The rating on Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. (Turkcell)--the Republic of Turkey's (B-/Negative/C) leading operator of mobile telephony--remains on CreditWatch with negative implications where it was placed on Feb. 21, 2001 following the CreditWatch placement of the sovereign's ratings, despite the ratings on the Republic of Turkey having since been affirmed and removed from CreditWatch. Although Turkcell continues to enjoy solid business fundamentals--such as sustained customer-base and revenue growth--and has significantly reduced its investment plans, its near-term financial flexibility is subject to the renewal of a $550 million bank facility that matures in September 2001. At end-June 2001, Turkcell had total debt of about $2 billion, $280 million of which is due to be repaid in the third quarter of 2001.
