Is it necessary to use lira in Turkey or are we ok with Euros? Sorry if this is an ignorant question!

You should use the local currency of whatever country you are visiting. Sometimes in tourist shops they will take euros but you will get a very bad exchange rate so it's not recommended. I haven't been to Turkey (yet) but I would definitely use their currency - Turkish lira.

It's not an ignorant question, that's what this forum is for.

Happy travels,
Kay

On a recent trip to Turkey, I absolutely didn't find these famous rotten rates for euros and sterling.

Indeed at some major supermarkets, the rate for euros and sterling was more favourable for users than we were getting from ATM machines: Carrefour, Migros and Tesco all had some tills programmed to take €/£ and (I think) $. Turkey has a history of currency depreciation and, though things have changed, there's still a philosophy in some people's minds that major foreign currencies have a reliability the lira doesn't.

Which said, I doubt you're going to get an ecstatic reception offering a €100 note for a couple of beers in the backwoods, there's ATMs all over and few offer foreign currency, and even when there's a decent rate for €s, you're going to get your change in lira.

You DO need your own currency to buy a visa at immigration. Otherwise, as always: don't take much cash, and use ATMs for local currency is usually the best way. But there are always good reasons that's not right for everyone, and - unlike in Western Europe - taking euros or sterling may not be quite the loopy idea in Turkey is is elsewhere

I asked the same question a few months ago. Our hotel and tour guide were all quoting rates in Euros. It turns out they were doing so for our convenience (guess they thought we couldn't convert dollars to lira) They said they'd accept either but preferred lira. There was an ATM at the airport which dispensed lira and euros.
Like flanneruk, we noted the exchange rates were comparable to xe.com.

All our hotels, car rental quotes, etc. were also in euros. You could pay for these in euros, however, you will want to have Turkish lira to pay in shops and restaurants. In some places, as in the Grand Bazaar, shops would take dollars, euros, or lira, but in most small places you'll want to have lira.

There are many, many ATMs in Istanbul. You can turn a corner in the city and see a bank of 5 ATMs from different banks all lined up. They were also easy to find in Cappadocia.

We did find that some places did not take credit cards. And some would discourage it by offering 10% discount for cash. We usually charge a lot, but in Turkey we got in the habit of using cash for most expenses.