Make no mistake, a return to the lira will be painful.
Even though Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement is now embracing a return to the lira, and the chauvinist Marine Le Pen is an increasingly plausible candidate for the Élysée, no let-up is countenanced.
Like many "Anatolian tigers" who have thrived under AK rule, Boydak has been hurt by Turkey's sharp economic slowdown, a sudden fall in the lira and a big rise in interest rates.
The Turkish lira has slipped by more than 80% against the dollar, inflation has resumed its upward spiral, and tens of thousands of Turks have lost their jobs, including some 3,000 media people.
The lira is now down by over 50% since the start of the year.
First, emerging-market currencies came under pressure, with the Argentine peso and Turkish lira, among others, falling sharply and several countries opting to increase interest rates.
But growth has slowed sharply and renewed turmoil has led to a slide in the Turkish lira that may point to a rise in interest rates.
The value of the Turkish lira took a pounding, as did the main index of the Istanbul stock exchange.Does Turkey really have an alternative to closer ties with Europe?
But three decades of cheapening money have debauched the lira so much that households routinely think in billions, and banks in trillions or even quadrillions.
The planned single currency, the euro, should scythe through Europe's tangle of D-mark, French franc and lira interest-rate futures contracts.
If they keep at it, the central bank's foreign reserves of less than $20 billion will soon run out, and it will be forced to devalue the Turkish lira.
