Israel National News:

According to recent media reports, Israeli military and intelligence agents are currently operating in Iraqi Kurdistan. Their primary role, according to reports, is to train elite Kurdish commandos in guerrilla warfare and anti-terror tactics. The Kurds - whose country is currently occupied by Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria - are reportedly again, after many years, accepting Israeli assistance in their struggle for independence.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/135877

Today's Zaman, Turkey:

This state of mind was once again provoked with reports suggesting that Israeli military and intelligence agents are currently engaged in covert operations in the Kurdish section of Iraq. They are reported to be training Kurdish commandos in guerrilla warfare and anti-terror tactics. Under normal circumstances, this information is not newsworthy. Every armed force has an elite special operations unit. However, the intention behind this training is poisonous: Kurds feel that their country is being invaded from all directions by states like Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq, and they are getting ready to end the occupation of these “imperialist” forces! That is why they are accepting Israeli assistance in their struggle for reunification and full independence.

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/columnists-206620-is-israel-training-kurds.html

Interestingly enough the Turkish columnist adds this:

The Kurds fought for independence from Iraq, Iran and Turkey. Some Kurds committed terrorism against Turkey. It is going too far to call their “country” “occupied.” What country? It would be sufficient to suggest that the 40 million Kurds are a separate nationality for whom a case can be made for self-determination. This is in contrast with the Palestinian Arabs, who are not a separate nationality and for whom no case has been made for self-determination, only asserted, and who in any case have a state of their own in Palestine, called Jordan.

It seems only natural that Israel would help a fellow non-Arab nation whose territory is ruled by mostly Israel's enemies. I don't have to repeat what Saddam Hussein did to the Kurds, but I think it should be mentioned that Kurds living in Syria have none of the luxuries the "oppressed" "Palestinians" have (massive aid transports, Internet access etc.). The "Syrian" Kurds are really opressed but they are not Arabs and hence the world doesn't care.

Kurdistan has always been a bigger issue than Israel. More people have died in the conflicts created by Arab attacks against and Turkish rule of Kurds then in the Arab wars against Israel. Solving the Kurdistan issue would evidently solve a much bigger problem and also address some real oppression for a change.

I don't for a moment believe that the west will ever address this issue, but if it did, I think this would be a good solution:

1. Syria will have to give up its Kurdish territories.

2. Turkey will have to give up its Kurdish territories.

3. Turkey will also have to give up its (historically Arab and Aramaean) Iskenderun district.

4. Finally, Turkey will have to give up its Armenian territories.

5. In exchange the rest of Turkey can join the EU.

6. All Kurdish territories and Iskenderun will be annexed by Arbil (Iraqi Kurdistan).

7. Arbil will then decide whether it wants to remain in a union with Arab Iraq or become independent.

This will solve several problems.

First, declaring the Kurdish territories in Syria officially "occupied" by Syria will give anti-Syrian forces a very good diplomatic weapon. Oddly enough the United Nations consider the Golan Heights "Israeli-occupied" despite the fact that the natives (Druze and Alawites) are (or can be) Israeli citizens with full rights but consider the Kurdish territories in eastern Syria a part of Syria proper, despite the fact that the natives there live under military rule and have no civil rights (and no Syrian passports).

Second, Iskederun is ruled by Turkey and claimed by Syria. By giving the territory to a Kurdish state, as a harbour and autonomous province (for the mixed Arab/Aramaean/Turkish/Armenian population) would settle the issue once and for all. Neither population group would be preferred and the annexation should be arranged in such a way as to guarantee total autonomy for the province except in matters of defence (which will be handled by Kurdistan) and harbour rights (there must be a harbour available for Kurdish use).

Third, "Turkish" Kurds obviously do not want to be part of Turkey. Turkey fears the Kurdish terrorist group PKK (which is supported by Syria and therefor obviously not fighting for Kurdish independence, just for a different foreign ruler). By creating a buffer state between Turkey and Syria, PKK terrorists will either have to attack Kurdish targets (and hence create more enemies for themselves), cease operations or integrate into a real Kurdish military.

Fourth, and this has nothing to do with Kurdistan per se, Turkey still rules over territories that were originally (after WW1) meant to be part of Armenia. If those territories become officially Armenian, it could only have a positive effect on the conflict between Armenia and (Turkic) Azerbaijan.

Fifth, European conservatives fear a primitive Muslim EU member. By removing the south-east of Turkey, the remaining Turkish state will be more European, somewhat more religiously mixed (Christian Greeks and Jews live mostly around Istanbul), more urban, and more civilised (the south-east is a rather backward part of Turkey). It will also be smaller by population and hence have less influence in Europe than it currently would have.

Sixth, the only Kurdish government sits in Arbil in northern Iraq. Despite its problems, that government works.

Seventh, Arbil has become more autonomous over the last few years. At some point Kurds will ask themselves whether they really want to be part of a majority Arab state. Currently they have to be part of Iraq because they have no other way out (Iran is hostile to them, Syria is hostile to them, Turkey can be problematic at times). But ultimately Kurdistan could become an independent country for the Kurdish nation.