A tangled mess

“Yes”, says Aylin, who helps me read the Turkish newspapers (among many other things), “I have heard that name before. Tuncay Güney, who was that again?” She looks at me, puzzled. In Milliyet, there is a story about Tuncay Güney who is somehow involved in the court case against Ergenekon. We figure out that he’s a suspect, and we read that he was questioned but the tapes of the interrogation were lost, and now the man who questioned him has to rely on memory as to what Güney said. He remembers that Güney became nervous when he was questioned about Fethullah Gülen. Aylin and I are happy: at least that’s one name that doesn’t need further introduction. Is there a link between Ergenekon and Gülen?, Milliyet wonders. Rather thin evidence, I reckon, a man reacting nervously to certain questions.
It’s a good example of how the Ergenekon case has very slowly turned into a tangled mess of accusations, speculations and dozens and dozens of names, some of them famous, some of them not even ringing a bell. The newspapers print something about the case practically every day, but many Turks just glance at the headlines and don’t bother to read the whole article, and have no idea anymore about the latest developments. Very understandable indeed. It’s an important case for Turkey, but really following it? Totally impossible.