Israeli-Turkish relations are a rather curious phenomenon in the political space of the Middle East. At first glance, it may seem that the dynamics of their development is determined solely by the role of extra-regional powers, since both states have special relations with the United States. However, the reality is more complicated. Faced from the very first days of its existence with the vital need to strengthen the position of a new State in the region, Israel's foreign policy strategy was based on two basic ideas. First, in the context of the conflict with the Arabs, Israel needed a key non-regional partner and patron, which from the very beginning was the United States, although France was the main supplier of modern weapons to Israel until almost the end of the 60s. The second component of this course was the so-called peripheral strategy, which provided for the need to develop strategic cooperation with non-Arab Muslim countries. One of the most fundamental and complex issues that Israeli leaders had to deal with was how Israel should position itself in the Middle East region. In the face of a direct threat to the existence of the state from the armies of Arab countries and their rejection of Israel, and in order to maintain a certain balance of power in the region, Tel Aviv began to actively look for a fulcrum, a counterweight that could be used to its advantage. And such a tool was found. It became a "peripheral" policy. Its components were, first, Israel's support for various non-Arab ethnic and religious minorities in the Middle East. This gave Tel Aviv the opportunity to play a complex geopolitical game, the strategic goal of which was to "weaken from within" the Arab regimes hostile to Israel. The second component was the establishment of cooperation with regional non-Arab Muslim States in order to change the balance of power in the region in favor of Israel. At the same time, Israel is characterized by a much more active role of the military and other s ... Read more