Mr Ecevit, who is blamed by most Turks for causing the financial upheaval, has reaffirmed his commitment to economic reform, but the markets will be watching extremely closely. A programme of strict economic austerity agreed with the International Monetary Fund is dead. Devaluation of the lira means inflation is bound to rise, at least in the short term. Both the government and the IMF know that they need to work on a new set of economic targets. The new Bush administration last night promised to lend its backing to the country.
Turkey is an important ally and good friend of the United States.
But it has already warned that it will not support the IMF giving unlimited funds to countries which have caused their own economic problems - a threat that appears to apply to Turkey. The other issue still making the financial markets nervous is the fact that the underlying dispute which sparked the crisis has not been resolved. Mr Ecevit and President Sezer are still at daggers drawn.