Leading Turkish mobile operator, Turkcell, has announced that chief executive Muzaffer Akpinar has resigned from his position.

However, with regard to the company’s international operations, Akpinar will continue with his board membership duties, which are related to the investments in Ukraine, and at Fintur as well as at the GSMA Association. A new chief executive will be appointed at the next board meeting, the company said.

Although no reason was given for the chief executive’s decision, there has been speculation for some time about Akpinar’s future at the company. Rumours of boardroom disputes have been circulating since Turkish conglomerate Cukurova Group, which holds 27 per cent of Turkcell, reportedly removed several assistant general managers without Akpinar’s approval in March.

This follows legal action taken late last year when Nordic operator TeliaSonera sued Russian conglomerate the Alfa Group – now known as Altimo – over interference in a proposed transaction between TeliaSonera and Cukurova for a stake in Turkcell.

TeliaSonera claimed that it had been shouldered out of a deal to buy a 49 per cent holding in Cukurova, giving it an indirect stake in Turkcell. Alfa is understood to have offered more cash, causing Cukurova to renege on its deal with TeliaSonera.

The Turkish mobile operator Turkcell reported a 3 per cent rise in subscription numbers during Q1, bringing the total to 28.74 million as of 31 March. This figure is up from 27.90 million at the end of Q4 2005.

The company said its subscriber base consisted of 5.47 million post-paid and 23.27 million pre-paid customers.

New gross subscribers acquired in the first quarter were made up of 89 per cent pre-paid and 11 per cent post-paid subscribers, it said. Aggressively priced offers from competitors led to an increase in churn to 3.51 per cent from 2.86 per cent in the fourth quarter, the company said.