Erhan Göksel, the owner of a research and polling corporation in Turkey, was found dead in a hotel in New Jersey last week. While his family has called for an autopsy, American police announced that he died after a heart attack, as he had been operated recently because of his weight.
Göksel was one of the first political analysts in Turkey who predicted the rise of Tayyip Erdogan. Being very close to Ankara circles, he had managed to be successful in other political prophecies as well. However, after starting to criticize AKP a few years ago, he was excommunicated by the government. Ultimately, he stopped talking against AKP after he was arrested as an Ergenekon suspect. Following his release, he left Turkey for New York.
Göksel was one of such people that many can easily label as a conspiracy theorist, but you know, up to some extend even Noam Chomsky can be labeled as one. I'm not arguing that Göksel was as intellectually deep as Chomsky, but his analysis was neither too shallow. He generally had a point, a context and intellectual consistency.
It is sad to see that he died in such a way that can feed other conspiracy theories. I definitely don't believe that he has been killed by someone in his hotel room. However, I indeed see him as another victim of AKP oppression, like Kuddusi Okkir.
Göksel's last prophecy or conspiracy theory may still be relevant today. Before he left for the USA in January, he had told the following words:
"Morton Abramowitz and Zbiegnew Brzezinski, two important names in the diplomatic corps of the Obama administration, have already discarded Erdogan. They see that Erdogan cannot form a one party government anymore. Moreover, Erdogan told President Barack Obama last April that he would pursue to form a strategic alliance with Iran and that was the last straw. Now Americans want 'an AKP without Erdogan' and 'a CHP without Baykal'. A Turkish coalition will be more favorable for the US. Watch Abdullah Gül and the Gülen movement in the following days."
