[dropcap]T[/dropcap]urkcell’s claim for US$4,2bn of damages against MTN Group will go to trial in the high court in Johannesburg, five years after the case was first brought in relation to the awarding of an Iranian licence in 2005.

Turkcell alleges that Johannesburg-based MTN, Africa’s largest wireless operator by sales, paid bribes to South African and Iranian officials to secure the licence after it was initially awarded to the Turkish company.

The case was first lodged in South Africa in 2013, but was delayed following objections by MTN and subsequent amendments.

“We believe we have a very strong claim,” Serhat Demir, legal and regulation executive vice president of Turkcell, said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday.

“The South African courts will be able to evaluate the huge amount of evidence we have to support our claim that MTN went to extraordinary lengths to unlawfully take Turkcell’s rights to the Iranian GSM licence.”

MTN shares fell 0,5% to R116,91 of 1.51pm in Johannesburg. The stock is down 7,2% this year, valuing the company at R220bn. Turkcell fell 0,7%.

“MTN continues to believe that there is no legal merit to Turkcell’s claim and will accordingly oppose it,” the company said in an e-mailed statement.

The trial will come as an unwanted distraction for MTN CEO Rob Shuter, who is trying to turn around the company after its first ever annual loss and the settling of a $1bn regulatory fine in Nigeria.

Key market

Iran has emerged as a key market for MTN after the lifting of US-led sanctions allowed the carrier to repatriate almost $1bn in trapped funds. MTN had almost 47m customers in Iran as of end March, behind only Nigeria’s 57m.

Turkcell first sued MTN in the US in 2012, though was later forced to withdraw the case after the supreme court ruled that it couldn’t be heard in the country. The $4,2bn figure is based on profit the Turkish company says it could have made had it been able to keep the licence, plus interest.