Turkcell declared its support for Huawei as global scrutiny grows against the Chinese vendor, with the operator stating it will continue to partner with the vendor and not act on uncorroborated claims.

In a statement, CEO Kaan Terzioglu (pictured) said Huawei had been a reliable business partner and it was unfair to evaluate security vulnerability claims against the company “in isolation from the current developments in the market”.

A number of countries are considering shutting Huawei out, following moves made by the US, Australia and New Zealand due to national security fears.

Terzioglu, however, believes the problem is “not just about personal data privacy. It’s also about just a couple of global companies’ desire to stay in power”.

He also said it would not be fair to evaluate Huawei’s current situation “by ignoring the competition in the smartphone market and the conflict of which company will lead 5G”.

“You may recall that last year another smartphone company faced unfavourable news. As you can see, whenever an unexpected company gets ahead, they are confronted. No-one should act on uncorroborated claims. Turkcell will continue to work with its long-time business partner Huawei, he said.

Terzioglu, which has pushed heavily on Turkcell establishing a number of new digital services in recent years, added that “data security remains as a top-priority national security issue globally”, while noting that there have been many failures of western companies in securing personal data.

“There still are ongoing cases and investigations on this specific topic. Consequently, we are completely aware of potential risks. We have been, and always will be, cautious about our business partnerships,” added Terzioglu.