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Tracing Syrian Conflict Back to Iraq’s Civil War

The relationship between Iraq and Syria has always been close, yet contradictory, with some arguing that the economic and political results of the Iraqi civil war led to the outbreak of Syria’s current conflict.
Fighters from Iraq's Islamist Shi'ite militias pose for pictures before departing to Syria from Baghdad, June 11, 2013. Syria is splintering the Middle East along a divide between the two main denominations of Islam, becoming a battlefield in a proxy war between Assad's main regional ally, Shi'ite Iran, and his Sunni enemies in Turkey and the Gulf Arab states. As the Syrian war grinds into its third year, sectarian killings are increasing, while hardline Sunni clerics are declaring Jihad or holy war on the
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The relationship between Iraq and Syria has a troubled history with many contradictions. It has been strained during most of the countries' recent history. Nevertheless, the two sides are so similar and close that there have been projects to turn them into one entity ever since the founding of postcolonial states in the Arab Middle East.

The first king in Iraq after its separation from the Ottoman Empire was also previously the king of Syria. However, as Iraq and Syria were under the control of two different powers (Britain in the case of Iraq, and France in the case of Syria), they were not governed by King Faisal I during the same period.

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