamruk-Kazyna for a total consideration of USD 302,571.

The definitive agreement has been signed on 12 December 2018. The transfer of shares to Kazakhtelecom and the transfer of proceeds to Fintur were completed simultaneously on 21 December 2018.

The transaction has no impact on consolidated financial statements since Fintur is classified as “assets held for sale” in the statement of financial position.

The Company has signed the definitive agreement on 12 December 2018 to transfer its total shareholding in Fintur to the other shareholder of Fintur, Sonera Holding B.V. (“Sonera Holding”). TransferThe transfer to Sonera Holding will beand the transfer of proceeds completed on 2 April 2019 subsequent to obtainment of regulatory approvals theon 29 March 2019. The final transaction value of transaction will be finalizedis realized as TL 2,229,595(EUR 352,851). The share transfer has been completed in 2019, gain on closing datesale of the transaction. Closingassociate, amounting to TL 772,436 has been recognized under profit from discounting operations in the consolidated financial statements.

Reconciliation of Fintur sales for the period ended 31 December 2019 is expected in 2019.    stated as below:

 

31 December
2019

Consideration received or receivable:

Cash

2,229,595

Total disposal consideration

2,229,595

Carrying amount of net assets sold

(1,825,292

Gain on sale before income tax and reclassification of foreign currency translation reserve

404,303

Reclassification of foreign currency translation reserve

368,133

Income tax expense on gain

—  

Gain on sale after income tax

772,436

F-73Subsequent to recognition of Fintur disposal for the three months period ended 31 March 2019, the Company has recognized compensation expense, which has been paid on 23 July 2019 according to Kcell Share Purchase Agreement amounting to TL 59,224 (USD 10,448).


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

16.

Asset held for sale and discontinued operations (continued)

The reconciliation of statement of profit or loss statement of Fintur is listed below (The financial statements are presented in USD);

1 January -
30 September
2016

Revenue

617,214

Cost of sales

(369,104

Gross profit

248,110

Selling and marketing expenses

(69,983

General and administrative expenses

(69,818

Other operating (expenses), net

(31,258

Operating profit

77,051

Finance (expense)/income, net

(61,203

Profit before income tax

15,848

Total income tax

(30,947

(Loss)/profit for period

(15,099

Attributable to:

-owners of the parent

(28,695

-non-controlling interests

13,596

(Loss)/profit for period

(15,099

17.

Othernon-current assets

   2018   2017 

Advances given for property, plant and equipment

   216,894    12,078 

Prepaid expenses

   89,603    197,431 

Receivables from the Public Administration

   72,848    72,848 

Deposits and guarantees given

   27,071    23,999 

VAT receivable

   2,318    4,429 

Others

   12,572    45,835 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   421,306    356,620 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

F-74


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

17.

Othernon-current assets

   2019   2018 

Prepaid expenses

   133,914    89,603 

Receivables from the Public Administration

   72,848    72,848 

Advances given for property, plant and equipment

   59,959    216,894 

Deposits and guarantees given

   34,602    27,071 

VAT receivable

   1,902    2,318 

Others

   1,045    12,572 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   304,270    421,306 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

18.

Deferred tax assets and liabilities

Recognized deferred tax assets and liabilities

Deferred tax assets and liabilities at 31 December 20182019 and 20172018 are attributable to the following:

 

  Assets Liabilities Net  Assets Liabilities Net 
  2018 2017 2018 2017 2018 2017  2019 2018 2019 2018 2019 2018 

Property, plant and equipment and intangible assets (*)

   106,128  41,903  (936,167 (680,134 (830,039 (638,231

Property, plant and equipment and intangible assets

 145,242  106,128  (1,915,567 (936,167 (1,770,325 (830,039

Investment

   32,926  32,926   —     —    32,926  32,926  32,926  32,926   —     —    32,926  32,926 

Derivative instruments

   15,380  1,492  (429,162 (182,806 (413,782 (181,314 24,303  15,380  (349,797 (429,162 (325,494 (413,782

Reserve for employee termination benefits and provisions

   155,132  202,112  (45,581 (64 109,551  202,048  167,589  155,132  (36,289 (45,581 131,300  109,551 

Asset classified as held for sale

   —     —     —    (92,327  —    (92,327

Tax losses carried forward

   224,179   —     —     —    224,179   —    258,040  224,179   —     —    258,040  224,179 

Tax allowances

   20,554  10,775   —     —    20,554  10,775  59,176  20,554   —     —    59,176  20,554 

Other assets and liabilities (**)

   248,251  545,968  (101,268 (434,907 146,983  111,061 

Other assets and liabilities (*)

 668,327  248,251  (30,238 (101,268 638,089  146,983 
  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

 

Deferred tax assets/(liabilities)

   802,550   835,176   (1,512,178  (1,390,238  (709,628  (555,062  1,355,603   802,550   (2,331,891  (1,512,178  (976,288  (709,628
  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

 

Offsetting

   (649,818 (739,116 649,818  739,116   —     —    (1,166,261 (649,818 1,166,261  649,818   —     —   
  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

 

Net deferred tax assets/ (liabilities)

   152,732   96,060   (862,360  (651,122  (709,628  (555,062

Net deferred tax assets/(liabilities)

  189,342   152,732   (1,165,630  (862,360  (976,288  (709,628
  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

 

 

(*)

The impact of adoption of IFRS 15, “Revenue from contracts with customers” is accounted under Property, plant and equipment and intangible assets (Not 2)

(**)

Mainly comprises of loans, bonds, prepaid expenses and bonds’lease liabilities deferred tax assets.

Movement in deferred tax assets/ (liabilities) for the years ended 31 December 20182019 and 20172018 were as follows:

 

  2018   2017   2019   2018 

Opening balance

   (555,062   (406,905   (709,628   (555,062

IFRS 9 and 15 effects

   (141,213   —      —      (141,213

Income statement charge

   159,472    (133,791   (215,121   159,472 

Tax charge relating to components of other comprehensive income

   (157,203   (6,449   (48,723   (157,203

Prior year corporate tax base differences

   (8,608   (2,729   —      (8,608

Exchange differences

   (7,014   (5,188   (2,816   (7,014
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

Closing balance, net

   (709,628   (555,062   (976,288   (709,628
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

F-75


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

18.

Deferred tax assets and liabilities (continued)

Recognized deferred tax assets and liabilities (continued)

 

The Group did not recogniserecognize deferred income tax assets of TL 5,310,0006,588,723 (31 December 2018: TL 5,310,000) in respect of tax losses amounting to TL 972,7301,199,670 (31 December 2018: TL 972,730) that can be carried forward against future taxable income. The unused tax losses were incurred mainly incurred by lifecell and Belarusian Telecom that are not likely to generate taxable income in the foreseeable future.

Unused tax losses will expire at the following dates:

 

Expiration Date

  Amount   Amount 

2019

   808 

2020

   581    297 

2021

   646    220,895 

2022

   368,109    135,055 

2023

   172,264    204,933 

2024

   303,045    346,592 

2025

   1,023,650    1,201,315 

2026

   47,466    51,353 

2027

   488,572    579,546 

2028

   308,541    169,906 

Indefinite

   2,596,318    3,678,831 
  

 

   

 

 

Total

   5,310,000    6,588,723 
  

 

   

 

 

 

19.

Trade receivables and accrued revenue

 

   31 December
2018
   31 December
2017
 

Receivables from subscribers

   1,634,427    1,369,948 

Accounts and notes receivable

   560,665    498,397 

Undue assigned contracted receivables

   271,306    347,596 

Accrued revenue

   —      632,631 

Other

   39,592    —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   2,505,990    2,848,572 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
 

Receivables from subscribers

   2,090,242    1,647,236 

Accounts and notes receivable

   745,442    555,436 

Undue assigned contracted receivables

   298,291    271,306 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   3,133,975    2,473,978 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Trade receivables are shown net of provision for impairment amounting to TL 738,181, at 31620,247, as at31 December 20182019 (31 December 2017:2018: TL 705,213)728,830). Movements in provision for impairment of trade receivables and due from related parties are disclosed in Note 35.36. The accounts and notes receivable represent receivables from distributors and roaming receivables. The Group’s exposure to currency risk and credit risk arising from trade receivables are disclosed in Note 35.36.

Letters of guarantee received with respect to the accounts and notes receivable amounted totoTL 332,180 and TL 174,975 and TL 339,543 at 31 December 20182019 and 2017,2018, respectively.

The undue assigned contracted receivables are the remaining portion of the assigned receivables from the distributors related to the handset campaigns which will be collected from subscribers in instalments by the Company.Company in instalments. When the monthly instalment is billed to the subscriber, that portion is transferred to “Receivables from subscribers”. The Company measures the undue assigned contracted receivables at amortized cost, bears the credit risk and recognizes interest income throughout the contract period.

The accrued revenue represents accrued revenue from subscribers. Due to the high volume of subscribers, there are different billing cycles. Accordingly, an accrual is made at the end of each reporting period to accrue revenue for services rendered but not billed. The undue assigned contracted receivables related to handset campaigns, which will be billed after one year amounted to TL 116,462 (31 December 2018: TL 115,001) is presented undernon-current trade receivable amountingamounted to TL 115,001.148,159 (31 December 2018: TL 115,001).

F-76


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

20.

Receivables from financial services

 

  31 December
2018
   31 December
2017
   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
 

Current receivables from financial services

   3,286,243    2,950,523    2,319,122    3,318,255 

Non-current receivables from financial services

   884,686    1,297,597    123,136    884,686 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 
   4,170,929    4,248,120    2,442,258    4,202,941 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

Movements in provision for impairment of receivables from financial services are disclosed in Note 35.36.

Starting from 2016 the Group and its distributors have offered handset campaigns where subscribers can buy handsets using loans placed by Turkcell Finansman. The Group assumes credit risk in these transactions. Turkcell Finansman collects the loan from the subscriber during the contract period and does not recognize handset revenue since it is not acting as principal in the handset sale.

 

21.

Contract assets

Current contract assets:

 

31 December
2018
31 December
2017

Contract assets

711,928—  

711,928—  

   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
 

Contract assets

   933,969    711,928 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   933,969    711,928 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Non-current contract assets:

 

31 December
2018
31 December
2017

Contract assets

3,513—  

3,513—  

   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
 

Contract assets

   10,291    3,513 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   10,291    3,513 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

The contract assets representsrepresent contract assets from subscribers. Due to the high volume of subscribers, there are different billing cycles. Accordingly, an accrual is made at the end of each reporting period to accrue revenue for services rendered but not billed. Contracted receivables related to handset campaigns, which will be billed after one year is presented under long term contract assets.

 

22.

Inventory

As of 31 December 20182019, inventories amounting to TL 180,434178,399 which consist of mainly mobile phone, modem, tablet, sim card and tower construction materials (31 December 2017:2018: TL 104,102)180,434).

 

23.

Other current assets

F-77

   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
 

Receivables from the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey

   669,621    415,524 

Prepaid expenses

   135,881    79,149 

VAT receivable

   109,777    65,123 

Receivables from tax office

   99,882    83,392 

Advances given to suppliers

   90,454    92,715 

Other advances given (Note 40)

   65,263    —   

Restricted cash

   —      204,077 

Other

   156,126    151,532 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   1,327,004    1,091,512 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

23.

Other current assets (continued)

 

   31 December
2018
   31 December
2017
 

Receivables from the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey

   415,524    143,669 

Restricted cash

   204,077    183,806 

Advances given to suppliers

   92,715    55,754 

Receivables from tax office

   83,392    93,917 

Prepaid expenses

   79,149    322,388 

VAT receivable

   65,123    38,934 

Subscriber acquisition costs

   —      138,177 

Special communication tax to be collected from subscribers

   —      38,318 

Other

   151,532    145,642 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   1,091,512    1,160,605 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

As at 31 December 2018, restricted cash amounting to TL 204,077 represents the deposits as guarantees in connection with the foreign currency loans utilized by Turkcell Finansman.

 

24.

Cash and cash equivalents

 

  31 December
2018
   31 December
2017
   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
 

Cash in hand

   144    192    131    144 

Banks

   7,413,113    4,712,141    10,238,310    7,413,113 

- Demand deposits

   587,007    603,553 

- Time deposits

   6,826,106    4,108,588 

– Demand deposits

   632,022    587,007 

– Time deposits

   9,606,288    6,826,106 

Other cash and cash equivalents

   5,982    —      274    5,982 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

   7,419,239    4,712,333    10,238,715    7,419,239 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

As at 31 December 2018,2019, the average effective interest rates of TL, USD and EUR time deposits are 10.7%, 2.3% and 0.4% (31 December 2018: 22.5%, 5.9% and 3.3% (31 December 2017: 14.3%, 5.8% and 2.2%) respectively.

As at 31 December 2018,2019, average maturity of time deposits is 3538 days (31 December 2017: 322018: 35 days).

 

25.

Financial assets

F-78

Debt investments at fair value through other comprehensive income


Debt investments at FVOCI comprise the following investments in listed and unlisted securities:

   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
 

Current Assets

    

Listed debt securities

   345,602    42,454 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   345,602    42,454 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

   Fair values
   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
   Fair value
hierarchy
   

Valuation technique

Financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income

   345,602    42,454    Level 1   Pricing models based on quoted market prices at the end of the reporting period.
  

 

 

   

 

 

     

Total

   345,602    42,454     
  

 

 

   

 

 

     

As of 31 December 2019 and 2018, the nominal and fair value amounts of financial assets are as follows:

31 December 2019

 

Currency

  Nominal amount
(original currency)
   Fair value
(in TL)
   Maturity 

EUR

   2,000    15,026    16 February 2026 

EUR

   10,000    67,773    5 February 2021 

USD

   300    1,878    21 February 2022 

EUR

   20,000    133,072    17 December 2021 

EUR

   17,990    121,456    29 May 2020 

USD

   1,000    6,397    10 August 2024 
    

 

 

   

Total financial assets

     345,602   
  

 

 

   

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

25.

Financial assets (continued)

Debt investments at fair value through other comprehensive income (continued)

31 December 2018

 

Currency

  Nominal amount
(original currency)
   Fair value
(in TL)
   Maturity 

EUR

   6,981    42,454    16 February 2026 
    

 

 

   

Total financial assets

     42,454   
    

 

 

   

During the year, the following gains (losses) were recognized in other comprehensive income.

31 December
2019
31 December
2018

Gains / (Losses) recognized in other comprehensive income

Related to debt securities

3,472—  

3,472—  

25.26.

Equity

Share capital

As at 31 December 2018,2019, share capital represents 2,200,000,000 (31 December 2017:2018: 2,200,000,000) authorized, issued and fully paid shares with a par value of TL 1 each. In this respect, share capital presented in the consolidated financial statements refers to nominal amount of registered share capital.

EveryEach holder of shares areis entitled to receive dividends as declared and is entitled to one vote at a meeting in person or by proxy.

Companies with their shareholding percentage are as follows:

 

  31 December 2018   31 December 2017   31 December 2019   31 December 2018 
  (%)   TL   (%)   TL   (%)   TL   (%)   TL 

Turkcell Holding A.Ş. (“Turkcell Holding”)

   51.00    1,122,000    51.00    1,122,000 

Turkcell Holding

   51.00    1,122,000    51.00    1,122,000 

Public Share

   48.95    1,077,004    48.95    1,077,004    48.95    1,077,004    48.95    1,077,004 

Other

   0.05    996    0.05    996    0.05    996    0.05    996 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

Total

   100.00    2,200,000    100.00    2,200,000    100.00    2,200,000    100.00    2,200,000 

Inflation adjustment to share capital

     (52,352     (52,352     (52,352     (52,352
    

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

 

Inflation adjusted capital

     2,147,648      2,147,648      2,147,648      2,147,648 
    

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

 

As at 31 December 2018,2019, total number of shares pledged as security is 995,509 (2017:(2018: 995,509).

Legal reserves

The legal reserves consist of first and second reserves, appropriated in accordance with the Turkish Commercial Code (“TCC”). The TCC stipulates that the first legal reserve is appropriated out of statutory profits at the rate of 5% per annum, until the total reserve reaches 20% of a company’spaid-in share capital. The second legal reserve is appropriated at the rate of 10% per annum of all cash dividends in excess of 5% of thepaid-in share capital. Under the TCC, the legal reserves can only be used to offset losses and are not available for any other usage unless they exceed 50% ofpaid-in share capital.

Treasury shares

During 2018, the Company purchased 8,434,204 of its shareson-market with prices ranging from full TL 10.01 to full TL 12.33. Thebuy-back was approved by the Board of Directors on 27 July 2016 and 30 January 2017. Total cost of TL 94,620 was deducted from equity (2017: None).

Dividends

Turkcell:

On 25 May 2017, the Company’s General Assembly has approved payment of a dividend amounting to TL 3,000,000 (equivalent to USD 841,633 as of 25 May 2017, the date of the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting) out of profits for the period from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2016. This represents a gross cash dividend of full TL 1.3636364 (equivalent to full USD 0.3825604 as of 25 May 2017, the date of the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting) per share. The Company paid TL 3,000,000 in total including withholding taxes in three instalments on 15 June, 15 September and 15 December 2017 to the shareholders.

F-79


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

25.26.

Equity (continued)

 

Dividends (continued)Treasury shares

During 2019, the Company purchased 827,750 of its shareson-market with prices ranging from full TL 11.89 to full TL 12.24. The buyback was approved by the Board of Directors on 27 July 2016 and 30 January 2017. Total amount of TL 9,998 was deducted from equity (2018: TL 94,620).

Turkcell (continued):Dividends

Azerinteltek:

According to the two resolution of the General Assembly Meeting of Azerinteltek within 2018, shareholders decided to pay dividend amounting to AZN 5,959 (TL 13,103) from the profit realized for the last quarter of 2017, dividend payment was made in 2018. The share purchase agreement of Azerinteltek was signed on 15 November 2018 and the transfer of proceeds to Inteltek was completed on 27 December 2018. The Group have lost the control over the subsidiary unconditionally on 27 December 2018 with transfer of money. The transfer of shares to Baltech was completed subsequently on 11 January 2019.

Inteltek:

According to the resolution of the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting of Inteltek dated 15 March 2019, the shareholders resolved to pay a dividend amount equal to TL 232,875 out of profits for the year ended 31 December 2018 and a dividend out legal reserves amount equal to TL 9,742. The aggregate amount of dividends has been paid on 29 April 2019.

According to Board of Directors Resolution of Inteltek dated 16 October 2019 the advanced dividend payment has been made in 17 October 2019 amounting to TL 35,220 for the first six months of 2019 profit.

Turkcell:

On 29 March 2018,12 September 2019, the Company’s General Assembly has approved a dividend distribution for the year ended 31 December 20172018 amounting to TL 1,900,000;1,010,000; this represents a gross cash dividend of full TL 0.863640.45909 per share. The Company paid TL 1,900,000 in total including withholding taxes in three instalments on 18 June, 17 September and 17 December 2018 to the shareholders.

Inteltek:

According to the resolution of the General Assembly Meeting of Inteltek dated 31 March 2017, the shareholders decided to pay a dividend amounting to TL 63,528 out of profits for the year ended 31 December 2016 (remaining amount after deducting interim dividends for thesix-month period ended 30 June 2016 amounting to TL 20,455) and a dividend out legal reserves amounting to TL 11,585. The aggregate amount of dividends were paid as of 31 December 2017. According to the the resolution of General Assembly Meeting of Inteltek dated 25 December 2017, shareholders decided to pay dividend amounting to TL 28,402 for the first 9 months of 2017 profit. The related dividend payment was made in January 2018.

According to Board of Directors Resolution of Inteltek dated 18 December 2017 the advanced dividend payment has been made in January 2018 amounting to TL 28,402 for the first nine months of 2017 profit. According to the resolution of the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting of Inteltek dated 30 March 2018, the shareholders resolved to pay a dividend amount equal to TL 60,011 out of profits for the year ended 31 December 2017 (remaining amount after deducting interim dividends for the nine-month period ended 30 September 2017 amounting to TL 28,402) and a dividend out legal reserves amount equal to TL 9,507. The aggregate amount of dividends has been paid on May 2018.

Azerinteltek:

According to the resolution of the General Assembly Meeting of Azerinteltek dated 10 April 2017 and 30 April 2018, Board of Directors have decided to pay dividend amounting to AZN 34,797 (31 December 2018: TL 56,111) from the profit realized for the last quarter of 2017, first and second quarter of 2018. Dividend payment was made in 2018.shareholders on 31 October 2019.

 

27.

Earnings per share

F-80

   2019   2018   2017 

Numerator:

      

Profit attributable to owners of the Company

   3,246,487    2,021,065    1,979,129 

Denominator:

      

Weighted average number of shares (*)

   2,183,922,483    2,184,750,233    2,193,184,437 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Basic and diluted earnings per share for profit attributable to owners of the Company (in full TL)

   1.49    0.93    0.90 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

(*)

Refer to Note 26 – Treasury shares


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

26.

Earnings per share

   2018   2017   2016 

Numerator:

      

Profit attributable to owners of the Company

   2,021,065    1,979,129    1,492,088 

Denominator:

      

Weighted average number of shares (*)

   2,184,750,233    2,193,184,437    2,193,184,437 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Basic and diluted earnings per share for profit attributable to owners of the Company (in full TL)

   0.93    0.90    0.68 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

(*)

Refer to Note 25 - Treasury shares

   2018   2017   2016 

Numerator:

      

Profit from continuing operations attributable to owners of the Company

   2,021,065    1,979,129    1,534,252 

Denominator:

      

Weighted average number of shares (*)

   2,184,750,233    2,193,184,437    2,193,184,437 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Basic and diluted earnings per share for profit from continuing operations attributable to owners of the Company (in full TL)

   0.93    0.90    0.70 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

(*)

Refer to Note 25 - Treasury shares

F-81


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

27.

Earnings per share (continued)

   2019   2018   2017 

Numerator:

      

Profit from continuing operations attributable to owners of the Company

   2,474,051    2,021,065    1,979,129 

Denominator:

      

Weighted average number of shares (*)

   2,183,922,483    2,184,750,233    2,193,184,437 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Basic and diluted earnings per share for profit from continuing operations attributable to owners of the Company (in full TL)

   1.14    0.93    0.90 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

(*)

Refer to Note 26 – Treasury shares

   2019   2018   2017 

Numerator:

      

Profit from continuing operations attributable to owners of the Company

   772,436    —      —   

Denominator:

      

Weighted average number of shares (*)

   2,183,922,483    2,184,750,233    2,193,184,437 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Basic and diluted earnings per share for profit from discontinued operations attributable to owners of the Company (in full TL)

   0.35    —      —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

(*)

Refer to Note 26 – Treasury shares

28.

Othernon-current liabilities

 

  2018   2017   2019   2018 

Consideration payable in relation to the acquisition of Belarusian Telecom

   358,304    323,691    359,554    358,304 

Deferred revenue

   2,497    85,646    303    2,497 

Deposits and guarantees received from dealers

   3,809    —      —      3,809 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 
   364,610    409,337    359,857    364,610 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

ConsiderationA consideration payable in relation to the acquisition of Belarusian Telecom represents the present value of the long-term contingent consideration payables to the seller. Payment of USD 100,000 (equivalent to TL 526,090594,020 as of 31 December 2018)2019) is contingent on the financial performance of Belarusian Telecom, and based on management’s estimations, where the amount is expected to be paid duringin instalments between 2026 and 2030 (31 December 2018: the first quarter of 2023 (31 December 2017: the first quarter of 2021)2023). DiscountThe discount rate used for calculating present value of the consideration payable in relation to the acquisition of Belarusian Telecom as of 31 December 20182019 is 9.5%in a range from 5.2% to 6.1% (31 December 2017: 4.8%2018: 9.5%).

28.

Loans and borrowings

   31 December
2018
   31 December
2017
 

Non-current liabilities

    

Unsecured bank loans

   7,244,992    6,376,981 

Secured bank loans

   1,862    2,368 

Finance lease liabilities

   —      108,164 

Lease liabilities

   1,026,955    —   

Debt securities issued

   4,845,827    1,770,482 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   13,119,636    8,257,995 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Current liabilities

    

Unsecured bank loans

   3,737,393    2,643,112 

Current portion of unsecured bank loans

   2,544,462    1,513,425 

Current portion of secured bank loans

   2,318    2,022 

Current portion of finance lease liabilities

   —      14,556 

Current portion of lease liabilities

   20,156    —   

Current portion of long-term debt securities issued

   289,738    105,039 

Debt securities issued

   74,997    —   

Lease liabilities

   366,845    —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   7,035,909    4,278,154 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

The sale process of the bond issuance of the Company with an aggregate principal amount of USD 500,000, 10 year maturity, a redemption date of 11 April 2028 and are-offer price of 97.8 % with a fixed coupon rate of 5.80% per annum to qualified investors abroad was completed on 11 April 2018 and the notes are listed on the official list of Euronext Dublin (Irish Stock Exchange).

F-82


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

28.29.

Loans and borrowings (continued)

 

   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
 

Non-current liabilities

    

Unsecured bank loans

   6,092,170    7,244,992 

Secured bank loans

   —      1,862 

Lease liabilities

   1,101,303    1,026,955 

Debt securities issued

   5,483,921    4,845,827 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   12,677,394    13,119,636 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Current liabilities

    

Unsecured bank loans

   6,712,297    6,281,855 

Secured bank loans

   2,415    2,318 

Lease liabilities

   431,752    387,001 

Debt securities issued

   481,869    364,735 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   7,628,333    7,035,909 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

The scope ofAs at 31 December 2019, the Company has utilized, USD 225,000 (equivalent to TL 1,336,545 as at 31 December 2019) and EUR 690,000 unutilized portion of the EUR 750,00035,000 (equivalent to TL 232,771 as at 31 December 2019) comparatively, under loan agreement signed with China Development Bank (CDB) has been expanded. In this respect, in addition to Turkcell, the Company’s subsidiaries Turkcell Superonline, Turkcell Finansman and lifecell LLC will also be able to utilize the corresponding loan. Furthermore, in addition to the right to utilize in EUR terms, relevant loan may also be utilized in USD and Renminbi (RMB) with respective(“CDB”).

The annual interest rates of the USD and EUR denominated loans utilized as part of the EUR 750,000 loan agreement between the Company and CDB, which were LIBOR + 2.2%2.22% and 5.5%.EURIBOR + 2.20%, have been revised as LIBOR + 2.17% and EURIBOR + 2.15%, respectively. The updated rates are effective as of 10 April 2019. There have been no changes to the maturity andor the repayment scheduleterms of the loan.

The Company signed a loan agreement of USD 150,000 with J.P.Morgan and AB Svensk Exportkredit within the framework of the insurance of the Swedish Export Credit Agency (EKN). The availability period of the loan is until April 2021, to be utilized in three equal tranches each with a maturity of 10 years. The total annual cost of the loan is LIBOR + 2.10% for the first tranche and fixed 5.35% for the second and third tranches. As at 31 December 2018,2019, the Company has utilized RMB 251,089 (equivalentUSD 50,000 under this agreement.

The Company signed a loan agreement of EUR 50,000 with BNP Paribas Fortis SA/NV for general corporate purposes. The respective loan has a maturity of 3 years and 1 week and its annual cost of funding is in Euribor + 2.05%-1.85% range. Cost of funding can potentially decline to TL 191,337Euribor + 1.85% subject to meeting sustainability based environmental objectives set as part of the loan agreement. These objectives include recycling of electronic waste, use of solar energy for electricity consumption and reducing paper consumption through increased use of Dergilik application. As of 31 December 2019, the Company has utilized EUR 50,000 under this agreement.

As at 31 December 2018), USD 140,000 (equivalent to TL 736,526 as at 31 December 2018) and EUR 100,000 (equivalent to TL 602,800 as at 31 December 2018) comparatively, under this agreement.

One of the main reason of increase in borrowings arises from funds received by Turkcell Finansman in order to provide loans to its customers and bond issuance.

Within the scope ofbuy-back decisions on 27 July 2016 and 30 January 2017,2019, the Company purchasedsold their debt securities issued with a total nominal value of USD 15,500 as at 31 December 2018.10,000 comprising portion of the debt securities issued previously added to its portfolio within the scope of thebuy-back decisions dated 27 July 2016 and 30 January 2017.

In the year 2018, the Company2019, CMB approval has approved issuance of management agreement based lease certificates in accordance with capital markets legislation through KT Sukuk Varlık Kiralama A.S. in the domestic market, in Turkish Lira terms, at an amount of up to TL 300,000,been taken on various dates and at various amounts without public offering, as private placement and/or to be sold to institutional investors. As at 31 March 2018, the Company has issued management agreement based lease certificates amounting to TL 125,000 (not discounted), as at 30 September 2018, issued management agreement based lease certificates was redeemed. As at 31 December 2018, the Company has issued management agreement based lease certificates through KT Sukuk Varlık Kiralama A.S amounting to TL 75,000 (not discounted).

In the year 2019, the Company has approved issuance of management agreement based lease certificates in accordance with capital markets legislation in the domestic market, in Turkish Lira terms, at an amount of up to TL 500,000, on various dates and at various amounts without public offering, as private placement and/or to be sold to institutional investors. As at 8 October 2019, the Company has issued management agreement based lease certificates through Halk Yatırım amounting TL 150,000 with the maturity of 4 February 2020.

F-83


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

28.

Loans and borrowings (continued)

Terms and conditions of outstanding loans are as follows:

           31 December 2018   31 December 2017 
   Currency   Interest
rate type
   Nominal interest rate   Payment
period
   Carrying
amount
   Nominal interest
Rate
   Payment
period
   Carrying
amount
 

Unsecured bank loans (*)

   USD    Floating    Libor+2.0%-Libor+4.1%    2019-2026    4,589,157    Libor+2,0%-Libor+3,3%    2018-2020    2,880,615 

Unsecured bank loans (*)

   EUR    Floating    
Euribor+1.2%-
Euribor+3.4%

 
   2019-2026    6,975,890    
Euribor+1.2%-
Euribor+2.2%

 
   2018-2026    5,511,579 

Unsecured bank loans

   TL    Fixed    12.6%-25.0%    2019    873,914    11.1%-15.5%    2018-2019    1,620,391 

Unsecured bank loans

   UAH    Fixed    21.5%-22.5%    2019    894,511    11%-14.5%    2018    520,933 

Unsecured bank loans

   RMB    Fixed    5.5%    2019-2026    193,375    —      —      —   

Secured bank loans (**)

   BYN    Fixed    12-16%    2019-2020    4,180    12%-16%    2018-2020    4,390 

Debt securities issued

   USD    Fixed    5.8%    2019-2028    5,135,565    5.8%    2018-2025    1,875,521 

Debt securities issued

   TL    Fixed    24.5%    2019    74,997    —      —      —   

Finance lease liabilities

   EUR    Fixed    —      —      —      3.4%    2018-2024    116,797 

Finance lease liabilities

   USD    Fixed    —      —      —      22.5%    2018    41 

Finance lease liabilities

   TL    Fixed    —      —      —      27.5%-27.7%    2018-2020    5,882 

Lease liabilities

   EUR    Fixed    1.0%-7.9%    2019-2031    194,645    —      —      —   

Lease liabilities

   TL    Fixed    16.1%-45.0%    2019-2048    719,718    —      —      —   

Lease liabilities

   USD    Fixed    3.9%-10.8%    2019-2027    40,351    —      —      —   

Lease liabilities

   UAH    Fixed    16.6%-24.0%    2019-2067    418,390    —      —      —   

Lease liabilities

   BYN    Fixed    12.0%-15.0%    2019-2028    40,852    —      —      —   
          

 

 

       

 

 

 
           20,155,545        12,536,149 
          

 

 

       

 

 

 

(*)

Turkcell Finansman’s liabilities originated from banks abroad are subject to certain reserve requirements as obliged by Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT). As at 31 December 2018, blocked deposit in connection with the foreign currency loans utilized by Turkcell Finansman from banks outside of Turkey amounting to TL TL 204,077 is accounted in other current assets.

(**)

Belarusian Telecom pledged its certain property, plant and equipment to secure these bank loans. Also, these bank loans are secured by the Government of the Republic of Belarus. (Note 36)

F-84


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the years ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

28.

Loans and borrowings (continued)

For the majority of the borrowings, the fair values are not materially different to their carrying amounts, since the interest payable on those borrowings is either close to current market rates or the borrowings are of a short-term nature.

Details of the Group’s exposure to risks arising from current andnon-current borrowings are set out in Note 35.

29.

Employee benefits

   31 December
2018
   31 December
2017
 

Retirement pay liability provision

   160,613    149,449 

Unused vacation provision

   64,134    48,217 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   224,747    197,666 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Provision for annual leave

As 31 December 2018 and 2017, provision for annual leave amounted to TL 64,134 and TL 48,217, respectively.

Provision for employee termination benefits

Movements in provision for employee termination benefits are as follows:

   2018   2017 

1 January

   149,449    120,755 

Service cost

   26,971    32,696 

Remeasurements

   (12,699   3,738 

Interest expense

   16,957    13,877 

Benefit payments

   (20,065   (21,617
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

31 December

   160,613    149,449 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

The sensitivity of provision for employee termination benefits to changes in the significant actuarial assumptions is:

31 December 2018  Discount Rate   Inflation Rate 

Sensivity Level

  1% increase   1% decrease   1% increase   1% decrease 

Change in assumption

   (13.0%)    15.7%    16.5%    (13.7%) 

Impact on provision for employee termination benefits

   (20,880)    25,216    26,501    (22,004) 

F-85


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the years ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

29.

Employee benefitsLoans and borrowings (continued)

 

31 December 2017  Discount Rate   Inflation Rate 

Sensivity Level

  1% increase   1% decrease   1% increase   1% decrease 

Change in assumption

   (14.6%)    18.1%    18.3%    (14.3%) 

Impact on provision for employee termination benefits

   (21,820)    27,050    27,349    (21,371) 

Terms and conditions of outstanding loans are as follows:

        

31 December 2019

  

31 December 2018

 
  Currency  Interest
rate type
  

Nominal interest rate

 Payment
period
  Carrying
amount
  

Nominal interest Rate

 Payment
period
  Carrying
amount
 

Unsecured bank loans

  EUR   Floating  Euribor+1.3%-Euribor+2.2%  2020-2026   5,638,726  Euribor+1.2%-Euribor+3.4%  2019-2026   6,975,890 

Unsecured bank loans

  USD   Floating  Libor+1.5%-Libor+2.2%  2020-2028   4,478,457  Libor+2.0%-Libor+4.1%  2019-2026   4,589,157 

Unsecured bank loans

  TL   Fixed  9.5%-11.5%  2020   1,442,818  12.6%-25.0%  2019   873,914 

Unsecured bank loans

  UAH   Fixed  11.5%-18.0%  2020   1,043,883  21.5%-22.5%  2019   894,511 

Unsecured bank loans

  RMB   Fixed  5.5%  2020-2026   200,583  5.5%  2019-2026   193,375 

Secured bank loans (*)

  BYN   Fixed  11.5%  2020   2,415  12.0%-16.0%  2019-2020   4,180 

Debt securities issued

  USD   Fixed  5.8%  2020-2028   5,810,989  5.8%  2019-2028   5,135,565 

Debt securities issued

  TL   Fixed  14.0%  2020   154,801  24.5%  2019   74,997 

Lease liabilities

  EUR   Fixed  1.0%-7.9%  2020-2031   162,786  1.0%-7.9%  2019-2031   194,645 

Lease liabilities

  TL   Fixed  12.8%-45.0%  2020-2048   735,211  16.1%-45.0%  2019-2048   719,718 

Lease liabilities

  USD   Fixed  3.9%-10.8%  2020-2027   18,564  3.9%-10.8%  2019-2027   40,351 

Lease liabilities

  UAH   Fixed  16.6%-24.0%  2020-2067   521,496  16.6%-24.0%  2019-2067   418,390 

Lease liabilities

  BYN   Fixed  11.7%-15.0%  2020-2028   94,998  12.0%-15.0%  2019-2028   40,852 
     

 

 

    

 

 

 
      20,305,727     20,155,545 
     

 

 

    

 

 

 

(*)

Belarusian Telecom pledged certain property, plant and equipment to secure these bank loans. Also, these bank loans are secured by the Government of the Republic of Belarus (Note 37).

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

30.

Employee benefits

   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
 

Retirement pay liability provision

   222,164    160,613 

Unused vacation provision

   72,167    64,134 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   294,331    224,747 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Provision for employee termination benefits

Movements in provision for employee termination benefits are as follows:

   2019   2018 

1 January

   160,613    149,449 

Service cost

   35,831    26,971 

Remeasurements

   36,385    (12,699

Interest expense

   25,566    16,957 

Benefit payments

   (36,231   (20,065
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

31 December

   222,164    160,613 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

The sensitivity of provision for employee termination benefits to changes in the significant actuarial assumptions is:

31 December 2019  Discount Rate  Inflation Rate 

Sensitivity Level

  1% increase   1% decrease  1% increase  1% decrease 

Change in assumption

   (14.2%   17.4  17.9  (14.7%
  

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Impact on provision for employee termination benefits

   (31,547   38,657   39,767   (32,658
  

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

31 December 2018  Discount Rate  Inflation Rate 

Sensitivity Level

  1% increase   1% decrease  1% increase  1% decrease 

Change in assumption

   (13.0%   15.7  16.5  (13.7%
  

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Impact on provision for employee termination benefits

   (20,880   25,216   26,501   (22,004
  

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

The above sensitivity analyses are based on a change in an assumption while holding all other assumptions constant. In practice, this is unlikely to occur, and changes in some of the assumptions may be correlated.

Defined contribution plans

Obligations for contribution to defined contribution plans are recognized as an expense in the consolidated statement of profit or loss as incurred. The Group incurred TL 12,785, TL 9,361 and TL 8,107 and TL 7,722 in relation to defined contribution retirement plan for the years ended 31 December 2019, 2018 2017 and 2016,2017, respectively.

Share based payments

The Group has a share performance based payment plan (cash settled incentive plan) in order to build a common interest with its shareholders, support sustainable success, and ensure loyalty of key employees. The KPIs of the plan are; the total shareholder return in excess of weighted average cost of capital (WACC), and ranking of total shareholder return in comparison withBIST-30 and peer group. Bonus amount is determined according to these evaluations, and it is distributed over a three-year payment plan.

As of 31 December 2018,2019, the Group recognized expenses of TL 26,22428,199 regarding this plan (31 December 2017:2018: TL 29,413)26,224).

30.

Deferred revenue

Deferred revenue primarily consists of loan application fee and it is classified as current at 31 December 2018 and 2017. The amount of deferred revenue is TL 8,948 and TL 193,381 as at 31 December 2018 and 2017, respectively.

31.

Contract liabilities

Current contract liabilities:

31 December
2018
31 December
2017

Contract liabilities

255,756—  

255,756

Non-current contract liabilities:

31 December
2018
31 December
2017

Contract liabilities

131,598—  

131,598

F-86


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

31.

Deferred revenue

Deferred revenue primarily consists of rent income and it is classified as current at 31 December 2019 and 2018. The amount of deferred revenue is TL 56,544 and TL 8,948 as at 31 December 2019 and 2018, respectively.

32.

Contract liabilities (continued)

Current contract liabilities:

   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
 

Contract liabilities

   290,408    255,756 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   290,408    255,756 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Non-current contract liabilities:

   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
 

Contract liabilities

   141,890    131,598 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   141,890    131,598 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Contract liabilities primarily consists of right of use sold but not used by prepaid subscribers.

Revenue recognized in the current reporting period relates to carried forward contract liabilities is TL 255,756 (2018: TL 181,710).

The following table shows unrealized performance obligation result as of 31 December 2018;2019;

 

   31 December
20182019
 

Mobile telecommunicationsTelecommunications service

   101,006182,023 

Other (*)

   429,889480,362 
  

 

 

 

Total

   530,895662,385 
  

 

 

 

 

(*)

In consistConsists of Hospital Revenue

Management expects that 75%71% of the transaction price allocated to the unsatisfied contracts atas of 31 December 20182019 will be recognized as revenue during the next reporting period. The remaining 25%29% will be recognized in the 20192020 financial year.

Revenue recognized in the current reporting period relates to carried forward contract liabilities is TL181,710.

 

32.33.

Provisions

Non-current provisions:

 

   Legal claims   Obligations for
dismantling,
removing and
site restoration
   Total 

Balance at 1 January 2018

   8,887    188,531    197,418 

Provisions recognized

   5,859    47,580    53,439 

Unwinding of discount

   —      9,760    9,760 

Transfer to current provisions

   (5,382   —      (5,382

Effect of changes in exchange rates

   —      13,487    13,487 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance at 31 December 2018

   9,364    259,358    268,722 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   Legal claims   Obligations for
dismantling,
removing and
site restoration
   Total 

Balance at 1 January 2017

   6,889    180,652    187,541 

Provisions recognized/(reversed)

   4,256    (8,461   (4,205

Unwinding of discount

   —      15,328    15,328 

Transfer to current provisions

   (2,258   —      (2,258

Effect of changes in exchange rates

   —      1,012    1,012 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance at 31 December 2017

   8,887    188,531    197,418 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Provision for legal claims are recognized for the probable cash outflows related to legal disputes. Refer to Note 37.
   Legal
claims
   Obligations for
dismantling,
removing and
site restoration
   Total 

Balance at 1 January 2019

   9,364    259,358    268,722 

Provisions recognized

   12,187    29,080    41,267 

Unwinding of discount

   —      14,262    14,262 

Transfer to current provisions

   (7,916   —      (7,916

Effect of changes in exchange rates

   —      21,069    21,069 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance at 31 December 2019

   13,635    323,769    337,404 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

F-87


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

32.33.

Provisions (continued)

Non-current provisions (continued):

   Legal
claims
   Obligations for
dismantling,
removing and
site restoration
   Total 

Balance at 1 January 2018

   8,887    188,531    197,418 

Provisions recognized

   5,859    47,580    53,439 

Unwinding of discount

   —      9,760    9,760 

Transfer to current provisions

   (5,382   —      (5,382

Effect of changes in exchange rates

   —      13,487    13,487 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance at 31 December 2018

   9,364    259,358    268,722 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Provision for legal claims are recognized for the probable cash outflows related to legal disputes. Refer to Note 38.

The Group is required to incur certain costs in respect of a liability to dismantle and remove assets and to restore sites on which the assets were located. The dismantling costs are calculated according to best estimate of future expected payments discounted at apre-tax discount rate that reflects current market assessments of the time value of money and the risks specific to the liability.

It is expected that the obligations for dismantling, removing and site restoration will be realized in accordance with the useful life of GSM services materials.

Additions to obligations for dismantling, removing and site restoration during the period arenon-cash transactions and are recorded against property, plant and equipment.

Obligations for dismantling, removing and site restoration are discounted using a discount rate of 5.1%6.1% at 31 December 20182019 (31 December 2017: 5.6%2018: 5.1%).

Current provisions:

 

   Legal claims   Bonus   Total 

Balance at 1 January 2018

   605,679    229,520    835,199 

Provisions recognized/(reversed)

   (3,520   408,740    405,220 

Payments

   (626,214   (338,650   (964,864

Transfers fromnon-current provisions

   5,381    —      5,381 

Unwinding of discount

   26,185    —      26,185 

Disposal of subsidiaries

   —      (2,070   (2,070

Effect of changes in exchange rates

   1,082    935    2,017 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance at 31 December 2018

   8,593    298,475    307,068 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   Legal
claims
  Bonus(*)  Total 

Balance at 1 January 2019

   8,593   298,475   307,068 

Provisions recognized

   4,369   521,647   526,016 

Payments

   (4,344  (501,234  (505,578

Transfers fromnon-current provisions

   7,916   —     7,916 

Effect of changes in exchange rates

   1,306   6,084   7,390 
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Balance at 31 December 2019

   17,840   324,972   342,812 
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

  Legal claims   Bonus(*)   Other   Total   Legal
claims
 Bonus(*) Total 

Balance at 1 January 2017

   18,266    173,391    785    192,442 

Balance at 1 January 2018

   605,679   229,520   835,199 

Provisions recognized/(reversed)(**)

   583,788    318,603    (785   901,606    (3,520 408,740  405,220 

Payments

   (1,188   (263,080   —      (264,268   (626,214 (338,650 (964,864

Transfer fromnon-current provisions

   2,258    —      —      2,258 

Unwinding of discount

   2,531    —      —      2,531    26,185   —    26,185 

Transfers fromnon-current provisions

   5,381   —    5,381 

Disposal of subsidiaries

   —    (2,070 (2,070

Effect of changes in exchange rates

   24    606    —      630    1,082  935  2,017 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

 

Balance at 31 December 2017

   605,679    229,520    —      835,199 

Balance at 31 December 2018

   8,593   298,475   307,068 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

  

 

 

 

(*)

Includes share-based payment (Note 29)30).

(**)

Refer to Note 37.138.1 and 37.338.3 for legal claim.

33.

Trade and other payables

   2018   2017 

Payable to suppliers

   2,372,512    2,527,152 

Taxes payable

   465,966    415,650 

Accrued treasury share, universal service fund contribution and contributions to the ICTA’s expenses

   455,496    305,208 

Accrued selling and marketing expenses

   91,747    79,011 

Other

   402,453    369,445 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   3,788,174    3,696,466 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Payable to suppliers arises in the ordinary course of business.

Taxes payables include VAT payables, special communications taxes payable, frequency usage fees payable to the ICTA and personnel income taxes payable.

F-88


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

33.34.

Trade and other payables (continued)

 

   2019   2018 

Payable to suppliers

   2,728,485    2,372,512 

Accrued treasury share, universal service fund contribution and contributions to the ICTA’s expenses

   562,536    455,496 

Taxes payable

   523,584    465,966 

Accrued selling and marketing expenses

   100,792    91,747 

Other

   202,074    402,453 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   4,117,471    3,788,174 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Payable to suppliers arises in the ordinary course of business.

Taxes payables include VAT payables, special communications taxes payable, frequency usage fees payable to the ICTA and personnel income taxes payable.

Accrued selling and marketing expenses mainly result from services received from third parties related to the marketing activities of the Group, but not yet invoiced.

 

34.35.

Derivative financial instruments

FairThe fair value of derivative financial instruments at 31 December 20182019 and 20172018 are attributable to the following:

 

  31 December 2018   31 December 2017   31 December 2019   31 December 2018 
  Assets   Liabilities   Assets   Liabilities   Assets   Liabilities   Assets   Liabilities 

Held for trading

   709,617    131,097    961,665    17,724    443,880    72,539    709,617    131,097 

Derivatives used for hedging

   730,924    —      —      —      483,448    —      730,924    —   
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

Total

   1,440,541    131,097    961,665    17,724    927,328    72,539    1,440,541    131,097 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

At 31 December 2018,2019, the total held for trading derivative financial assets of TL 1,356,062845,513(31 December 2018: TL 1,356,062) also includeincludes a net accrued interest expense of TL 84,47981,815(31 December 2018: TL 84,479) and the total held for trading derivative financial liabilities of TL 131,09786,617 (31 December 2018: TL 165,265) also includeincludes a net accrued interest expense of TL 34,168.14,078(31 December 2018: TL 34,168).

Derivatives used for hedging

Participating cross currency swap and FXcross currency swap contracts

The notional amount and the fair value of participating cross currency swap and FXcross currency swap contracts for hedging purposes at 31 December 20182019 are as follows:

 

Buy

 

Sell

 

Sell

Sell

     Buy    

Currency

 

Notional

amount

 

Currency

 

Notional

amount

 

Fair

Value

 

Maturity

  Notional amount     Currency   Notional amount   Fair Value   

Maturity

Participating cross currency swap contractsParticipating cross currency swap contracts 

Participating cross currency swap contracts

TL

   1,820,280     EUR    433,400    148,066   23 October 2025

TL

 1,650,000 EUR 500,000 208,462 23 October 2025   257,478     EUR    56,004    7,675   22 April 2026

TL

 275,850 EUR 60,000 64,670 22 April 2026   85,593     USD    18,668    21,581   22 April 2026

TL

 435,000 USD 150,000 167,116 16 September 2020   145,000     USD    50,000    97,030   16 September 2020

TL

 293,500 USD 100,000 108,777 16 September 2020   128,833     USD    33,333    57,280   16 September 2020

TL

 194,000 USD 50,000 39,394 16 September 2020   97,833     USD    33,333    63,358   16 September 2020

TL

 386,500 USD 100,000 79,688 16 September 2020   64,667     USD    16,667    28,394   16 September 2020

TL

 113,400 USD 20,000 9,234 22 April 2026   245,951     USD    46,670    9,893   22 April 2026

Cross currency swap contracts

Cross currency swap contracts

   

Cross currency swap contracts

TL

 123,878 RMB 202,600 53,583 22 April 2026   115,628     RMB    189,107    50,171   22 April 2026
    

 

          

 

   

Derivatives used for hedge accounting financial assets

Derivatives used for hedge accounting financial assets

 730,924 

Derivatives used for hedge accounting financial assets

 

   483,448   
    

 

          

 

   

EUR 500,000489,404 participating cross currency swap contracts includes TL 690,146833,786 guarantees after the CSA agreement.

F-89


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

34.35.

Derivative financial instruments (continued)

 

Held for trading

CurrencyCross currency swap, participating cross currency swap, FX swap and participating cross currency swapoption contracts

The notional amount and the fair value of cross currency swap, participating cross currency swap, and FX swap and option contracts for hedging purposes at 31 December 20182019 are as follows:

 

Buy

 

Sell

   

Sell

Sell

   

Buy

    

Currency

 

Notional

amount

 

Currency

 

Notional

amount

 Fair
Value
 

Maturity

  Notional amount   

Currency

  Notional amount   Fair Value   

Maturity

Currency Swap

   

Cross currency swap contracts

Cross currency swap contracts

      

TL

 266,760 USD 50,000 (3,715 2 January 2019   242,873    USD   70,500    178,968   16 September 2020

TL

 266,510 USD 50,000 (3,465 2 January 2019   269,451    USD   70,500    148,452   22 December 2020

TL

 719,996 USD 135,000 (9,774 2 January 2019   137,952    USD   24,000    5,625   20 March 2023

TL

 212,736 USD 40,000 (2,300 2 January 2019   138,816    USD   24,000    5,044   23 March 2023

TL

 265,925 USD 50,000 (2,880 2 January 2019   84,224    EUR   15,040    10,691   23 September 2021

TL

 1,366 USD 253 (48 19 March 2019   91,008    EUR   14,400    5,141   23 September 2021

TL

 4,199 USD 680 (939 16 January 2019   35,818    RMB   45,259    944   22 April 2026

TL

 5,681 USD 920 (1,277 22 January 2019

TL

 6,040 EUR 1,000 (41 2 January 2019

USD

 68,654 EUR 60,000 (861 15 January 2019

USD

 11,462 EUR 10,000 (4 8 January 2019

Cross currency swap contracts

 

 

Participating cross currency swap contracts

Participating cross currency swap contracts

      

TL

 6,159 USD 1,000 (912 28 January 2019   172,772    EUR   28,002    9,904   22 April 2026

TL

 6,159 USD 1,000 (910 24 January 2019   171,092    EUR   28,002    21,355   22 April 2026

TL

 130,488 USD 24,000 (9,365 20 March 2023   227,750    EUR   37,336    8,705   22 April 2026

TL

 268,200 USD 50,000 (5,791 14 June 2019   77,520    EUR   12,000    1,097   16 September 2020

TL

 128,436 USD 24,000 (2,652 19 June 2019   261,912    USD   46,670    12,195   22 April 2026

TL

 169,368 EUR 24,000 (24,895 8 January 2019   108,349    USD   18,668    3,930   22 April 2026

TL

 118,800 EUR 18,000 (22,051 23 September 2021   135,051    USD   23,335    4,674   22 April 2026

TL

 111,732 EUR 18,867 1,920  14 February 2019   215,354    USD   37,336    7,813   22 April 2026

TL

 185,100 EUR 30,000 (8,296 22 April 2026   174,000    USD   30,000    1,506   15 June 2026

TL

 183,300 EUR 30,000 (8,642 22 April 2026   186,050    USD   32,669    9,936   22 April 2026

Participating cross currency swap contracts

 

 

TL

 193,800 EUR 30,000 (7,148 16 September 2020

TL

 91,700 USD 20,000 (17,051 22 April 2026

FX swap contracts (*)

FX swap contracts (*)

      

USD

   20,000    TL   117,860    67   27 February 2020

USD

   20,000    TL   117,900    51   27 February 2020

Option contracts

Option contracts

      

EUR

   25,000    USD   28,038    186   3 January 2020

USD

   50,000    TL   275,000    11   3 January 2020
    

 

           

 

   

Total Held for trading derivative financial liabilities

  (131,097 

Held for trading derivative financial assets

Held for trading derivative financial assets

 

   436,295   
    

 

    

 

   

 

F-90

(*)

There will be a purchase of USD 40,000 on 27 May 2020 in exchange for TL 241,046 in terms of the FX swap contract dated 27 November 2019.


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

34.35.

Derivative financial instruments (continued)

 

Currency forward contracts

The notional amount and the fair value of currency forward contracts for trading purposes at 31 December 2019 are as follows:

Buy

         

Currency

  Notional amount   Fair Value   Maturity 

USD

   30,000    2,081    28 February 2020 

USD

   7,500    952    30 March 2020 

USD

   7,500    916    29 June 2020 

USD

   10,000    1,038    30 March 2020 

USD

   10,000    1,016    29 June 2020 

USD

   7,500    797    30 March 2020 

USD

   7,500    785    29 June 2020 
    

 

 

   

Held for trading derivative financial assets

 

   7,585   
  

 

 

   

Held for trading

FX swap, interest swap and participating cross currency swap contracts

Buy

 

Sell

     

Currency

 

Notional

amount

 

Currency

 

Notional

amount

 Fair
Value
  

Maturity

Cross currency swap contracts

 

 

TL

 67,410 USD 18,000  27,928  28 January 2019

TL

 95,550 USD 25,000  36,751  24 January 2019

TL

 52,164 USD 14,620  27,870  16 July 2019

TL

 69,744 USD 19,780  38,636  22 July 2019

TL

 242,873 USD 70,500  160,594  16 September 2020

TL

 269,451 USD 70,500  131,437  22 December 2020

TL

 191,300 USD 50,000  74,095  13 February 2019

TL

 98,625 EUR 25,000  57,161  13 June 2019

TL

 203,600 EUR 50,000  109,610  23 July 2019

TL

 97,997 EUR 21,500  37,825  19 December 2019

TL

 105,280 EUR 18,800  7,710  23 September 2021
    

 

 

  

Total held for trading derivative financial assets

  709,617  
    

 

 

  

The notional amount and the fair value of FX swap, interest swap and participating cross currency swap contracts for hedging purposes at 31 December 2019 are as follows:

 

Participating cross currency swap and FX swap contracts
at 31 December 2017

   

Buy

 

Sell

   

Sell

Sell

     Buy    

Currency

 

Notional

amount

 

Currency

 

Notional

amount

 Fair
value
 

Maturity

  Notional amount     Currency   Notional amount   Fair Value   

Maturity

FX swap contracts

FX swap contracts

 

    

EUR

   50,000     USD    55,488    (3,005  07 January 2020

EUR

   75,000     USD    83,232    (4,512  07 January 2020

EUR

   175,000     USD    194,560    (8,508  08 January 2020

EUR

   50,000     USD    55,588    (2,432  08 January 2020

EUR

   50,000     USD    55,588    (2,434  08 January 2020

EUR

   85,000     USD    94,397    (4,748  08 January 2020

EUR

   90,000     USD    100,492    (2,301  21 January 2020

EUR

   20,000     USD    22,332    (510  21 January 2020

EUR

   175,000     USD    195,346    (4,875  22 January 2020

EUR

   50,000     USD    55,825    (1,448  28 January 2020

EUR

   70,000     USD    78,154    (2,036  28 January 2020

EUR

   90,000     USD    100,484    (2,612  28 January 2020

EUR

   50,000     USD    55,825    (1,448  28 January 2020

TL

   11,211     USD    1,860    (3  28 February 2020

Interest swap contracts

Interest swap contracts

 

    

USD

 47,304 EUR 39,835 1,005  02 January 2018   93,340     USD    93,340    (7,802  22 April 2026

TL

 69,680 USD 20,000 6,554  27 August 2018

TL

 81,480 EUR 20,000 9,965  14 December 2018

TL

 95,550 USD 25,000 72  24 January 2019

TL

 67,410 USD 18,000 1,498  28 January 2019

TL

 98,625 EUR 25,000 17,354  13 June 2019

TL

 52,164 USD 14,620 4,465  16 July 2019

TL

 69,744 USD 19,780 6,996  22 July 2019

TL

 203,600 EUR 50,000 27,198  23 July 2019

TL

 435,000 USD 150,000 142,085  16 September 2020

TL

 386,500 USD 100,000 (4,645 16 September 2020

TL

 293,500 USD 100,000 90,071  16 September 2020

TL

 242,873 USD 70,500 33,535  16 September 2020

TL

 194,000 USD 50,000 (2,951 16 September 2020

USD

   46,670     USD    46,670    (3,101  22 April 2026

USD

   37,336     USD    37,336    (959  22 April 2026

USD

   32,669     USD    32,669    (849  22 April 2026

Participating cross currency swap contracts

Participating cross currency swap contracts

 

    

TL

 1,650,000 EUR 500,000 627,385  25 October 2025   105,848     USD    18,668    (14,265  22 April 2026

TL

 275,850 EUR 60,000 1,078  22 April 2026   162,552     USD    28,002    (4,691  22 April 2026
    

 

           

 

   

Total derivative financial assets

  961,665  

Total held for trading derivative financial liabilities

Total held for trading derivative financial liabilities

 

   (72,539  
    

 

           

 

   

F-91


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

34.35.

Derivative financial instruments (continued)

 

HeldDerivatives used for tradinghedging

AtParticipating cross currency swap and cross currency swap contracts

The notional amount and the fair value of participating cross currency swap and cross currency swap contracts for hedging purposes at 31 December 2017, total derivative financial assets of TL 981,396 also include net accrued interest income of TL 19,731.2018 are as follows:

 

Sell

      Buy     

Currency

  Notional amount      Currency   Notional amount   Fair Value   Maturity 

Participating cross currency swap contracts

 

      

TL

   1,650,000     EUR    500,000    208,462    23 October 2025 

TL

   275,850     EUR    60,000    64,670    22 April 2026 

TL

   435,000     USD    150,000    167,116    16 September 2020 

TL

   293,500     USD    100,000    108,777    16 September 2020 

TL

   194,000     USD    50,000    39,394    16 September 2020 

TL

   386,500     USD    100,000    79,688    16 September 2020 

TL

   91,700     USD    20,000    9,234    22 April 2026 

Cross currency swap contracts

 

      

TL

   123,878     RMB    202,600    53,583    22 April 2026 
         

 

 

   

Derivatives used for hedge accounting financial assets

 

   730,924   
         

 

 

   

Participating cross currency swap and FX swap contracts
at 31 December 2017

     

Buy

 

Sell

     

Currency

 

Notional

amount

 

Currency

 

Notional

amount

 Fair
value
  

Maturity

TL

 470,232 USD 122,680  (2,465 2 January 2018

TL

 180,023 USD 47,250  (545 2 January 2018

TL

 141,001 USD 36,786  (726 3 January 2018

TL

 219,162 USD 57,245  (1,043 4 January 2018

TL

 115,022 USD 30,150  (435 5 January 2018

TL

 17,204 USD 4,500  (284 10 January 2018

TL

 15,916 EUR 3,500  (157 10 January 2018

TL

 91,556 EUR 20,140  (620 22 January 2018

TL

 137,834 EUR 30,400  (601 05 February 2018

TL

 82,013 EUR 17,860  (1,413 19 February 2018

TL

 1,143 EUR 250  (25 5 Mart 2018

TL

 97,997 EUR 21,500  (2,154 19 December 2019

TL

 269,451 USD 70,500  (5,010 22 December 2020
    

 

 

  

Total derivative financial liabilities

  (15,478 
    

 

 

  

Currency forward contracts at 31 December 2017

Buy

       

Currency

 

Notional amount

 Fair value  

Maturity

USD

 50,000  (2,246 30 January 2018
  

 

 

  

Total derivative financial liabilities

  (2,246 
    

 

 

  

At 31 December 2017, total derivative financial liabilities ofEUR 500,000 participating cross currency swap contracts includes TL 110,108 also include net accrued interest expense of TL 92,384.690,146 guarantees after CSA agreement.

F-92


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

34.35.

Derivative financial instruments (continued)

 

Held for trading

FX swap, cross currency swap and participating cross currency swap contracts

The notional amount and the fair value of FX swap, cross currency swap, participating cross currency swap contracts for hedging purposes at 31 December 2018 are as follows:

Sell

     

Buy

    

Currency

  Notional amount     

Currency

  Notional amount   Fair Value   

Maturity

FX swap contracts

TL

   266,760    USD   50,000    (3,715  2 January 2019

TL

   266,510    USD   50,000    (3,465  2 January 2019

TL

   719,996    USD   135,000    (9,774  2 January 2019

TL

   212,736    USD   40,000    (2,300  2 January 2019

TL

   265,925    USD   50,000    (2,880  2 January 2019

TL

   1,366    USD   253    (48  19 March 2019

TL

   4,199    USD   680    (939  16 January 2019

TL

   5,681    USD   920    (1,277  22 January 2019

TL

   6,040    EUR   1,000    (41  2 January 2019

USD

   68,654    EUR   60,000    (861  15 January 2019

USD

   11,462    EUR   10,000    (4  8 January 2019

Cross currency swap contracts

TL

   6,159    USD   1,000    (912  28 January 2019

TL

   6,159    USD   1,000    (910  24 January 2019

TL

   130,488    USD   24,000    (9,365  20 March 2023

TL

   268,200    USD   50,000    (5,791  14 June 2019

TL

   128,436    USD   24,000    (2,652  19 June 2019

TL

   169,368    EUR   24,000    (24,895  8 January 2019

TL

   118,800    EUR   18,000    (22,051  23 September 2021

TL

   111,732    EUR   18,867    1,920   14 February 2019

TL

   185,100    EUR   30,000    (8,296  22 April 2026

TL

   183,300    EUR   30,000    (8,642  22 April 2026

Participating cross currency swap contracts

TL

   193,800    EUR   30,000    (7,148  16 September 2020

TL

   113,400    USD   20,000    (17,051  22 April 2026
         

 

 

   

Total Held for trading derivative financial liabilities

 

   (131,097  
  

 

 

   

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

35.

Derivative financial instruments (continued)

Held for trading

Cross currency swap contracts

The notional amount and the fair value of cross currency swap contracts for hedging purposes at 31 December 2018 are as follows:

Sell

      Buy     

Currency

  Notional amount      Currency   Notional amount   Fair Value   Maturity 

Cross currency swap contracts

 

TL

   67,410     USD    18,000    27,928    28 January 2019 

TL

   95,550     USD    25,000    36,751    24 January 2019 

TL

   52,164     USD    14,620    27,870    16 July 2019 

TL

   69,744     USD    19,780    38,636    22 July 2019 

TL

   242,873     USD    70,500    160,594    16 September 2020 

TL

   269,451     USD    70,500    131,437    22 December 2020 

TL

   191,300     USD    50,000    74,095    13 February 2019 

TL

   98,625     EUR    25,000    57,161    13 June 2019 

TL

   203,600     EUR    50,000    109,610    23 July 2019 

TL

   97,997     EUR    21,500    37,825    19 December 2019 

TL

   105,280     EUR    18,800    7,710    23 September 2021 
         

 

 

   

Total held for trading derivative financial assets

 

   709,617   
  

 

 

   

Fair value of derivative instruments and risk management

This section explains the judgementsjudgments and estimates made in determining the fair values of the financial instruments that are recognized and measured at fair value in the financial statements. To provide an indication aboutof the reliability of the inputs used in determining fair value, the Group has classified its financial instruments into the three levels prescribed under the accounting standards. An explanation of each level is as follows:

 

Level 1 inputs are quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the entity can access at the measurement date;

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

35.

Derivative financial instruments (continued)

Fair value of derivative instruments and risk management (continued)

 

Level 2 inputs are inputs, other than quoted prices included within Level 1, that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly; and

 

Level 3 inputs are unobservable inputs for the asset or liability.

 

  Fair values  Fair values
  31 December
2018
 31 December
2017
 Fair Value
hierarchy
   

Valuation Techniques

  31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
 Fair Value
hierarchy
   

Valuation Techniques

a)Participating cross currency swap contracts (*)

   653,142  950,862  Level 3   Pricing models based on discounted cash Present value of the estimated future cash flows based on unobservable yield curves and end period FX rates

a) Participating cross currency swap contracts (*)

   495,436    653,142   Level 3   Pricing models based on discounted cash Present value of the estimated future cash flows based on unobservable yield curves and end period FX rates

-Held for trading

   (24,199 950,862       62,159    (24,199   

-Derivatives used for hedging

   677,341   —         433,277    677,341    

b)FX swap contracts

   656,302  (4,675 Level 2   Present value of the estimated future cash flows based on observable yield curves and end period FX rates

b) FX swap, currency, interest swap and option contracts

   351,768    656,302   Level 2   Present value of the estimated future cash flows based on observable yield curves and end period FX rates

-Held for trading

   602,719  (4,675      301,597    602,719    

-Derivatives used for hedging

   53,583   —         50,171    53,583    

c)Currency forward contracts

   —    (2,246 Level 2   Forward exchange rates at the balance sheet date

c) Currency forward contracts

   7,585    —     Level 2   Forward exchange rates at the balance sheet date

-Held for trading

   —    (2,246)       7,585    —      

 

(*)

TL 118,647 accrual of net interest expense has been reflected to consolidated financial statements as at 31 December 2018 (31 December 2017: TL 72,653). Since thebid-ask spread is unobservable input; in the valuation of participating cross currency swap contracts, prices in thebid-bid-ask ask price range whichthat were considered the most appropriate were used instead of mid prices. If mid prices were used in the valuation the fair value of participating cross currency swap contracts would have been TL 123,995116,684 lower as at 31 December 20182019 (31 December 2017:2018: TL 129,870)123,995).

There were no transfers between fair value hierarchy levels during the year.

The following tables present the Group’s financial assets and financial liabilities measured and recognized at fair value at 31 December 2019 and 2018 on a hedge accounting basis:

F-93

Fair values

 

Currency

 Nominal
Value
  Maturity Date  31 December
2019
  31 December
2018
  Fair
Value
hierarchy
  Hedge
Ratio
  Change in
intrinsic
value of
outstanding
hedging
instruments
since 1 January
  Change in
value of
hedging
item used to
determine
hedge
effectiveness
 

Participating cross currency swap contracts

 

EUR Contracts

  433,400   23 October 2025   148,066   208,462   Level 3   1:1   293,774   (293,774

EUR Contracts

  56,004   22 April 2026   7,675   64,670   Level 3   1:1   36,344   (36,344

USD Contracts

  133,333   16 September 2020   246,062   394,975   Level 3   1:1   61,424   (61,424

USD Contracts

  46,670   22 April 2026   9,893   —     Level 3   1:1   15,215   (15,215

USD Contracts

  18,668   22 April 2026   21,581   9,234   Level 3   1:1   13,436   (13,436

Cross currency swap contracts

 

CNY Contracts

  189,107   22 April 2026   50,171   53,583   Level 2   1:1   19,172   (19,172


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

34.35.

Derivative financial instruments (continued)

Fair value of derivative instruments and risk management (continued)

The following table presents the Group’s financial assets and financial liabilities measured and recognised at fair value at 31 December 2018 and 2017 on a hedge accounting basis:

 

Fair values

 

Participating cross currency swap
contracts

  Nominal
Value
   Maturity Date   31 December
2018
   31 December
2017
   Fair
Value
hierarchy
   Hedge
Ratio
   Change in
intrinsic

value of
outstanding
hedging
instruments
since 1 July
   Change in
value of
hedging
item used to
determine
hedge
effectiveness
 

EUR Contracts

   500,000    23 October 2025    208,462    627,385    Level 3    1:1    359,400    (359,400

EUR Contracts

   60,000    22 April 2026    64,670    1,078    Level 3    1:1    43,128    (43,128
                               —   

USD Contracts

   400,000    16 September 2020    394,975    224,560    Level 3    1:1    179,388    (179,388

USD Contracts

   20,000    10 April 2026    9,234    —      Level 3    1:1    13,519    (13,519

Fair values

 

Cross currency swap contracts

  Nominal
Value
   Maturity Date   31 December
2018
   31 December
2017
   Fair
Value
hierarchy
   Hedge
Ratio
   Change in
intrinsic

value of
outstanding
hedging
instruments
since 1 July
   Change in
value of
hedging
item used to
determine
hedge
effectiveness
 

CNY Contracts

   202,600    22 April 2026    53,583    —      Level 2    1:1    15,600    (15,600

F-94


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the years ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

34.

Derivative financial instruments (continued)

Fair value of derivative instruments and risk management (continued)

EUR 500,000 participating cross currency swap contracts includes TL 690,146 guarantees after CSA agreement.

Fair values

 

Currency

 Nominal
Value
  Maturity Date  31 December
2018
  31 December
2017
  Fair
Value
hierarchy
  Hedge
Ratio
  Change in
intrinsic
value of
outstanding
hedging
instruments
since 1 July
  Change in
value of
hedging
item used to
determine
hedge
effectiveness
 

Participating cross currency swap contracts

 

EUR Contracts

  500,000   23 October 2025   208,462   627,385   Level 3   1:1   359,400   (359,400

EUR Contracts

  60,000   22 April 2026   64,670   1,078   Level 3   1:1   43,128   (43,128

USD Contracts

  400,000   16 September 2020   394,975   224,560   Level 3   1:1   179,388   (179,388

USD Contracts

  20,000   10 April 2026   9,234   —     Level 3   1:1   13,519   (13,519

Cross currency swap contracts

 

CNY Contracts

  202,600   22 April 2026   53,583   —     Level 2   1:1   15,600   (15,600

Movements in the participating cross currency swap contracts for the years ended 31 December 20182019 and 31 December 20172018 are stated below:

 

  31 December
2018
   31 December
2017
   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
 

Opening balance

   950,862    382,054    653,142    950,862 

Cash flow effect

   (612,466   —      (582,580   (612,466

Total gain/loss:

        

Gains recognized in profit or loss

   314,746    568,808    424,874    314,746 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

Closing balance

   653,142    950,862    495,436    653,142 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

Net off / Offset

The Company signed a Credit Support Annex (CSA) against the default risk of the parties in respect of a EUR 500,000433,400 participating cross currency swap transaction executed on 15 July 2016 and restructured respectively on 26 May 2017 and 9 August 2018. Additionally, in the 25 June 2019, The Company signed a new CSA to EUR 56,004 participating cross currency swap transaction. As per the CSA, the swap’s current(mark-to-market) value will be determined on the 10th and 24th calendar day of each calendar month, and if themark-to-market value is positive and exceeds a certain threshold, the bank will be posting cash collateral to the Company which will be equal to an amount exceeding the threshold (i.e. if themark-to-market value is negative, the Company would be required to post collateral to the bank by an amount exceeding the threshold).

With respect to the valuations, on abi-weekly basis, a transfer will take place between the parties only if themark-to-market value changes by at least EUR 1,000. Following the execution of CSA, the bank transferred EUR 153,540 as collateral to the Company EUR 224,843 as collateral (31 December 2018:2019: TL 925,539)1,495,341) which was the amount exceeding the threshold (EUR 10,000) and the Company transferred EUR 39,05099,473 as collateral to the bank (31 December 2018:2019: TL 235,393)661,555) which was the amount exceeding the threshold (EUR 10,000).threshold. The Company clarified this with the derivative assets included in the statement of financial position because it has the legal right to offset the collateral amount TL 690,146833,786 that it recognizes under the borrowings and intends to pay according to the net fair value. This amount was netted from the borrowings and deducted from the derivative instruments in the balance sheet. As of 31 December 2018, If2019, were this transaction was not conducted, derivative financial instruments assets would have been TL 2,046,2081,679,299 and current borrowings wouldTL 8,462,119.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been TL 7,726,055.rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

35.

Derivative financial instruments (continued)

Fair value of derivative instruments and risk management (continued)

Market risk

The Group uses various types of derivatives to manage market risks. All such transactions are carried out within the guidelines set by the treasury and risk management department. Generally, the Group seeks to apply hedge accounting to manage volatility in profit or loss.

F-95


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the years ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

34.

Derivative financial instruments (continued)

Fair value of derivative instruments and risk management (continued)

Currency risk

The Group’s risk management policy is to hedge its estimated foreign currency exposure in respect of borrowing payments with various maturities at any point in time. The Group uses participating cross currency contracts to hedge its currency risk, mostmostly with a maturity of more thanover one year from the reporting date. These contracts are generally designated as cash flow hedges.

The Group designates the hedge ratio, between the amount of the hedged item and the hedging instrument is 1:1 to hedge its currency risk.

The time value of options in participating cross currency swap contracts are included in the designation of the hedging instrument and are separately accounted for as a cost of hedging, which is recognisedrecognized in equity in a cost of hedging reserve. The Group’s policy is for the critical terms of the participating cross currency contracts to align with the hedged item.

The Group determines the existence of an economic relationship between the hedging instruments and hedged item based on the currency, amount and timing of their respective cash flows. The Group assesses whether the derivative designated in each hedging relationship is expected to be and has been effective in offsetting changes in cash flows of the hedged item using the hypothetical derivative method.

In these hedge relationships, the main sources of ineffectiveness are;

 

theThe effect of the counterparties’ credit risk on the fair value of the swap contracts, which is not part of the hedged risk and associated credit risk considered to be very low at inception in the fair value of the hedged cash flows attributable to the change in exchange rates;

 

theThe entire fair value of the derivative contracts including currency basis was designated as the hedging instrument in cash flow hedge. The hypothetical derivative is modelled to exclude the impact of currency basis.

Interest rate risk

The Group adopts a policy of ensuring that its interest rate risk exposure is at a fixed rate. This is achieved partly by entering into fixed-rate instruments and partly by borrowing at a floating rate and using cross currency and interest rate swaps as hedges of the variability in cash flows attributable to movements in interest rates. The Group applies a hedge ratio of 1:1.

The Group determines the existence of an economic relationship between the hedging instrument and hedged item based on the reference interest rates, tenors, repricing dates and maturities and the notional or par amounts.

The Group assesses whether the derivative designated in each hedging relationship is expected to be effective in offsetting changes in cash flows of the hedged item using the hypothetical derivative method.

In these hedge relationships, the main sources of ineffectiveness are:

 

theThe effect of the counterparties’ credit risk on the fair value of the swap contracts, which is not part of the hedged risk and associated credit risk considered to be very low at inception in the fair value of the hedged cash flows attributable to the change in interest rates;

F-96


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

34.

Derivative financial instruments (continued)

Fair value of derivative instruments and risk management (continued)

Cash flow sensitivity analysis for variable-rate instruments

A reasonably possible change of 100 basis points in interest rates and 10 % change in foreign exchange currency at the reporting date would have increased (decreased) equity and profit or loss by the amounts shown below. This analysis assumes that all other variables, remain constant.

   Profit or Loss   Equity, net of tax 
   100 bp
increase
   100 bp
decrease
   100 bp
increase
   100 bp
decrease
 

31 December 2018

 ��      

Participating cross currency swap contracts

   937,845    9,455    (360,596   (259,066

Cross currency swap contracts

   31,584    320    1,452    4,765 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cash Flow sensitivity (net)

   969,429    9,775    (359,144   (254,301
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cash flow hedges

The following table provides a reconciliation by risk category of components of equity and analysis of OCI items, net of tax, resulting from cash flow hedge accounting.

   2018 
   Hedging
Reserve
   Cost of Hedging
Reserve
 

Balance at 1 January 2018

   —      —   

Cash Flow Hedges

    

Changes in fair value:

   683,706    (448,833

Foreign currency risk

   612,733    (448,833

Interest rate risk

   70,973    —   

Amount reclassified into profit or loss:

   (664,550   101,231 

Foreign currency risk

   (611,035   101,231 

Interest rate risk

   (53,515   —   

Tax on movements during the year:

   (4,214   76,472 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance at 31 December 2018

   14,942    (271,130
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

F-97


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the years ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

35.

Financial instruments

Credit risk

Exposure to credit risk:

The carrying amount of financial assets represents the maximum credit exposure. The maximum exposure to credit risk at the reporting date is:

       2018   2017 

Trade receivables

   19    2,620,991    3,004,206 

Contract assets

     715,441    —   

Receivables from financial services

   20    4,170,929    4,248,120 

Cash and cash equivalents*

   24    7,419,095    4,712,141 

Participating cross currency swap and FX swap contracts

   32    1,356,062    981,396 

Other current assets**

   22    287,469    316,042 

Held to maturity investments

     —      11,992 

Financial asset at fair value through profit or loss

     9,409    —   

Financial asset at fair value through other comprehensive income

     42,454    —   

Due from related parties

   37    13,533    5,299 
    

 

 

   

 

 

 
     16,635,383    13,279,196 
    

 

 

   

 

 

 

*

Cash in hand is excluded from cash and cash equivalents.

**

Prepaid expenses, receivable from personnel, receivable from the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey, other and advances given are excluded from other current assets and othernon-current assets.

F-98


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the years ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

35.

Derivative financial instruments (continued)

Fair value of derivative instruments and risk management (continued)

Cash flow sensitivity analysis for variable-rate instruments

A reasonable potential change of 100 basis points in interest rates and 10% change in foreign exchange currency at the reporting date would have increased (decreased) equity and profit or loss by the amounts shown below. This analysis assumes that all other variables remain constant.

   Profit or Loss   Equity, net of tax 
   100 bp
increase
   100 bp
decrease
   100 bp
increase
   100 bp
decrease
 

31 December 2019

        

Participating cross currency swap contracts

   376,920    519,967    (102,693   (180,974

Cross currency swap contracts

   17,631    16,516    (16,644   (18,114
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cash Flow sensitivity (net)

   394,551    536,483    (119,337   (199,088
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

   Profit or Loss   Equity, net of tax 
   100 bp
increase
   100 bp
decrease
   100 bp
increase
   100 bp
decrease
 

31 December 2018

        

Participating cross currency swap contracts

   937,845    9,455    (360,596   (259,066

Cross currency swap contracts

   31,584    320    1,452    4,765 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cash Flow sensitivity (net)

   969,429    9,775    (359,144   (254,301
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

36.

Financial instruments

Credit risk

Exposure to credit risk:

The carrying amount of financial assets represents the maximum credit exposure. The maximum exposure to credit risk at the reporting date is:

       2019   2018 

Trade receivables

   19    3,282,134    2,588,979 

Contract assets

   21    944,260    715,441 

Receivables from financial services

   20    2,442,258    4,202,941 

Cash and cash equivalents (*)

   24    10,238,584    7,419,095 

Participating cross currency swap and FX swap contracts

   35    845,513    1,356,062 

Other current assets (**)

   23    99,882    287,469 

Financial asset at fair value through profit or loss

     5,368    9,409 

Financial asset at fair value through other comprehensive income

   25    345,602    42,454 

Due from related parties

   39    4,477    13,533 
    

 

 

   

 

 

 
     18,208,078    16,635,383 
    

 

 

   

 

 

 

(*)

Cash in hand is excluded from cash and cash equivalents.

(**)

Prepaid expenses, VAT receivable, receivable from the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey, other and advances given are excluded from other current assets and othernon-current assets.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

36.

Financial instruments (continued)

Credit risk (continued)

Credit quality:

The maximum exposure to credit risk for trade and subscriber receivables, other assets and cash and cash equivalent arising from sales transactions, including those classified as due from related parties at the reporting date by type of customer is:

 

Other Assets at 31 December 2018(*) Not Due More Than
30 Days
Past Due
 More Than
60 Days
Past Due
 More Than
90 Days
Past Due
 More Than
120 Days
Past Due
 More Than
150 Days
Past Due
 More Than
150 Days -3
years Past
Due
 More Than
3 - 4 years
Past Due
 More Than
4 - 5 years
Past Due
 Total 

Other assets at 31 December 2019 (*)

  Not Due   More Than
30 Days
Past Due
   More Than
60 Days
Past Due
   More Than
90 Days
Past Due
   More Than
120 Days
Past Due
   More Than
150 Days
Past Due
   More Than
150 Days - 3

years Past
Due
   More Than
3 - 4 years
Past Due
   More Than
4 - 5 years
Past Due
   Total 

Gross Carrying Amount

 8,656,954  214,351  80,762  57,761  43,038  25,543  755,982  272,547  319,298  10,426,236    11,075,880    383,055    109,594    134,229    74,380    63,995    807,941    299,149    180,029    13,128,252 

Loss Allowance

 24,864  4,567  5,238  4,900  6,368  6,028  214,893  182,431  281,522  730,811    22,884    5,013    8,284    9,497    12,666    11,415    243,399    177,160    137,260    627,578 

 

(*)

Other Assets includes trade receivables, subscriber receivables, other assets, cash and cash equivalent and due from related parties.

 

Contract Assets at 31 December 2018 Not Due More Than
30 Days
Past Due
 More Than
60 Days
Past Due
 More Than
90 Days
Past Due
 More Than
120 Days
Past Due
 More Than
150 Days
Past Due
 More Than
150 Days - 3
years Past
Due
 More Than
3 - 4 years
Past Due
 More Than
4 - 5 years
Past Due
 Total 
          

Contract assets at 31 December 2019

  Not Due   More Than
30 Days
Past Due
   More Than
60 Days
Past Due
   More Than
90 Days
Past Due
   More Than
120 Days
Past Due
   More Than
150 Days
Past Due
   More Than
150 Days - 3

years Past
Due
   More Than
3 - 4 years
Past Due
   More Than
4 - 5 years
Past Due
   Total 

Gross Carrying Amount

 715,441   —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —    715,441    948,950    —      —      —      —      —      —      —      —      948,950 

Loss Allowance

 7,370   —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —    7,370    4,690    —      —      —      —      —      —      —      —      4,690 

 

Other assets from financial services at 31 December 2019 (**)

  Not Due   More Than
30 Days
Past Due
   More Than
60 Days
Past Due
   More Than
90 Days
Past Due
   More Than
120 Days
Past Due
   More Than
150 Days
Past Due
   More Than
150 Days - 3

years Past
Due
   More Than
3 - 4 years
Past Due
   More Than
4 - 5 years
Past Due
   Total 

Gross Carrying Amount

   2,126,580    239,942    50,513    25,239    11,345    10,755    200,867    1,524    —      2,666,765 

Loss Allowance

   15,773    2,780    859    452    5,466    5,036    131,645    1,489    —      163,500 

F-99

(**)

Other Assets includes trade receivables, subscriber receivables, other assets and cash and cash equivalents from financial services.


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

35.36.

Financial instruments (continued)

Credit risk (continued)

Credit quality:quality (continued):

 

Other Assets as at 1 January
2018(*)
 Not Due More Than
30 Days
Past Due
 More Than
60 Days
Past Due
 More Than
90 Days
Past Due
 More Than
120 Days
Past Due
 More Than
150 Days
Past Due
 More Than
150 Days - 3 years
Past Due
 More Than
3 - 4 years
Past Due
 More Than
4 - 5 years
Past Due
 Total 

Other assets at 1 January 2019 (*)

  Not Due   More Than
30 Days
Past Due
   More Than
60 Days
Past Due
   More Than
90 Days
Past Due
   More Than
120 Days
Past Due
   More Than
150 Days
Past Due
   More Than
150 Days - 3

years Past
Due
   More Than
3 - 4 years
Past Due
   More Than
4 - 5 years
Past Due
   Total 

Gross Carrying Amount

 6,021,990  194,517  81,804  35,799  52,851  20,493  823,359  208,127  141,717  7,580,657    8,550,197    211,558    80,337    57,336    42,857    25,363    754,732    272,547    319,298    10,314,225 

Loss Allowance

 24,936  6,136  5,662  4,279  9,766  7,076  323,124  158,198  122,751  661,928    24,864    4,567    5,238    4,900    6,368    6,028    214,893    182,431    281,522    730,811 

 

(*)

Other Assets includes trade receivables, subscriber receivables and other assets.

 

Contract Assets as at 1 January 2018 Not Due More Than
30 Days
Past Due
 More Than
60 Days
Past Due
 More Than
90 Days
Past Due
 More Than
120 Days
Past Due
 More Than
150 Days
Past Due
 More Than
150 Days - 3
years Past
Due
 More Than
3 - 4 years
Past Due
 More Than
4 - 5 years
Past Due
 Total 

Contract assets at 1 January 2019

  Not Due   More Than
30 Days
Past Due
   More Than
60 Days
Past Due
   More Than
90 Days
Past Due
   More Than
120 Days
Past Due
   More Than
150 Days
Past Due
   More Than
150 Days - 3

years Past
Due
   More Than
3 - 4 years
Past Due
   More Than
4 - 5 years
Past Due
   Total 

Gross Carrying Amount

 514,223   —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —    514,223    722,811                                    722,811 

Loss Allowance

 5,128   —     —     —     —     —     —     —     —    5,128    7,370                                    7,370 

 

Other assets from financial services at 1 January 2019 (**)

  Not Due   More Than
30 Days
Past Due
   More Than
60 Days
Past Due
   More Than
90 Days
Past Due
   More Than
120 Days
Past Due
   More Than
150 Days
Past Due
   More Than
150 Days - 3

years Past
Due
   More Than
3 - 4 years
Past Due
   More Than
4 - 5 years
Past Due
   Total 

Gross Carrying Amount

   2,974,069    469,599    65,999    47,705    24,498    19,394    215,954    —      —      3,817,218 

Loss Allowance

   25,655    6,767    1,690    1,242    10,793    8,651    145,475    —      —      200,273 

F-100

(**)

Other Assets includes trade receivables, subscriber receivables, other assets and cash and cash equivalents from financial services.


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

35.36.

Financial instruments (continued)

 

Impairment losses

Individual receivables, which are known to be uncollectible are written off by reducing the carrying amount directly. The other receivables are assessed collectively to determine whether there is objective evidence that an impairment has been incurred but not yet is been identified. The Group considers that there is evidence of impairment if any of the following indicators are present:

 

significantSignificant financial difficulties of the customer

 

probabilityProbability that the customer will enter bankruptcy or financial reorganisation,reorganization, and

 

defaultDefault or delinquency in payments

Receivables for which an impairment provision was recognized are written off against the provision when there is no expectation of recovering additional cash.

Impairment losses are recognized in profit or loss within net impairment losses on financial and contract assets (Note 10). Subsequent recoveries of amounts previously written off are credited against Net impairment losses on financial and contract assets (Note 10).

Movements in the provision for impairment of trade receivables, contract assets, other assets and due from related parties are as follows:

 

  31 December
2018
Contract Asset
   31 December
2018
Other Asset**
   31 December
2019
Contract Asset
   31 December
2019

Other Asset
 

Opening balance

   —         705,440    7,370    730,811 

IFRS 9 effect

   5,128    (43,512

Provision for impairment recognized during the year

   2,242    416,557    1,105    376,107 

Amounts collected

   —      (166,641   —      (147,858

Unused amount reversed (*)

   —      (73,023

Transfer

   (3,785   3,785 

Receivables written off during the year as uncollectible

   —      (118,553   —      (346,049

Exchange differences

   —      10,540    —      10,782 

Disposal of subsidiaries

   —      3 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 
Closing balance   7,370    730,811    4,690    627,578 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

   31 December
2018
Contract Asset
   31 December
2018
Other Asset
 

Opening balance

   5,128    661,928 

Provision for impairment recognized during the year

   2,242    416,557 

Amounts collected

   —      (166,641

Unused amount reversed (*)

   —      (73,023

Receivables written off during the year as uncollectible

   —      (118,553

Exchange differences

   —      10,540 

Disposal of subsidiaries

   —      3 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Closing balance

   7,370    730,811 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

31 December
2017
Contract Asset
31 December
2017
Other Asset**

Opening balance

—  964,311

Provision for impairment recognized during the year

—  180,948

Amounts collected

—  (224,460

Unused amount reversed (*)

—  (79,958

Receivables written off during the year as uncollectible

—  (138,529

Exchange differences

—  3,128

Closing balance—  705,440

(*)

The Company signed a transfer of claim agreement with a debt management company to transfer some of its doubtful receivables stemming from the years between 1998 to 2016,2016. Transferred doubtful receivables comprise of balances that the Company started legal proceedings.proceedings for.

(**)

Other Assets includes trade receivables, subscriber receivables and other assets.

F-101


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

35.36.

Financial instruments (continued)

Impairment losses (continued)

 

Movements in the provision for impairment of trade receivables, subscriber receivables, other assets and cash and cash equivalents from financial services are as follows:

 

  31 December
2018
   31 December
2017
   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
 

Opening balance

   72,992    10,170    200,273    125,943 

IFRS 9 effect

   52,951    —   

Provision for impairment recognized during the year

   190,509    117,293    245,365    190,509 

Amounts collected

   (96,278   (37,503   (135,862   (96,278

Receivables written off during the year as uncollectible

   (147,067   —   

Exchange differences

   791    —   

Unused amount reversed (*)

   (19,901   (16,968   —      (19,901
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 
Closing balance   200,273    72,992    163,500    200,273 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

 

(*)

The Company signed a transfer of claim agreement with a debt management company to transfer some of its doubtful receivables stemming from the year 2017. Transferred doubtful receivables comprise of balances that the Company started legal proceedings.proceedings for.

.

F-102


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

35.36.

Financial instruments (continued)

 

Liquidity risk

The table below analyses the Group’s financial liabilities intoby considering relevant maturity groupings based on their contractual maturities for:

 

allnon-derivative financial liabilities, and

 

gross settled derivative financial instruments for which the contractual maturities are essential for an understanding of the timing of the cash flows,

 

 31 December 2018 31 December 2017 
 Carrying Contractual 6 months 6-12 1-2 2-5 More
than 5
 Carrying Contractual 6 months 6-12 1-2 2-5 More than
5
  31 December 2019 31 December 2018 
 Amount cash flows or less Months years years Years Amount cash flows or less months years years Years  Carrying
Amount
 Contractual
cash flows
 6 months
or less
 6-12
Months
 1-2 years 2-5 years More than
5 Years
 Carrying
Amount
 Contractual
cash flows
 6 months
or less
 6-12
months
 1-2 years 2-5 years More than
5 Years
 

Non-derivative financial liabilities

                            

Secured bank loans

 4,180  (4,712 (1,272 (1,209 (2,231  —     —    4,390  (5,011  —    (1,117 (2,045 (1,849  —    2,415  (2,587 (1,329 (1,258  —     —     —    4,180  (4,712 (1,272 (1,209 (2,231  —     —   

Unsecured bank loans

 13,526,847  (14,353,989 (4,354,548 (2,065,424 (3,587,398 (2,503,531 (1,843,088 10,533,518  (11,094,697 (3,275,230 (955,637 (2,575,807 (3,035,914 (1,252,109 12,804,467  (13,688,718 (4,246,288 (2,586,232 (1,338,152 (3,684,289 (1,833,757 13,526,847  (14,353,989 (4,354,548 (2,065,424 (3,587,398 (2,503,531 (1,843,088

Finance lease liabilities

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —    122,720  (133,570 (18 (17,429 (16,789 (38,933 (60,401

Debt securities issued

 5,210,562  (7,733,943 (228,838 (149,564 (299,128 (897,385 (6,159,028 1,875,521  (2,753,486 (54,221 (54,221 (108,442 (325,326 (2,211,276 5,965,790  (8,446,514 (318,861 (168,861 (337,723 (1,013,168 (6,607,901 5,210,562  (7,733,943 (228,838 (149,564 (299,128 (897,385 (6,159,028

Lease liabilities

 1,413,956  (2,497,426 (372,682 (273,273 (410,826 (666,760 (773,885  —     —     —     —     —     —     —    1,533,055  (2,456,542 (382,558 (261,285 (406,413 (662,767 (743,519 1,413,956  (2,497,426 (372,682 (273,273 (410,826 (666,760 (773,885

Trade and other payables*

 2,372,512  (2,440,300 (2,440,300  —     —     —     —    2,527,152  (2,548,365 (2,548,365  —     —     —     —    2,728,485  (2,789,258 (2,694,568 (94,690  —     —     —    2,372,512  (2,440,300 (2,440,300  —     —     —     —   

Due to related parties

 45,331  (45,331 (45,331  —     —     —     —    6,980  (6,980 (6,980  —     —     —     —    12,082  (12,082 (12,082  —     —     —     —    45,331  (45,331 (45,331  —     —     —     —   

Consideration payable in relation to acquisition of Belarusian Telecom (Note 35)

 358,304  (526,090  —     —     —    (526,090  —    323,691  (377,190  —     —     —    (377,190  —   

Derivative financial liabilities Participating Cross Currency Swap and FX swap contracts

 165,265  97,761  55,377   —    12,960  14,522  14,902  107,862  23,428  18,982   —    4,446   —     —   

Buy

  3,444,271  2,519,383   —    193,800  249,288  481,800   1,838,554  1,471,106   —    367,448   —     —   

Sell

  (3,346,510 (2,464,006  —    (180,840 (234,766 (466,898  (1,815,126 (1,452,124  —    (363,002  —     —   

Currency forward contracts

  —     —     —     —     —     —     —    2,246  (2,246 (2,246  —     —     —     —   

Consideration payable in relation to acquisition of Belarusian Telecom (Note 28)

 359,554  (594,020  —     —     —     —    (594,020 358,304  (526,090  —     —     —    (526,090  —   

Derivative financial liabilities

              

Participating Cross Currency Swap and FX swap contracts

 86,617  (139,936 (46,104 (14,625 (25,514 (49,492 (4,201 165,265  97,761  55,377   —    12,960  14,522  14,902 

Buy

         190,185  190,185   —     —     —     —     8,577,016  6,947,440  130,640  254,156  708,073  536,707   3,444,271  2,519,383   —    193,800  249,288  481,800 

Sell

         (192,431 (192,431  —     —     —     —     (8,716,952 (6,993,544 (145,265 (279,670 (757,565 (540,908  (3,346,510 (2,464,006  —    (180,840 (234,766 (466,898
 

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

 

TOTAL

  23,096,957   (27,504,030  (7,387,594  (2,489,470  (4,286,623  (4,579,244  (8,761,099  15,504,080   (16,898,117  (5,868,078  (1,028,404  (2,698,637  (3,779,212  (3,523,786  23,492,465   (28,129,657  (7,701,790  (3,126,951  (2,107,802  (5,409,716  (9,783,398  23,096,957   (27,504,030  (7,387,594  (2,489,470  (4,286,623  (4,579,244  (8,761,099
 

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

 

 

*

Advances received, license fee accruals, taxes and withholding taxes payable are excluded from trade and other payables.

F-103


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

35.36.

Financial instruments (continued)

 

Foreign exchange risk

The Group’s exposure to foreign exchange risk at the end of the reporting period, based on notional amounts, was as follows:

 

  31 December 2018   31 December 2019 
  USD   EUR   RMB   USD   EUR   RMB 

Foreign currency denominated assets

            

Othernon-current assets

   222    11    —      71    5,412    —   

Financial asset at fair value through other comprehensive income

   —      7,043    —      1,393    50,721    —   

Due from related parties-current

   1,965    223    —      152    581    —   

Trade receivables and contract assets

   15,786    52,140    —      17,383    38,496    —   

Other current assets

   70,710    18,977    —      10,602    4,979    —   

Cash and cash equivalents

   786,322    384,800    —      173,376    1,203,574    —   
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 
   875,005    463,194    —      202,977    1,303,763    —   
  

 

   

 

   

 

 

Foreign currency denominated liabilities

            

Loans andborrowings-non current

   (481,438   (748,142   (224,519

Debt securitiesissued-non- current

   (921,102   —      —   

Loans andborrowings-non-current

   (351,444   (577,675   (192,367

Debt securitiesissued-non-current

   (923,188   —      —   

Leaseobligations-non-current

   (4,719   (24,068   —      (2,399   (19,282   —   

Othernon-current liabilities

   (68,107   —      —      (60,529   —      —   

Loans and borrowings-current

   (390,876   (523,595   (29,244   (402,507   (385,371   (44,880

Debt securities issued-current

   (55,074   —      —      (55,060   —      —   

Rent lease obligations-current

   (2,951   (8,223   —   

Lease obligations-current

   (725   (5,178   —   

Trade and other payables-current

   (233,805   (32,946   (70,553   (156,320   (44,103   (555

Due to related parties

   (686   (52   —      (1,022��  (51   —   
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 
   (2,158,758   (1,337,026   (324,316   (1,953,194   (1,031,660   (237,802
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

Loans defined as hedging instruments (*)

   —      145,105    —   

Exposure related to derivative instruments

            

Participating cross currency swap and FX swap contracts

   1,082,036    811,167    202,600    1,830,226    (430,816   234,367 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 
Net exposure   (201,717   (62,665   (121,716   80,009    (13,608   (3,435
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

 

   31 December 2017 
   USD   EUR 

Foreign currency denominated assets

    

Othernon-current assets

   72    2,681 

Due from related parties-current

   571    407 

Trade receivables and accrued income

   18,890    57,283 

Other current assets

   43,039    35,049 

Cash and cash equivalents

   688,717    237,697 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   751,289    333,117 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Foreign currency denominated liabilities

 

  

Loans andborrowings-non current

   (557,180   (960,629

Debt securitiesissued-non- current

   (469,387   —   

Othernon-current liabilities

   (85,816   —   

Loans and borrowings-current

   (206,535   (285,827

Debt securities issued-current

   (27,848   —   

Trade and other payables-current

   (328,323   (29,442

Due to related parties

   (1,172   (394
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   (1,676,261   (1,276,292
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Exposure related to derivative instruments

    

Participating cross currency swap and FX swap contracts

   937,011    748,650 

Currency forward contracts

   50,000    —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net exposure

   62,039    (194,525
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
(*)

The Company designated EUR 145,105 of bank loan, as hedging instruments in order to hedge the foreign currency risk arising from the translation of net assets of the subsidiaries operating in Europe from EUR to Turkish Lira. Foreign exchange gains/losses of the related loans are recognized under equity as “gains/(losses) on net investment hedges” in order to offset the foreign exchange gains/(losses) arising from the translation of the net assets of investments in foreign operations to Turkish Lira.

The table above shows the Company’s distribution of balance sheet and derivative foreign exchange position should be taken into account with nominal values of the option transactions. The Company monitors the delta adjusted position of the option transactions. As of 31 December 2019, the Company has USD 129,825 net foreign currency position.

F-104


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

35.36.

Financial instruments (continued)

Foreign exchange risk (continued)

   31 December 2018 
   USD   EUR   RMB 

Foreign currency denominated assets

      

Othernon-current assets

   222    11    —   

Financial asset at fair value through other comprehensive income

   —      7,043    —   

Due from related parties-current

   1,965    223    —   

Trade receivables and contract assets

   15,786    52,140    —   

Other current assets

   70,710    18,977    —   

Cash and cash equivalents

   786,322    384,800    —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   875,005    463,194    —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Foreign currency denominated liabilities

      

Loans andborrowings-non-current

   (481,438   (748,142   (224,519

Debt securitiesissued-non-current

   (921,102   —      —   

Leaseobligations-non-current

   (4,719   (24,068   —   

Othernon-current liabilities

   (68,107   —      —   

Loans and borrowings-current

   (390,876   (523,595   (29,244

Debt securities issued-current

   (55,074   —      —   

Lease obligations-current

   (2,951   (8,223   —   

Trade and other payables-current

   (233,805   (32,946   (70,553

Due to related parties

   (686   (52   —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   (2,158,758   (1,337,026   (324,316
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Exposure related to derivative instruments

      

Participating cross currency swap and FX swap contracts

   1,082,036    811,167    202,600 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net exposure

   (201,717   (62,665   (121,716
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Exposure to currency risk (continued)

Sensitivity analysis

The basis for the sensitivity analysis to measure foreign exchange risk is an aggregate corporate-level currency exposure. The aggregate foreign exchange exposure is composed of all assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies, the analysis excludes net foreign currency investments.

10% strengthening/weakening of the TL, UAH, BYN against the following currencies at 31 December 2018 and 31 December 2017 would have increased/ (decreased) profit or loss before by the amounts shown below. This analysis assumes that all other variables, in particular interest rates, remain constant.

Sensitivity analysis

 

31 December 2018

 
   Profit/(Loss)   Equity 
   Appreciation of
foreign currency
   Depreciation of
foreign currency
   Appreciation of
foreign currency
   Depreciation of
foreign currency
 

1- USD net asset/liability

   (106,121   106,121    —      —   

2- Hedged portion of USD risk (-)

   —      —      (9,596   9,596 

3- USD net effect (1+2)

   (106,121   106,121    (9,596   9,596 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

4- EUR net asset/liability

   (37,775   37,775    —      —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

5- Hedged portion of EUR risk (-)

   —      —      (23,613   23,613 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

6- EUR net effect (4+5)

   (37,775   37,775    (23,613   23,613 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

7- Other foreign currency net asset/liability (RMB)

   (9,275   9,275    —      —   

8- Hedged portion of other foreign currency risk (-) (RMB)

   —      —      364    (364

9- Other foreign currency net effect (7+8)

   (9,275   9,275    364    (364
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total (3+6+9)

   (153,171   153,171    (32,845   32,845 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Sensitivity analysis

 

31 December 2017

 
   Profit/(Loss)   Equity 
   Appreciation of
foreign currency
   Depreciation of
foreign currency
   Appreciation of
foreign currency
   Depreciation of
foreign currency
 

1- USD net asset/liability

   23,400    (23,400   —      —   

2- Hedged portion of USD risk (-)

   —      —      —      —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

3- USD net effect (1+2)

   23,400    (23,400   —      —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

4- EUR net asset/liability

   (87,838   87,838    —      —   

5- Hedged portion of EUR risk (-)

   —      —      —      —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

6- EUR net effect (4+5)

   (87,838   87,838    —      —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

7- Other foreign currency net asset/liability (RMB)

   —      —      —      —   

8- Hedged portion of other foreign currency risk (-) (RMB)

   —      —      —      —   

9- Other foreign currency net effect (7+8)

   —      —      —      —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total (3+6+9)

   (64,438   64,438    —      —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

F-105


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

35.36.

Financial instruments (continued)

Exposure to currency risk (continued)

Sensitivity analysis (continued)

A 10% strengthening/weakening of the TL, UAH, BYN against the following currencies as at 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2018 would have increased/(decreased) profit or loss before by the amounts shown below. This analysis assumes that all other variables, in particular interest rates, remain constant.

Sensitivity analysis

 

31 December 2019

 
  Profit/(Loss)  Equity 
  Appreciation of
foreign currency
  Depreciation of
foreign currency
  Appreciation of
foreign currency
  Depreciation of
foreign currency
 

1- USD net asset/liability

  47,527   (47,527  —     —   

2- Hedged portion of USD risk (-)

  —     —     (6,135  6,135 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

3- USD net effect (1+2)

  47,527   (47,527  (6,135  6,135 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

4- EUR net asset/liability

  (9,050  9,050   —     —   

5- Hedged portion of EUR risk (-)

  —     —     (39,558  39,558 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

6- EUR net effect (4+5)

  (9,050  9,050   (39,558  39,558 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

7- Other foreign currency net asset/liability (RMB)

  (290  290   —     —   

8- Hedged portion of other foreign currency risk (-) (RMB)

  —     —     (1,379  1,379 

9- Other foreign currency net effect (7+8)

  (290  290   (1,379  1,379 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total (3+6+9)

  38,187   (38,187  (47,072  47,072 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Sensitivity analysis

 

31 December 2018

 
  Profit/(Loss)  Equity 
  Appreciation of
foreign currency
  Depreciation of
foreign currency
  Appreciation of
foreign currency
  Depreciation of
foreign currency
 

1- USD net asset/liability

  (106,121  106,121   —     —   

2- Hedged portion of USD risk (-)

  —     —     (9,596  9,596 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

3- USD net effect (1+2)

  (106,121  106,121   (9,596  9,596 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

4- EUR net asset/liability

  (37,775  37,775   —     —   

5- Hedged portion of EUR risk (-)

  —     —     (23,613  23,613 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

6- EUR net effect (4+5)

  (37,775  37,775   (23,613  23,613 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

7- Other foreign currency net asset/liability (RMB)

  (9,275  9,275   —     —   

8- Hedged portion of other foreign currency risk (-) (RMB)

  —     —     364   (364

9- Other foreign currency net effect (7+8)

  (9,275  9,275   364   (364
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total (3+6+9)

  (153,171  153,171   (32,845  32,845 
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

36.

Financial instruments (continued)

 

Interest rate risk

As at 31 December 20182019 and 20172018 the interest rate profile of the Group’s variable rate interest-bearing financial instruments was:

 

      31 December 2018 31 December 2017 
      Effective  Carrying  Effective  Carrying 
Interest interest       31 December 2019 31 December 2018 
  Note   Rate Amount rate Amount   Note   Effective
Interest
Rate
 Carrying
Amount
 Effective
interest
rate
 Carrying
Amount
 

Variable rate instruments

   28             

USD floating rate loans

     4.3 (4,589,157 3.2 (2,880,615   29    4.4 (4,478,622 4.3 (4,589,157

EUR floating rate loans

     2.1 (6,975,890 2.1 (5,511,579   29    2.2 (5,638,725 2.1 (6,975,890

Sensitivity analysis

Cash flow sensitivity analysis for variable rate instruments:

An increase/decrease of interest rates by 100 basis points would have (decreased)/increased equity and profit or loss by the amounts shown below. This analysis assumes that all other variables, in particular foreign exchange rates, remain constant. The analysis is performed on the same basis at 31 December 20182019 and 2017:2018:

 

  Profit or loss   Equity   Profit or loss   Equity 
  100 bps
increase
 100 bps
decrease
   100 bps
increase
   100 bps
decrease
 

31 December 2019

       

Variable rate instruments (financial liability)

   (225,528 225,528    —      —   
  

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

 

Cash flow sensitivity (net)

   (225,528 225,528    —      —   
  100 bps
increase
   100 bps
decrease
   100 bps
increase
   100 bps
decrease
   

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

 

31 December 2018

               

Variable rate instruments (financial liability)

   (234,196   234,196    —      —      (234,196 234,196    —      —   
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

 

Cash flow sensitivity (net)

   (234,196   234,196    —      —      (234,196 234,196    —      —   
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

  

 

   

 

   

 

 

31 December 2017

        

Variable rate instruments (financial liability)

   (83,922   83,922    —      —   
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

Cash flow sensitivity (net)

   (83,922   83,922    —      —   
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

Fair values

Fair value of the Group’s financial assets and financial liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis

This section explains the judgementsjudgments and estimates made in determining the fair values of the financial instruments that are recognized and measured at fair value in the financial statements. To provide an indication about the reliability of the inputs used in determining fair value, the Group has classified its financial instruments into the three levels prescribed under the accounting standards. An explanation of each level is as follows:

 

Level 1 inputs are quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the entity can access at the measurement date;

 

Level 2 inputs are inputs, other than quoted prices included within Level 1, that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly; and

 

Level 3 inputs are unobservable inputs for the asset or liability.

F-106


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

35.36.

Financial instruments (continued)

Fair values (continued)

 

Valuation inputs and relationships to fair value

The following table summarizes the quantitative information about the significant unobservable inputs used in level 3 fair value measurement of contingent consideration,     consideration.

 

  

Fair value at

   

Inputs

  
  

31 December

2018

 

31 December
2017

 

Unobservable

Inputs

 

31 December
2018

 

31 December
2017

 

Relationship of unobservable inputs to fair
value

Contingent consideration

 358,304 323,691 Risk-adjusted discount rate 9,5% 4,8% A change in the discount rate by 100 bps would increase/decrease FV by TL (13,582) and TL 14,250 respectively,
   Expected settlement date first quarter of 2023 first quarter of 2021 If expected settlement date changes by 1 year FV would increase/decrease by TL (31,047) and TL 33,896 respectively,
  Fair value at    Inputs   
  31 December
2019
  31 December
2018
  

Unobservable
Inputs

 31 December
2019
  31 December
2018
  

Relationship of unobservable
inputs to fair value

Contingent consideration

 

 

359,554

 

 

 

358,304

 

 

Risk-adjusted discount rate

 

 

5.2% - 6.1%

 

 

 

9.5%

 

 

An increase/decrease in the discount rate by 100 bps would change FV by TL (28,622) and TL 31,460, respectively.

   Expected settlement date  


in
instalments
between
2026-2030
 
 
 
 
  
first quarter
of 2023
 
 
 If expected settlement date increase/decrease by1-year, FV would change by TL (19,588) and TL 20,720, respectively.

Changes in the consideration payable in relation to acquisition of Belarusian Telecom for the years ended 31 December 20182019 and 31 December 20172018 are stated below:

 

  2018   2017   2019   2018 

Opening balance

   323,691    295,062    358,304    323,691 

Gains recognized in profit or loss

   34,613    28,629    1,250    34,613 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

Closing balance

   358,304    323,691    359,554    358,304 
  

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

Financial assets:

Carrying values of a significant portion of financial assets do not differ significantly from their fair values due to their short-term nature.

Financial liabilities:

Fair values of financial liabilitiesassets are assumed to approximate their carrying values due to their short term nature and floating interest rates.presented in Note 25.

Financial liabilities:

As at 31 December 2018, fair values of financial liabilities not materially different to their carrying amounts since the interest payable on those borrowings is either close to current market rates or the borrowings are of a short term nature.

As at 31 December 2019, for the majority of the borrowings, the fair values are not materially different to their carrying amounts since the interest payable on those borrowings is either close to current market rates or the borrowings are of a short term nature. Material differences are identified only for the following borrowings:

   Carrying
amount
   Fair
value
 

Bank loans

   4,149,275    4,192,304 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

As at 31 December 2019, the fair value of debt securities issued by the Company in 2015 with a nominal value of USD 500,000 and fixed interest rate (Note 28)29), is TL 2,380,855 (313,058,366(31 December 2017:2,063,972)2018: TL 2,380,855).

As at 31 December 2018,2019, the fair value of debt securities issued by the Company in 2018 with a nominal value of USD 500,000 and fixed interest rate (Note 28)29), is TL 2,329,011 (312,961,300(31 December 2017:None)2018: TL 2,329,011).

Fair value of cash and cash equivalents and debt securities issued are classified as level 1 and fair value of other financial assets and liabilities are classified as level 2.

F-107


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

36.37.

Guarantees and purchase obligations

At 31 December 2018,2019, outstanding purchase commitments with respect to property, plant and equipment, inventory, advertising and sponsorship amount to TL 1,353,789819,508 (31 December 2017:2018: TL 592,956)1,353,789). Payments for these commitments will be made within 54 years.

The Group is contingently liable in respect of letters of guarantee obtained from banks and given to public institutions and private entities, and financial guarantees provided to subsidiaries amounting to TL 6,530,3744,842,015 at 31 December 20182019 (31 December 2017:2018: TL 4,926,916).

At 31 December 2018, there is no commitments regarding lifecell’s 3G (31 December 2017:UAH 217,793)6,530,374).

 

37.38.

Commitments and Contingencies

The following disclosures comprise of material legal lawsuits, investigations andin-depth investigations against the Company.

License Agreements

Turkcell:

On 27 April 1998, the Company signed the Agreement for grant of concession for the establishment and Operation of thePan-European Mobile Telephone System, GSM (hereinafter referred to as the “License Agreement”) with the Turkish Ministry. In accordance with the License Agreement, the Company was granted a 25 year25-year license for the provision of GSM services for a license fee of USD 500,000.

3G License

On 30 April 2009, the Company signed a separate License Agreement with ICTA which provides authorization for providing IMT 2000/UMTS services and establishment and operation of the required infrastructure. TurkcellThe Company acquired the A license providing the widest frequency band for a consideration of EUR 358,000 (excluding VAT). The license is effective for a duration of 20 years starting from 30 April 2009,2009. According to the agreement, Turkcellthe Company has provided IMT 2000/UMTS services starting from 30 July 2009.

4.5G License

The 4,54.5G licensing process is finalized by the signing of the IMT License Commitments Document by Turkcell and therefore,the Company, whereby, ICTA granted Turkcell 4,5Gthe Company a 4.5G License on 27 October 2015. The 4.5G License is effective for 13 years until 30 April 2029,2029. According to the License, Turkcellthe Company started to provide 4.5G services on 1 April 2016.

Belarusian Telecom:

Belarusian Telecom owns a license, issued on 28 August 2008, for a period of 10 years, andwhich was valid till 28 August 2018. According to the Sale and Purchase Agreement signed, the State Property Committee of the Republic of Belarus committed to grant the license from the acquisition date of 26 August 2008 for a period of 10 years. InHowever, in accordance with the Edict of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated 26 November 2015, numbered 475, the license is now issued without limitation of the period of validity. Starting from 1 March 2016 the license is valid from the date of the licensing authority’s decision on its issue and for an unlimited period. Under the terms of its license, Belarusian Telecom is requiredhad been provided with additional time by the license authority to gradually increase its geographicalfulfill all 2G signal coverage requirements regarding the settlements until the end of 2018. Belarusian Telecom has fulfilled all coverage requirements except covering all Belarusian settlements. The number2019. As of uncovered settlements is 646 out of a total of 22,552 settlements.

F-108


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the years ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in2019, the consolidated financial statementsGroup considers that terms and notes haveobligations of the license agreement has been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

37.

Commitments and Contingencies (continued)

License Agreements (continued)

met.

lifecell:

lifecell owns eleven activity licenses, for GSM 900, a technology neutral license, issued for 3G, one license for international and long-distance calls and eight PSTN licenses for eight regions in Ukraine. As of 31 December 31, 2018, lifecell owned 2927 frequency use licenses for IMT(LTE-2600,LTE-1800,IMT-2000 (UMTS),GSM-900,GSM-1800,CDMA-800.Wi-fi and microwave RadiorelayRadio relay and Broadband Radio

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

38.

Commitments and Contingencies (continued)

License Agreements (continued)

Access, which are regional and national. Licenses for IMT(LTE-2600,LTE-1800) andGSM-1800 were issued on 4G tenders, held in Q1’2018. Additionally, lifecell holds a specific number range- three NDC codes for mobile networks, twenty onetwo permissions on a number resource for short numbers, eleven permissions on a number resource forSS-7 codes (7 regional and 4 international), one permission on a number resource for Mobile Network Code, nine permissions on a number resource for local ranges for PSTN licenses, two permissions on a service codes for alternative routing selection for international and long-distance fixed telephony and one permission on a code for global telecommunication service “800”.

Inteltek:

Our affiliate, Inteltek, Internet Teknoloji Yatırım ve Danılşmanlık Ticaret A.Ş. (“Inteltek”), on which the Company holds 55% of its shares, has been incorporated in order to establish and operate central system for games of chance through multi-access electronic platforms. Until 1 March 2009, İnteltek

Inteltek operated games of chance basing on the agreement executed with Spor Toto Directorate (“Spor Toto”) dated 29 August 2008. Inteltek gave the best offer at the new tender which allowed private companies to organize games of chance and signed a new contract with Spor Toto, for a term of ten years. Under this agreement, the commission rate was 1.4% and the targeted payout was 50% of the turnover balance including VAT. As at 31 December 2018, Inteltek has a letter of guarantee of TL 159,572 (31 December 2017: TL 159,752) provided to Spor Toto.

As the term of the agreement executed between Spor Toto and İnteltek dated 29 August 2008 has been expired on 29 August 2018 and the new tender has not been concluded yet, an agreement of “procurement through bargaining” has been signed between İnteltek and Spor-Toto being effective from 29 August 2018 and for a term of up to 1 year as per to the article 26 of the Law on the Transfer of Rights to Organize Fixed Odds and Paramutual Betting Games Based on Sports Competitions to Private Legal Entities numbered 5738. The agreement of “procurement through bargaining” is afollow-up of the agreement which currently exists and the terms and conditions of this agreement are generally same with the agreement which has been expired as of 29 August 2018.

Inteltek has a mobile agency agreement with Spor Toto, receiving the rights to assignassigned mobile sub agencies to operate the fixed odds and paramutual betting games basedbasing on sports competitions. the agreements executed with Spor Toto. The term of the agreement executed between Spor Toto and Inteltek has been expired on 29 August 2019. In this context, activities of Inteltek ceased on 29 August 2019.

As at 31 December 2018,2019, Inteltek has provided a letterto Spor Toto letters of guarantee ofamounting TL 25,000 (31 December 2017:2018: TL 25,000) provided184,752).

Subsequent to Spor Toto for mobile agency agreement.year end, the Company signed a binding termsheet on 14 January 2020 to transfer its shareholding of 55% in Inteltek (Note 42).

Kibris Telekom:

On 27 April 2007, Kibris Telekom signed the License Agreement for the Installation and Operation of a Digital, Cellular and, Mobile Telecommunication System (“Mobile Communication License Agreement”) with the Ministry of Communications and Public Works of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is effective from 1 August 2007, and replacing the previousGSM-Mobile Telephony System Agreement dated 25 March 1999. In accordance with the Mobile Communication License Agreement, Kibris Telekom was granted an 18 year18-year GSM 900, GSM 1800 and IMT 2000/UMTS license for GSM 900 and GSM 1800 frequencies while the usage of IMT 2000/UMTS frequency bands is subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions.

F-109


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the years ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

37.

Commitments and Contingencies (continued)

License Agreements (continued)

Kibris Telekom(continued):

On 14 March 2008, Kibris Telekom was awarded a 3G infrastructure license at a cost of $10,000 including VAT, which was paid at the end of March 2008. Under the terms of the license, the system had to be operational bymid-October 2008.license. In 2010,2012, Kibris Telekom has completed the radio transmission (air link) project providing direct international voiceacquired Internet Service Provider and data connection with mainlandInfrastructure establishment and started using it from the third quarter of 2010. The Project is the only direct connectionoperation licenses.

Lifecell Digital:

In December 2018, Lifecell Digital acquired an infrastructure license in order to operate as an Internet Service Provider in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus besides Telecommunication Authority.

37.1

Dispute on Treasury Share Amounts

The Undersecretariat of Treasury and ICTA alleged that Company made deficient treasury share and contribution to the authority expenses payments in the past, the Company objected to these claims.Cyprus.

The Company has resolvedfollowing disclosures comprise of material legal lawsuits, investigations andin-depth investigations against the following within the scope of Provisional Article 13 added to the Telegraph and Telephone Law No.406 dated 4 February 1924 of the Law on the Amendment of Certain Tax Laws and Other Laws No. 7061 published in the Official Gazette dated December 5th, 2017: to restructure relevant disputes and their interest fees and to choose the method of increasing for relevant years’ legal payment amounts from the options in order to restructure relevant disputes and their interest fees for the periods for which examination is ongoing or has not been yet initiated. The Company applied for restructure, and according to the Law the Company submitted waiver petition or accepted the cases related to the restructured amounts. In some of the cases, the Courts already granted decisions in line with the petitions submitted by the Company and in the other pending cases, it is expected that the Courts shall grant decisions in line with the statement of waiver/acceptance of the aforementioned cases.Company.

Based on the Laws stated above, the total amount, including principal and interest, calculated is TL 206,365 and is TL 209,159, respectively. The total payment including interest on installments is TL 436,300 and the payments have been made in 6 equal installments in 2018.

No liabilities remain in the consolidated financial statements as at and for the period ended 31 December 2018 (31 December 2017: TL 417,668).

37.2

Disputes on Special Communication Tax and Value Added Tax

 

 a)

Disputes on SCT for the year 2011

The Large Tax PayersTaxpayers Office levied Special Communication Tax (SCT) and tax penalty on the Company as a result of the Tax Investigation for the year 2011. The Company filed lawsuits for the cancellation of the notification regarding the aforementioned SCT assessment. The court partially accepted and partially rejected the cases and the parties appealed the decisions regarding the parts against them. The Large Tax Payers Office has collected TL 80,355 calculated for the parts against the Company for the assessment of the SCT for the year 2011 by offsetting the receivables of the Company from Public Administrations.

As per the Law no. 6736, the Company filed applications for the restructuring of penalties and interest on the SCT regarding the dispute on the tax, while the cases are pending before the court of appeal. Tax Office rejected the application for the year 2011. The Company also filed a case for the cancellation of aforementioned rejection act of the Tax Office for the year 2011. The case is pending as well as the cases regarding the cancellation of the SCT assessment for the year 2011.

F-110


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

37.38.

Commitments and Contingencies (continued)

 

37.2

Disputes on Special Communication Tax and Value Added Tax

 

b)

Disputes on SCT for the years 2013 and 2014 and effects of Law No. 7143

Tax assessmentsTaxpayers Office has collected TL 80,355 calculated for prepaid card salesthe parts against the Company for 2013 and 2014 have been completed.the assessment of the SCT for the year 2011 by offsetting the receivables of the Company from Public Administrations. While the cases are pending before the court of appeal the Company filed application for the restructuring as per Law no. 6736. The tax Office has rejected the application. The Company has also filed a case for the cancellation of aforementioned rejection act of the Tax Office. The hearing was held in this case and it is expected that the court will grant a decision. In the cases regarding the cancellation of the SCT assessment for the year 2011, Council of State accepted our appeal and decided to reverse the first instance court decision in favor of the Company, on the ground that; in the case filed for the cancellation of the rejection act regarding our Company’s request to restructure the cases filed for the year 2011, the court decided in favor of the Company (decision has not been notified to the Company yet) and since the mentioned case will affect these cases, finalization of the tax audit reports prepared atrespective decision should be waited.

Based on the endmanagement opinion, an outflow of the said investigations. The Company management has decided to benefit from Law No. 7143, which provides advantageous payment and discount provisions, regarding the criticized issuesresources embodying economic benefits is deemed as less than probable on aforementioned transactions, thus, no provision is recognized in the tax audit reportsconsolidated financial statements as at and TL 39,362 has been paidfor the year ended 31 December 2019 (31 December 2017: TL 24,175)2018: None).

 

 c)b)

Disputes on SCT and VAT for the years 2015, 2016 and 20162017

Turkish telecom sector players including Turkcell hasthe Company have been subjected to a limited tax audit with respect fromof VAT and SCT for 2015 and 2016. At the end of the tax audit process for the Company no issues to be criticized were identified for 2015. However, some ofcertain bundle offers and some services offered by the Company are subjectedsubject to criticismdispute by the tax authority for 2016.

As of 31 December 2018,2019, respectively tax claims arising from SCT and VAT amounting to TL 134,537 and TL 113,367 including the principal and penalty amounts have been notified to the Company. Administrative process

The Large Taxpayers Office levied Special Communication Tax (SCT) and tax penalty on the Company amounting to TL 85,125 in total, of which SCT amounting to TL 34,050 and penalty amounting to TL 51,075 based on the claim stated on Tax Investigation Reports prepared for the year 2015, that the Company should pay Special Communication Tax over the prepaid card sales made by the distributors.

Tax investigation closing minute has been initiated in accordance withsigned for the relevant legislation while reserving right to take legal action.

Basedyear 2016 and the Tax Investigation Reports delivered for the year 2016. Special Communication Tax (SCT) and tax penalty on the management opinion, an outflowCompany amounting to TL 61,733 in total, of resources embodying economic benefits is deemedwhich SCT amounting to be less than probable, thus, no provision is recognized inTL 24,693 and penalty amounting to TL 37,040 based on the consolidated financial statements as at andclaim stated on Tax Investigation Reports prepared for the period ended 31 December 2018 (31 December 2017: None).year 2016.

37.3

Tax Base Increase due to Law Serial No. 7143

The Company Management decided to apply for VAT and corporate tax base increase mechanism for 2017 due to Law Serial No. 7143 and TL 35,443 payment has been made on 1 October 2018. No liabilities remain in the consolidated financial statements as at and for the period ended 31 December 2018 (31 December 2017: None).

37.4

Investigation initiated by ICTA on subscription numbers and radio utilization and usage fees

ICTA commencedin-depth investigations, against the GSM operators for the years, 2004-2009, 2010-2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. As a result of the investigations, ICTA imposed administrative fines to the Company amountingsettlement made with Tax Authority, an amount included late payment interest was settled as TL 11,240 in total and decided to warn the Company. The administrative fines were199,000 for assessments above. Settled amount has been paid within 1 month following the notification oflegal term and assessments were closed in 2019.

The investigation regarding SCT for prepaid card sales made by the decision of ICTA, with 25% discount. The Company filed lawsuitsdistributors for the cancellation of aforementioned administrative fines and ICTA’s administrative acts. ICTA filed lawsuits against Company foryear 2017 is still ongoing.

Disputes regarding the collection of the radio utilization and usage fee amount which was alleged that the Company paid deficiently.

The Company has resolved the following basedLaw on the Laws No. 7061 as explained in detailed note 37.1 to restructure radio fees which are in dispute and respective penalty, default interest regarding these disputes. The Company applied for restructure, and according to the Law the Company submitted waiver petition or accepted the cases related to the restructured amounts. The Courts granted decisions in line with the petitions submitted by the Company.Protection of Competition

The total amount, including principal and interest, calculated within the scope of clause 2 is TL 158,340. The total payment including interest on instalments is TL 166,257 and the payments have been made in 6 equal instalments in 2018.

No liabilities have been remained in the consolidated financial statements as at and for the period ended 31 December 2018 (31 December 2017: TL 157,446).

F-111


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the years ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

37.

Commitments and Contingencies (continued)

37.5

Disputes regarding the Law on the Protection of Competition

On the grounds of the investigation initiated by the Competition Board onwith respect to the groundspractices of the Company regarding the distributors and their dealers in the distribution network. With this decision The Competition Board rejected the claims that the Company violateddetermined the competitive environment through abusing its dominant position inresale price. But with the Turkish mobile market and it wassame decision, The Competition Board decided to apply administrative fine on the Company amounting to TL 91,942, on the Company. Aground that the Company forced its sub dealers to actual exclusivity. The Company filed a lawsuit was filed byfor the Company.stay of execution and cancellation of the aforementioned Board decisions regarding the parts against itself. The Court rejected the case. The Company appealed the decision with the request of the stay of the execution. The appeal process is ongoing.

Three private companies filed a lawsuits against the Company in relation with this case claiming in total of TL 112,084 together with up to 3 times of the loss amount to be determined by the court for its material damages by reserving its rights for surpluses allegedly. The cases are still pending.

As a result of the abovementioned investigation, Competition Board concluded that the Company did not determine retail prices and there was no need to impose an administrative fines on this issue. After the lawsuit filed by a third party, this part of Competition Board’s judgement was reversed by the Council of State and Competition Board launched a new process. Consequently, the Board decided on January 2019 that the Company determined the retail prices of units and to apply administrative fine amounting to TL 91,942 on the Company. After the receiving of the reasoned decision, the Company will take legal action.

Based on the management opinion, the probability of an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits is uncertain, thus, no provision is recognized in the consolidated financial statements as at and for the period ended 31 December 2018 (31 December 2017: None).

37.6

Ministry of Trade Administrative Fine

Ministry of Trade prepared a report upon the investigation initiated against the Company on subscriber agreements, distance contracts, value added services and commitment campaigns including device procurement for the year 2015. The Company filed a lawsuit for the stay of execution and cancellation of the Notice of Administrative Fine imposed by Istanbul Governorship Directorate of Commerce based to the aforementioned report of the Ministry, amounting to TL 138,173 and the Decision of Administrative Fine of Istanbul Governorship Directorate of Commerce. Furthermore, the Company demanded the Court to recourse to the Constitutional Court for the cancellation of the related part of the 19th paragraph of the article 77 of the Law on the Protection of Consumers numbered 6502.

Based on the management opinion, the probability of an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits is uncertain, thus, no provision is recognized in the consolidated financial statements as at and for the period ended 31 December 2018 (31 December 2017: None).

F-112


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

37.

Commitments and Contingencies (continued)

37.7

Other ongoing lawsuits and tax investigations

Within consolidated financial statements prepared as of 31 December 2018, obligations which are related to following ongoing disputes have been evaluated.

Subject

  31 December 2018
Anticipated Maximum
Risk
(excluding accrued
interest)
   31 December 2017
Anticipated Maximum
Risk
(excluding accrued
interest)
   31 December 2018
Provision
   31 December 2017
Provision
 

Disputes related with ICTA

   13,367    13,367    —      —   

The Company is under tax investigation with respect to application of the Turkish Special Communication Tax to prepaid TL/card sales made via its sales channels for the years 2015, 2016 and 2017. Investigation has been started on December 2018.

In addition following tax and treasury share investigations have started in the Company: (i) for FY 2017 with regard to SCT, (ii) FY 2018 with regard to SCT, Corporate Income Tax and Value Added Tax, (iii) treasury share investigation with regard to 2018 October-December period.

Based on the management opinion, an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits is deemed to be less than probable, thus, no provision is recognized in the consolidated financial statements as at and for the period ended 31 December 2018 (31 December 2017: None).

F-113


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the years ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

38.

Related parties

Transactions with key management personnel

Key management personnel comprise of the Group’s members of the Board of Directors and chief officers.

There are no loans to key management personnel as of 31 December 2018 and 2017.

The Group provide additional benefits to key management personnel and contribution to retirement plans based on apre-determined ratio of compensation.

   31 December
2018
   31 December
2017
   31 December
2016
 

Short-term benefits (*)

   92,341    74,696    50,001 

Termination benefits

   121    604    10,064 

Long-term benefits

   755    548    479 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   93,217    75,848    60,544 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

(*)

Includes share-based payment,

The following balances are outstanding at the end of the reporting period in relation to transactions with related parties:

Due from related parties  31 December
2018
   31 December
2017
 

Vimpelcom OJSC (“Vimpelcom”)

   9,138    —   

Telia Sonera International Carrier AB (“Telia”)

   1,741    1,256 

Kyivstar GSM JSC (“Kyivstar”)

   210    1,061 

GSM Kazakhstan Ltd (“Kazakcell”)

   2    830 

Azercell Telekom MMC (“Azercell”)

   —      364 

Other

   2,442    1,788 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   13,533    5,299 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

There is no net of allowance for doubtful receivables of due from related parties at 31 December 2018 (31 December 2017: TL 227).

Due from Telia, Vimpelcom, Azercell and Kyivstar resulted from telecommunications services.

Due from Kazakcell, mainly resulted from software services and telecommunications services.

F-114


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the years ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

38.

Related partiesCommitments and Contingencies (continued)

 

Due to related parties  31 December
2018
   31 December
2017
 

Turkcell Vakfı

   39,544    —   

Kyivstar GSM JSC (“Kyivstar”)

   3,591    2,346 

Wind Telecomunicazioni S,P,A,

   886    1,738 

Teliasonera International Carrier Switzerland Ag

   523    —   

Vimpelcom (Bvı) Ltd,

   3    1,552 

Geocell LLC (“Geocell”)

   2    447 

Other

   782    897 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   45,331    6,980 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

DueDisputes regarding the Law on the Protection of Competition (continued)

damages by reserving its rights for surpluses allegedly. Among these cases, in the case filed for the compensation of total TL 110,484 material damages together with compensation amounting to Kyivstar, Geocell, Wind Telecomunicazioni S,P,A,3 times of the damage and Vimpelcom (Bvı) Ltd, mainly resulted from telecommunications services received.interest, the court decided to reject the case in favor of the Company, at the hearing on 12 June 2019. The reasoned decision was notified to the Company. The plaintiff appealed the case before Regional Administrative Court. The Company replied to plaintiff’s appeal request in due time. The appeal process, before Regional Administrative Court, is pending.

On the other hand, a lawsuit was filed by a third party, for the cancellation of the part of the aforementioned Competition Board decision, regarding the rejection of the claims that the Company determined the resale price. The Council of State cancelled this part of the aforementioned Competition Board decision. Therewith Competition Board launched a new investigation. As a result of the new investigation The Competition Board decided to apply administrative fine amounting to TL 91,942 on the Company. The reasoned decision was received to the Company on 12 June 2019. The Company has taken all legal actions by requesting the cancellation of the aforementioned decision and its withdrawal by the Competition Authority. Subsequently, the Competition Authority accepted some of the claims of the Company and reduced the administrative fine to 61,294 TL with its decision. Short decision was notified to the Company. The reasoned decision was also notified to the Company. All necessary legal actions shall be taken against this decision in legal term. Following this decision, in the case filed for the cancellation of the Competition Board administrative fine of 91,942 TL, the court decided that there is no need to render a decision because of devoid of essence.

Based on the management opinion, the probability of an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits is less than probable, thus, no provision is recognized in the consolidated financial statements as at and for the year ended 31 December 2019 (31 December 2018: None).

Ministry of Trade Administrative Fine

The Group’s exposureMinistry of Trade prepared a report upon the investigation initiated against the Company regarding subscriber agreements, distance contracts, value added services and commitment campaigns including device procurement for the year 2015. The Company filed a lawsuit for a stay of execution and cancellation of the Notice of Administrative Fine imposed by Istanbul Governorship Directorate of Commerce based on the aforementioned Ministry report, amounting to currency risk relatedTL 138,173 and the Decision of Administrative Fine of Istanbul Governorship Directorate of Commerce. The Court rejected the stay of execution request of the Company. The Company objected to outstanding balances with related partiesthe decision, objection was rejected. The hearing was held on 17 September 2019. The Court accepted the case in favor of the Company and cancelled the administrative fine. İstanbul Governorship appealed the case before Regional Administrative Court. The Company replied to the appeal request in due time.

Based on management opinion, the probability of an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits is disclosedless than probable, and thus, no provision is recognized in Note 35.the consolidated financial statements as at and for the year ended 31 December 2019 (31 December 2018: None).

TheOther ongoing lawsuits and tax investigations

In addition to the aforementioned SCT investigation for prepaid card sales, the following tax and treasury share investigations in the Company have commenced: (i) for 2017 fiscal year regarding SCT for other transactions, occurred with related parties:(ii) 2018 fiscal year regarding SCT, Corporate Income Tax and Value Added Tax and, (iii) treasury share investigation regarding July-August-September 2019 period.

 

Revenue from related parties  2018   2017   2016 

Sales to Kyivstar

      

Telecommunications services

   52,946    30,875    30,964 

Sales to Telia

      

Telecommunications services

   7,941    10,020    15,761 

Sales to Vimpelcom

      

Telecommunications services

   5,418    7,230    20,775 

Sales to Azercell(****)

      

Telecommunication services

   256    1,583    2,585 

Sales to Krea (*)

      

Call center services, fixed line services, rent

and interest charges

   —      —      3,422 

Sales to Millenicom (**)

      

Telecommunication services

   —      —      997 

Sales to other related parties

   7,920    11,324    14,922 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   74,481    61,032    89,426 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Subject

31 December 2019
Anticipated Maximum
Risk

(excluding accrued
interest)
31 December 2018
Anticipated Maximum
Risk

(excluding accrued
interest)
31 December 2019
Provision
31 December 2018
Provision

Other Disputes

18,763—  —  —  

F-115


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

38.

Related partiesCommitments and Contingencies (continued)

 

Related party expenses  2018   2017   2016 

Charges from Kyivstar

      

Telecommunications services

   77,174    49,178    47,595 

Charges from Turkcell Vakfı

      

Donation

   44,247    —      —   

Charges from Telia

      

Telecommunications services

   6,047    3,120    2,499 

Charges from Wind Telecomunicazioni

      

Telecommunications services

   4,812    —      —   

Charges from Vimpelcom

      

Telecommunications services

   2,751    10,853    2,721 

Charges from Azercell (****)

      

Telecommunications services

   79    734    1,361 

Charges from Hobim (***)

      

Invoicing and archiving services

   —      16,993    31,832 

Charges from Krea

      

Digital television broadcasting services

   —      —      5,975 

Charges from other related parties

   9,799    17,001    11,659 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   144,909    97,879    103,642 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Other ongoing lawsuits and tax investigations (continued)

JSC Kazakhtelecom initiated arbitration proceedings against the Company related to its acquisition of JSC Kcell shares, which was subsidiary of the Fintur. JSC Kazakhtelecom presented its claim. The arbitration proceeding is in a very early stage.

Based on management opinion, an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits for the cases above mentioned is deemed to be less than probable, and thus, no provision is recognized in the consolidated financial statements as at and for the year ended 31 December 2019 (31 December 2018: None).

Due to probability of an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits with regards to notification of Information and Communication Technologies Authority for wireless fee related to 2018 fiscal year; based on management opinion in accordance with the relevant legislation while reserving right to take legal action, totally TL 128,429 paid in November 2019 with reservation for 2018 and 2019 fiscal years and legal actions has been taken. This payment is reflected in current year income statement.

 

(*)39.

Transactions with Krea include transactions until 26 August 2016,

(**)

Transactions with Millenicom include transactions until 21 January 2016,

(***)

Transactions with Hobim include transactions until 20 June 2017,

(****)

Transactions with Azercell include transactions until 5 March 2018,Related parties

Transactions with Kyivstar:key management personnel

Kyivstar, an entity under common control with Alfa, is rendering and receiving telecommunications services such as interconnection and roaming.

Transactions with Hobim:

Hobim, oneKey management personnel comprise the Group’s members of the leading data processingBoard of Directors and application service provider companies in Turkey, is owned by Cukurovachief officers.

There are no loans to key management personnel as of 31 December 2019 and 2018.

The Group provides additional benefits to key management personnel and contributions to retirement plans based on apre-determined ratio of compensation.

   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
   31 December
2017
 

Short-term benefits

   78,775    80,868    62,187 

Termination benefits

   56,720    121    604 

Share based payments

   6,247    11,473    12,509 

Long-term benefits

   653    755    548 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   142,395    93,217    75,848 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

The Company has entered into invoice printing and archiving agreements with Hobim under which Hobim providesfollowing balances are outstanding at the Company with monthly invoice printing services, manages archiving of invoices and subscription documents, Pricesend of the agreements are determined through alternative proposals’ evaluation.

Transactionsreporting period in relation to transactions with Vimpelcom:

Vimpelcom, an entity under common control with Alfa, is rendering and receiving telecommunications services such as interconnection and roaming.

Transactions with Telia:

Telia, a subsidiary of Sonera, is rendering and receiving telecommunications services such as interconnection and roaming.

Transactions with Azercell:

Azercell, a subsidiary of Sonera, is rendering and receiving telecommunications services such as interconnection and roaming.related parties:

 

   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
 

Due from related parties

    

Telia Carrier Germany GmbH (“Telia Carrier”)

   3,588    1,741 

Emt Estonia (“Emt”)

   110    99 

Vimpelcom OJSC (“Vimpelcom”)

   —      9,138 

Kyivstar GSM JSC (“Kyivstar”)

   —      210 

Other

   779    2,345 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   4,477    13,533 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

F-116

There is no net of allowance for doubtful receivables of due from related parties at 31 December 2019 (31 December 2018: None).


Due from Telia Carrier, Emt, Vimpelcom and Kyivstar are resulting from telecommunications services.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

38.

Related parties (continued)

Transactions with Krea:

Çukurova Holding has signed a share purchase agreement with BeIN Media Group LLC related to the sale of their shares in Krea, Share transfer has finalized as at 26 August 2016.

Krea, adirect-to-home digital television service company under the Digiturk brand name.

There are no specific agreements between Turkcell and digital channels branded under Digiturk name, Every year, as in every other media channel, standard ad spaces are purchased on a spot basis, Also, Krea provides instant football content related to Spor Toto Super League to the Company to be delivered to mobile phones and tablets.

The Company has agreements for fixed telephone, leased line, corporate internet, and data center services provided by the Company’s subsidiary Turkcell Superonline.

Transactions with Turkcell Vakfı:

On 11 October 2018, Turkcell Vakfı, was incorporated for rendering social responsibility and donation transaction.

Transactions with Wind:

Wind, an entity under common control with Alfa, is rendering and receiving telecommunications services such as interconnection and roaming.

F-117


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the years ended 31 December 2018

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

39.

Subsidiaries

The Group’s ultimate parent company is Turkcell Holding, Subsidiaries, associates and a joint venture of the Company as at 31 December 2018 and 31 December 2017 are as follows:

         Effective Ownership Interest

Subsidiaries

Name

  

Country of
Incorporation

  

Business

  31 December
2018 (%)
  31 December
2017 (%)

Kibris Telekom

  Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus  Telecommunications  100  100

Turkcell Global Bilgi

  Turkey  Customer relations and human resources management  100  100

Turktell

  Turkey  

Information technology, value

added GSM services and entertainment investments

  100  100

Turkcell Superonline

  Turkey  Telecommunications, television services and content services  100  100

Turkcell Satis

  Turkey  Sales, delivery and digital sales services  100  100

Eastasia

  Netherlands  Telecommunications investments  100  100

Turkcell Teknoloji

  Turkey  Research and development  100  100

Global Tower

  Turkey  

Telecommunications infrastructure

business

  100  100

Rehberlik

  Turkey  Directory Assistance  100  100

Financell(5)

  Netherlands  Financing business  —    100

Lifecell Ventures

  Netherlands  Telecommunications investments  100  100

Beltel

  Turkey  Telecommunications investments  100  100

Turkcell Gayrimenkul

  Turkey  Property investments  100  100

Global LLC

  Ukraine  Customer relations management  100  100

UkrTower

  Ukraine  

Telecommunications infrastructure

business

  100  100

Turkcell Europe

  Germany  Telecommunications  100  100

Turkcell Odeme

  Turkey  Payment services ande-money license  100  100

lifecell

  Ukraine  Telecommunications  100  100

Turkcell Finansman

  Turkey  Consumer financing services  100  100

Beltower

  Republic of Belarus  Telecommunications Infrastructure business  100  100

Turkcell Enerji

  Turkey  Electricity energy trade and wholesale and retail electricity sales  100  100

Paycell

  Ukraine  Consumer financing services  100  100

Lifecell Digital

  Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus
  Telecommunications  100  100

TÖFAŞ (1)

  Turkey  Interest free consumer financing services  100  —  

Turkcell Sigorta(3)

  Turkey  Insurance agency activities  100  —  

Belarusian Telecom

  Republic of Belarus  Telecommunications  80  80

Lifetech

  Republic of Belarus  Information technology, programming and technical support  80  80

Inteltek

  Turkey  Information and Entertainment Services  55  55

Azerinteltek (6)

  Azerbaijan  Information and Entertainment Services  —    28

F-118


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the years ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

39.

SubsidiariesRelated parties (continued)

 

         Effective Ownership Interest

Associates

Name

  

Country of

Incorporation

  

Business

  31 December
2018 (%)
  31 December
2017 (%)

Fintur

  Netherlands  Telecommunications investments  41  41

Türkiye’nin Otomobili (2)

  Turkey  Electric passenger car development, production and trading activities  19  —  
         Effective Ownership Interest

Joint Venture Name

  

Country of
Incorporation

  

Business

  31 December
2018 (%)
  31 December
2017 (%)

Sofra (4)

  Turkey  Meal coupons and cards  33  —  
   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
 

Due to related parties

    

Turkcell Vakfı

   9,145    39,544 

Sofra

   1,942    —   

Telia

   331    469 

Kyivstar GSM JSC (“Kyivstar”)

   —      3,591 

Wind Telecomunicazioni S.P.A. (“Wind”)

   —      886 

Teliasonera International Carrier Switzerland Ag

   —      523 

Other

   664    318 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   12,082    45,331 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

(1)

On 16 February 2018, Turkcell Ozel Finansman A,S, which will grant loans within the framework of Islamic financing principles for purchases of goods and services, was incorporated under the laws of Republic of Turkey.

(2)

On 28 June 2018, Türkiye’nin Otomobili, which will develop and produce mainly electric passenger car and to carry out trading activities, was incorporated and accounted under investments in equity accounted investees in the consolidated financial statements as at 31 December 2018.

(3)

On 25 June 2018, Turkcell Sigorta Aracılık Hizmetleri A,S,, which will engage in insurance agency activities, was incorporated.

(4)

On 30 July 2018, Sofra, which will provide services via various means such as service coupons, meal coupons, meal card, electronic coupon and/or smart card, in vehicle payment, smart key, was incorporated and accounted under investments in equity accounted investees in the consolidated financial statements as at 31 December 2018, Turkcell Ödeme ve Elektronik Para Hizmetleri A,Ş, BELBİM Elektronik Para ve Ödeme Hizmetleri A,Ş, and Posta ve Telgraf Teşkilatı A,Ş, (“PTT”) holds equal shareholding ratios of Sofra.

(5)

The liquidation process of Financell B.V., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company incorporated in the Netherlands and which isnon-operational since December 2015, has been completed as of 14 August 2018.

(6)

The Group has transferred its total shareholding in Azerinteltek controlled by Inteltek to one of other shareholder of Azerinteltek, Baltech Investment LLC (“Baltech”), for a total consideration of EUR 19,530. The share purchase agreement was signed on 15 November 2018 and the transfer of proceeds to Inteltek was completed on 27 December 2018. Group have lost the control over the subsidiary unconditionally on 27 December 2018 with transfer of money. The transfer of shares to Baltech was completed subsequently on 11 January 2019. The Due to the divestment of holding in Azerinteltek, the Group has recognized gain on sale of subsidiary amounting to TL 110,308 for the year ended 31 December 2018.

Details ofnon-wholly owned subsidiaries that have materialnon-controlling interests to the Company areSofra mainly resulting from meal coupon and card services received.

Due to Telia, Kyivstar and Wind mainly resulting from telecommunications services received.

The Group’s exposure to currency risk related to outstanding balances with related parties is disclosed below:in Note 36.

The following transactions occurred with related parties:

 

Name of subsidiary  Place of
incorporation
and principal
place of business
   Proportion of ownership
interests and voting
rights
held bynon-controlling
interest
  Profit/(loss) allocated to
non-controlling interests
   Accumulatednon-
controlling interests
 
       31
December
2018
  31
December
2017
  31
December
2018
   31
December
2017
   31
December
2018
   31
December
2017
 

Inteltek

   Turkey    45,00  45,00  105,112    35,924    131,506    46,072 

Individually immaterial subsidiaries with non –controlling interest

       51,158    22,706    304    9,855 
      

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
       156,270    58,630    131,810    55,927 
      

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

   2019   2018   2017 

Revenue from related parties

      

Sales to Sonera Holding

      

Revenue from sales of discontinued operations

(Note 16)

   772,436    —      —   

Sales to Kyivstar (*)

      

Telecommunications services

   27,050    52,946    30,875 

Sales to Telia Carrier

      

Telecommunications services

   12,934    7,941    10,020 

Sales to Vimpelcom (*)

      

Telecommunications services

   6,191    5,418    7,230 

Sales to Azercell Telecom LLC (“Azercell”) (**)

      

Telecommunication services

   —      256    1,583 

Sales to other related parties

   7,004    7,920    11,324 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   825,615    74,481    61,032 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

F-119


TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 20182019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

39.

SubsidiariesRelated parties (continued)

 

   2019   2018   2017 

Related party expenses

      

Charges from Kyivstar (*)

      

Telecommunications services

   40,210    77,174    49,178 

Charges from Sofra

      

Meal coupons and cards

   8,874    —      —   

Charges from Telia Carrier

      

Telecommunications services

   7,503    6,047    3,120 

Charges from Vimpelcom (*)

      

Telecommunications services

   1,228    2,751    10,853 

Charges from Wind (*)

      

Telecommunications services

   274    4,812    —   

Charges from Turkcell Vakfı

      

Donation

   —      44,247    —   

Charges from Azercell (**)

      

Telecommunications services

   —      79    734 

Charges from Hobim (***)

      

Invoicing and archiving services

   —      —      16,993 

Charges from other related parties

   2,000    9,799    17,001 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
   60,089    144,909    97,879 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Summarized financial information in respect of Inteltek

(*)

Transactions with Vimpelcom, Kyivstar and Wind include transactions until 18 June 2019,

(**)

Transactions with Azercell include transactions until 5 March 2018,

(***)

Transactions with Hobim include transactions until 20 June 2017.

Transactions with Kyivstar:

Kyivstar, an entity under common control with Alfa, is set out below. The summarized financial information below represents amounts before intragroup eliminations.

rendering and receiving telecommunications services such as interconnection and roaming.

InteltekTransactions with Hobim:

   31 December
2018
   31 December
2017
 

Current assets

   403,427    223,119 

Non-current assets

   9,043    9,290 

Current liabilities

   115,080    125,286 

Non-current liabilities

   5,154    4,742 

Equity attributable to owners

   292,236    102,381 
   2018    2017 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Revenue

   208,239    184,025 

(Expenses) / Income (net)

   (93,133   (104,194

Gain on Sale of Investments

   118,476    —   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Profit for the year

   233,582    79,831 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Other comprehensive income/(loss) for the year

   179    172 

Dividend paid tonon-controlling interests

   31,283    (46,582

Net cash inflow from operating activities

   31,380    73,575 

Net cash inflow from investing activities

   158,946    19,930 

Net cash outflow from financing activities

   (69,518   (75,113

Effects of foreign exchange rate fluctuations on cash and cash equivalents

   56,949    8,574 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net cash inflow

   177,757    26,966 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

The Company had entered into invoice printing and archiving agreements with Hobim under which Hobim provided the Company with monthly invoice printing services, managed the archiving of invoices and subscription documents. Prices of the agreements were determined through the evaluation of alternative proposals.

F-120

Transactions with Vimpelcom:


Vimpelcom, an entity under common control with Alfa, is rendering and receiving telecommunications services such as interconnection and roaming.

Transactions with Telia Carrier:

Telia Carrier, a subsidiary of Telia, is rendering and receiving telecommunications services such as interconnection and roaming.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the yearsyear ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

39.

Related parties (continued)

Transactions with Azercell:

Azercell, a subsidiary of Telia, is rendering and receiving telecommunications services such as interconnection and roaming.

Transactions with Turkcell Vakfı:

On 11 October 2018, Turkcell Vakfı, was incorporated for rendering social responsibility and donation transactions.

Transactions with Wind:

Wind, an entity under common control with Alfa, is rendering and receiving telecommunications services such as interconnection and roaming.

Transactions with Sofra:

Sofra, a joint venture entity of Turkcell Odeme, BELBİM Elektronik Para ve Ödeme Hizmetleri A.Ş. and Posta ve Telgraf Teşkilatı A.Ş. (“PTT”) is providing services via various means such as service coupons, meal coupons, meal card, electronic coupon and/or smart card in vehicle payment.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

 

40.

Cash flow informationSubsidiaries

Net debt reconciliation:The Group’s ultimate parent company is Turkcell Holding, while subsidiaries, associates and a joint venture of the Company as at 31 December 2019 and 31 December 2018 are as follows:

 

   Debt securities
issued
   Loans   Financial
Leasings
   Total 

Balance at 1 January 2017

   1,922,656    7,810,392    48,114    9,781,162 

Cash inflows

   209,808    24,030,222    72,421    24,312,451 

Cash outflows

   (503,391   (22,768,911   (1,068   (23,273,370

Othernon-cash movements

   246,448    1,466,205    3,253    1,715,906 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance at 31 December 2017

   1,875,521    10,537,908    122,720    12,536,149 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

         4,712,333 
        

 

 

 

Net debt

         (7,823,816
        

 

 

 
      Effective Ownership
Interest
 

Subsidiaries
Name

 

Country of
Incorporation

 

Business

 31 December
2019 (%)
  31 December
2018 (%)
 

Kibris Telekom

 Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Telecommunications  100   100 

Turkcell Global Bilgi

 Turkey Customer relations and human resources management  100   100 

Turktell

 Turkey Information technology, value added GSM services and entertainment investments  100   100 

Turkcell Superonline

 Turkey Telecommunications, television services and content services  100   100 

Turkcell Satis

 Turkey Sales, delivery and digital sales services  100   100 

Eastasia

 Netherlands Telecommunications investments  100   100 

Turkcell Teknoloji

 Turkey Research and development  100   100 

Global Tower

 Turkey 

Telecommunications infrastructure

business

  100   100 

Rehberlik

 Turkey Directory Assistance  100   100 

Lifecell Ventures

 Netherlands Telecommunications investments  100   100 

Beltel

 Turkey Telecommunications investments  100   100 

Turkcell Gayrimenkul

 Turkey Property investments  100   100 

Global LLC

 Ukraine Customer relations management  100   100 

UkrTower

 Ukraine Telecommunications infrastructure business  100   100 

Turkcell Europe

 Germany Telecommunications  100   100 

Turkcell Odeme

 Turkey Payment services ande-money license  100   100 

lifecell

 Ukraine Telecommunications  100   100 

Turkcell Finansman

 Turkey Consumer financing services  100   100 

Beltower

 Republic of Belarus Telecommunications Infrastructure business  100   100 

Turkcell Enerji

 Turkey Electricity energy trade and wholesale and retail electricity sales  100   100 

Paycell LLC

 Ukraine Consumer financing services  100   100 

Lifecell Digital

 Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus
 Telecommunications  100   100 

TÖFAŞ

 Turkey Interest free consumer financing services  100   100 

Turkcell Sigorta

 Turkey Insurance agency activities  100   100 

Yaani Digital BV (*)

 Netherlands Internet search engine and browser services  100   —   

Belarusian Telecom

 Republic of Belarus Telecommunications  80   80 

Lifetech

 Republic of Belarus Information technology, programming and technical support  80   80 

Inteltek

 Turkey Information and Entertainment Services  55   55 

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

 

   Debt securities
issued
   Loans   
Lease
liabilities
   Total 

Balance at 1 January 2018

   1,875,521    10,537,908    122,720    12,536,149 

Increase in rent lease obligations (IFRS 16)

   —      —      1,036,380    1,036,380 

Cash inflows

   2,188,313    43,728,604    —      45,916,917 

Cash outflows

   (432,140   (44,339,377   (1,180,831   (45,952,348

Othernon-cash movements

   1,578,868    3,603,892    1,435,687    6,618,447 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance at 31 December 2018

   5,210,562    13,531,027    1,413,956    20,155,545 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

         7,419,239 
        

 

 

 

Net debt

         (12,736,306
        

 

 

 

40.

Subsidiaries (continued)

      Effective Ownership
Interest

Associates
Name

 

Country of
Incorporation

 

Business

 31 December
2019 (%)
 31 December
2018 (%)

Fintur (Note 16)

 Netherlands Telecommunications investments —   41

Türkiye’nin Otomobili

 Turkey Electric passenger car development, production and trading activities 19 19
      Effective Ownership
Interest

Joint Venture Name

 

Country of
Incorporation

 

Business

 31 December
2019 (%)
 31 December
2018 (%)

Sofra

 Turkey Meal coupons and cards 33 33

(*)

On 13 May 2019, the Company signed a share purchase agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of Yaani Digital BV (formerly“NTENT Netherlands BV”). The transfer of legal shares was completed on 14 May 2019. The acquisition date on which all identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed is expected to be realized in 2020. As of 31 December 2019, TL 65,263 was paid (Note 23). The outstanding payments are expected to be completed by the end of 2020, depending on the seller’s fulfillment of its obligations under the share purchase agreement.

Details ofnon-wholly owned subsidiaries that have materialnon-controlling interests in the Company are disclosed below:

Name of subsidiary Place of
incorporation
and principal
place of
business
  Proportion of ownership
interests and voting rights
held bynon-controlling
interest
  Profit/(loss) allocated to
non-controlling interests
  Accumulated
non-controlling interests
 
     31 December
2019
  31 December
2018
  31 December
2019
  31 December
2018
  31 December
2019
  31 December
2018
 
       

Inteltek

  Turkey   45.00  45.00  30,182   105,112   36,307   131,506 

Individually immaterial subsidiaries with non –controlling interest

     21   51,158   148   304 
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 
     30,203   156,270   36,455   131,810 
    

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Summarized financial information in respect of Inteltek is set out below. The summarized financial information below represents amounts before intragroup eliminations.

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

40.

Subsidiaries (continued)

Inteltek

   31 December
2019
   31 December
2018
 

Current assets

   84,896    403,427 

Non-current assets

   6,516    9,043 

Current liabilities

   6,286    115,080 

Non-current liabilities

   4,444    5,154 

Equity attributable to owners

   80,682    292,236 
   2019   2018 

Revenue

   141,783    208,239 

(Expenses) / Income (net)

   (74,711   (93,133

Gain on Sale of Investments

   —      118,476 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Profit for the year

   67,072    233,582 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Other comprehensive income/(loss) for the year

   640    179 

Dividend paid tonon-controlling interests

   (125,027   (31,283

Net cash (outflow)/inflow from operating activities

   (63,238   31,380 

Net cash inflow from investing activities

   20,001    158,946 

Net cash outflow from financing activities

   (277,837   (69,518

Effects of foreign exchange rate fluctuations on cash and cash equivalents

   14,979    56,949 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net cash (outflow)/inflow

   (306,095   177,757 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

The Company signed a binding term sheet on 14 January 2020 to transfer its shareholding of 55% in Inteltek (Note 42).

 

41.

Cash flow information

Net financial liabilities reconciliation:

  Debt securities
issued
  Loans  Lease
liabilities
  Total  Derivative
Assets, net
  Total 

Balance at 1 January 2019

  (5,210,562  (13,531,027  (1,413,956  (20,155,545  1,190,797   (18,964,748

Cash inflows

  (311,649  (29,060,490  —     (29,372,139  1,924,363   (27,447,776

Cash outflows

  563,241   32,003,647   1,215,320   33,782,208   (1,101,876  32,680,332 

Othernon-cash movements

  (1,006,820  (2,219,012  (1,334,419  (4,560,251  (1,254,388  (5,814,639
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Balance at 31 December 2019

  (5,965,790  (12,806,882  (1,533,055  (20,305,727  758,896   (19,546,831
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

  Debt securities
issued
  Loans  Lease
liabilities
  Total  Derivative
Assets, net
  Total 

Balance at 1 January 2018

  (1,875,521  (10,537,908  (122,720  (12,536,149  871,288   (11,664,861

Increase in lease obligations (IFRS 16)

  —     —     (1,036,380  (1,036,380  —     (1,036,380

Cash inflows

  (2,188,313  (43,728,604  —     (45,916,917  1,054,345   (44,862,572

Cash outflows

  432,140   44,339,377   1,164,879   45,936,396   (710,522  45,225,874 

Othernon-cash movements

  (1,578,868  (3,603,892  (1,419,735  (6,602,495  (24,314  (6,626,809
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Balance at 31 December 2018

  (5,210,562  (13,531,027  (1,413,956  (20,155,545  1,190,797   (18,964,748
 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI AS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As at and for the year ended 31 December 2019

(All amounts disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and notes have been rounded off to the nearest thousand currency units and are expressed in Turkish Liras unless otherwise stated.)

42.

Subsequent events

On 2The Company signed a binding term sheet on 14 January the Company purchased 827,7502020 to transfer its shareholding of its shareson-market with prices ranging from full TL 11.89 to full TL 12.2455% in Inteltek including all rights and total cost was TL 9,997. Thebuy-back was approved by the Board of Directors on 27 July 2016 and 30 January 2017.

Our 55% owned subsidiary İnteltek İnternet Teknoloji Yatĺrĺm ve Danĺşmanlĺk Ticaret A.Ş. (“İnteltek”) has been notified that the “Tender on Fixed Odds and Pari-Mutuel Betting Games Based on Sports Competitions Shall Be Made by Spor Toto Directorate through Private Legal Entities” is concluded. The tender was awardedliabilities to the other bidder.shareholder of Inteltek, Intralot Iberia Holding SAU. The respective revenues comprise 1% of our consolidated revenues while 2019 contributiontransaction is expected to be lower consideringcompleted within the first half of 2020, once the final share sale and purchase agreement (“SPA”) is signed and necessary legal approvals are obtained. The final value of the transaction will be determined based on IFRS net book value of Inteltek and no material impact is expected on our ongoing contractfinancial statements.

The Company has decided to prepay the loan, which was utilized under the credit agreement disclosed on 17 September 2015 and which is to mature on 16 September 2020. Accordingly, the last two principal payments of the loan, which are due in June 2020 and September 2020 as per the credit agreement and which in total amount to EUR 148.4 million and USD 166.7 million, were performed on 23 March 2020.

Lifecell Dijital Servisler ve Çözümler A.Ş., which is 100% owned by Company’s subsidiary Turktell

Bilişim Servisleri A.Ş., has been incorporated with a capital of TL 100. The company was registered on

28 February 2020 and its announcement was completed on the same day. The company will develop

digital services, solutions and products.

As per the resolution issued by CMB dated 5 March 2020, Nail Olpak, Afif Demirkĺran and Tahsin Yazar

have been appointed to the Company’s Board as independent board members to replace Ahmet Akça,

Atilla Koç and Mehmet Hilmi Güler, who have been serving as independent board members at the

Company since 11 March 2013. Those newly appointed board members will serve until new independent

members are selected by the Company’s general assembly in accordance with the relevant legislation or

other members are appointed by Capital Markets Board.

The marketing partnership between Turkcell Europe, the Company’s subsidiary operating in Germany, and Telekom Deutschland Multibrand GmbH, the subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, will end on 30 April 2020 pursuant to the respective agreement.

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 as a pandemic, which continues to be spread throughout Turkey and the transfer process.

İnteltek, which has been operating İddaa game since 2004, has been oneworld. The impact from the rapidly changing market and economic conditions due to the COVID-19 outbreak is uncertain and will impact our business, consolidated results of operations, and financial condition in the future. While we have not incurred significant disruptions thus far from the COVID-19 outbreak, we are unable to accurately predict the impact that COVID-19 will have due to numerous uncertainties, including the severity of the greatest supportersdisease, the duration of the sports since its establishment, and contributed significantlyoutbreak, actions that may be taken by governmental authorities, the impact to the developmentbusiness of our clients and other factors. We will continue to evaluate the nature and extent of the sports industry. With respectimpact to the tender process, our rights stemming from the law will be exercised by Inteltek within the respective time frame. Inteltek, under its “procurement agreement through bargaining” will continue its activities together with its activities in digital gaming sector.business, consolidated results of operations, and financial condition.

 

F-121F-111