I'm suprise there is no thread about this yet.
What do Turks, Iranians and Iraqis think about this? So far, I haven't found news about backlash from neighboring countries. It seems they're not in a position to block the referendum because of Uncle Sam.
Will it increase more turmoil? Is it the beginning of the breakup of the Middle East through ethnic and religious lines?
A possible independent "Kurdistan" will only have an impact on the 4 countries where large/significant Kurdish minorities live which are Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria with the largest number of Kurds living in that order of the 4 countries (Turkey largest, Syria smallest).
I am interested (obviously) in how this will impact Iraq and Syria (first and foremost) and here the impact (should such a unrealistic thing even occur) will be very small considering the fact that Kurds inhabit a tiny area of Syria and a slightly larger (albeit small too) in Iraq. Currently the maps in war-torn Iraq and Syria look differently than what they will once most people return to their native lands and once the Kurdish trenches have been dealt with in non-Kurdish areas in both Iraq and Syria (a question of time).
For instance the SDF is majority Arab (contrary to what some reports are publishing). Most of Northeastern Syria is Arab-inhabited expect for the Northern part of Al-Hasakah province.
In the so-called KRG (I prefer to call it Barzanistan personally), around 1/3 of the population is Arab (many of whom are Sunni Arab refugees that will likely stay) and growing, so Kurdish nationalists fantasies of a "pure" "Kurdistan" will remain that, a fantasy. Moreover we are talking about a tiny, landlocked and mountainous region (with hardly any agriculture, few natural resources) etc. That is why the trench builders (KDP) are so obsessed about Kirkuk (oil) which will and should return to Baghdad's full control.
As for all those events having an impact in say KSA, GCC, Jordan, Yemen, Egypt or other parts of the Middle East or Arab world? Very doubtful IMO. It will be limited to the 4 countries that I mentioned for obvious reasons.
As for my personally views, well, I believe that the Arab countries (at least) should be supporting Baghdad and Damascus and help aid them when they will get their few occupied lands (thanks to the dying ISIS) back which will be a question of time.
The rest is irrelevant as for instance tiny KRG (Barzanistan) is more of a burden for Iraq than anything else, should the disputed areas be settled. It has been bad business for Iraq overall economically and politically.
However I doubt that KRG will become independent anytime soon or that many countries will recognize them. They will always be surrounded by much bigger, stronger and richer countries and peoples.
The US/West won't put all their eggs in KRG's or an independent "Kurdistan" basket. That's impossible as Iraq alone is more important, richer and more populous.
BTW it would be interesting if you could post some news about Eritrea (your homeland) or the Horn of Africa in general as this is after all a section of PDF that covers Africa. Hardly any discussion about that region of the world which is a shame IMO.
I have nothing against Kurds at all as a people but I am just not fond of their land-grabbing or the anti-Arabs among them (a minority of Kurds, it must be said) or those hostile to Iraq in particular.
Quite frankly, without being so-called "politically correct", the Kurdish leaderships in both Iraq (in particular) and Syria are enemies of Baghdad and Damascus due to their actions.
