The Cold War in the Near East

Abstract

The term “cold war” continues to exist in the modern political lexicon. The subject of this article is the triple aggression of England, France and Israel against Egypt, which became the most acute major manifestation of the Cold War in the Middle East region after the end of World War II. The Suez crisis not only stopped the process of defusing international tensions in the world that had begun, but also sowed the seeds of bloody shoots, which shook the Middle East to this day. The current situation in this region constantly attracts the attention of the world community to the vicissitudes of the events of more than 60 years ago, in which it sees the sources of many modern processes. Given the current geopolitical Middle East situation, the author pays attention to the policies of such a large state like Turkey, which became the only country in the region that not only did not condemn the aggression against Egypt, but in fact supported the actions of the aggressors. Understanding the role of Turkey in this dangerous recurrence of the “cold war” in the Middle East, according to the author, has not only scientific but also political significance. The literature used in the article, primarily Turkish, part of which is unknown or inaccessible to Russian researchers, sheds additional light not only on the critical moments of the struggle of opposing groups within the country, but also helps to identify patterns of evolution of the entire Middle Eastern policy of Turkey. Of particular source value are the materials of the weekly magazine Akis (“Reflection”) as the mouthpiece of the country’s opposition forces, which more vividly reflect the events of that time and allow an objective assessment of the country’s foreign policy, in general, and, in particular, in the Arab East. The analysis of the materials with all certainty leads to the main conclusion that they have a pronounced national character and indicate contradictions in Turkey’s one-sided orientation to the West.