Iraqi Kurdistan declares independence

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http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/27/middleeast/kurdish-referendum-results/index.html

Will it get full recognition, or will it be another Northern Cyprus?

I'm kind of expecting the invasion of Kurdistan to begin in 3, 2, 1, ...

The Kurdish forces, the USA, and the Iraqi govt. are still joined in mopping up ISIS in northern Iraq, so they all need each other for the moment. But the Iraqi govt has landed troops to guard oil fields in Kurdistan already.

Taking advantage of the weakness in the Iraqi government. The Kosovo Albanians and South Sudanese did a similar act declaring independence knowing Serbia and Northern Sudan were weakened by war.

This has me worried. Anyone can see why the Kurds would want a nation, but even if they can secure it, they will be landlocked and surrounded by enemies. Even Israel has a port. Am I misssing something?

That is an issue. Access to the sea.

At the end of the first world war the diplomats redrew the maps when three big empires ended: czarist Russia, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. Gave many ethnic groups their own countries. But they strove to give as many nations as possible access to the sea when they redrew the map.

But some countries manage okay being landlocked, like Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Outer Mongolia, Paraguay.

A free Iraqi Kurdistan may be born surrounded by enemies, but theyre already surrounded by enemies, and are ruled by an enemy. So that's no change.

But a free Kurdistan in northern Iraq would also inspire Kurds in neighboring Iran to rise up (to the delight of the US because we don't get along with Iran), and it might also inspire the Kurds of Turkey to secede (to the alarm of the US because Turkey is our NATO ally). The results would be interesting to say the least.