Bloomberg BusinessWeek piece stating that when PM Recep Erdogan and the AKP took over Turkey in 2001, the "Turks were worse off than Greeks--and the IMF cure worked."
The logic?
Erdogan and Babacan [finance minister] used the IMF's tough regimen as an excuse for doing things that previous Turkish governments had avoided for decades.
A biggie? The gov stepped up tax collection from under-reporters, something you just know is a huge problem in Greece.
Point being, the Turks could have defaulted then, just like Greece considers now. But that would have been dealing only with the most painful symptom of the moment.