The Turkish premier, Mr Bulent Ecevit held crisis talks with political andmilitary leaders today as the Central Bank acted to calm markets,buoying stocks, reining in interest rates and boosting thebeleaguered lira currency.
Mr Ecevit entered the National Security Council (MGK) for his firstencounter with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer since their public rowignited a crisis last week which scuppered a key IMF-backed reformprogramme and sent the lira into freefall.
Neither Mr Ecevit, fighting off demands to sack ministers, nor MrSezer made any comment to reporters.
The Istanbul stock market, which lost a third of its value last weekafter Mr Ecevit accused Mr Sezer of prompting a serious crisis byquestioning his ability to tackle corruption, soared up to eight percent today after the Central Bank announced it would trade moreactively in key money markets.
The lira, which plunged 36 per cent after it was floated on Thursday,traded at 950,000 to the dollar this morning, around 28 per cent downon pre-crisis levels and a signal of reviving hopes of recovery.
The lira devaluation had reignited fears of rampant inflation andhardship in Turkey.