The rating on Turkey-based telecommunications provider Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. reflects Standard&Poor's Ratings Services' view of Turkey's volatile economic environment, as well as Turkcell's international expansion and cash consumption in Belarus, currency mismatches, high levels of short-term debt, continuing legal disputes among the group's major shareholders, and considerable regulatory pressures. Supportive factors include the company's strong position and performance in the Turkish mobile telecom market, good mobile cash flow generation, moderate gross leverage, sizable liquid assets, and its investment in associate Fintur. In our base-case assessment, we assume that Turkcell's U.S. dollar-denominated consolidated revenues will remain flat year on year in 2012. This includes the assumption that growth of revenues in local currencies in Turkey, Ukraine, and Belarus
