Turkcell, Turkey’s largest mobile operator, is conducting a preliminary review regarding participation in a tender for the management of state-owned mobile networks in Lebanon, it said in a statement.

“No board of directors decision has been taken” as yet, the statement said, adding that the company “regularly monitors and evaluates investment opportunities in the region”.

According to GSMA Intelligence, Lebanon currently has two operators: Touch (Zain) which has 52 per cent market share, and Alfa, which has the remaining 48 per cent.

Turkcell increased its presence in Ukraine in June after striking a $100 million deal to acquire a 44.96 per cent stake in Euroasia Telecommunications.

The deal represented the operator’s first major international acquisition since it bought mobile operator BeST in Belarus in 2008.

A few weeks before the deal, in an interview with Mobile World Live, CEO Kaan Terzioglu (pictured) said the company was looking to expand into markets “where we have cultural affinity in central Asia, Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa,” adding that the operator’s position in Turkey allows it to move fast and offer lower costs.”