Turkcell appointed chair Bulent Aksu as its new CEO, following the resignation of Murat Erkan earlier this week after four years in the role.

The operator confirmed Aksu’s appointment some days after Bloomberg reported he was in the frame.

Aksu brings more than 25 years’ experience, mainly in finance across sectors including telecoms, energy, petrochemicals and textiles.

He was CFO of Turkcell between 2016 and 2018, a role he left to become deputy at Turkey’s Ministry of Treasury and Finance.

No reason was given for Erkan’s abrupt departure.

He was appointed CEO in March 2019 and had more than 15 years’ experience at the company.

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Erhan Gures stated Erkan’s departure puts the focus on Turkcell’s pricing strategy, noting a move “to lead the mobile market with tariff hikes has been instrumental in improving resilience to a high- inflation environment”.

Turkey’s Sovereign Wealth Fund holds a majority 26.2 per cent stake in Turkcell.