AHC: Kurdistan becomes an internationally-recognized state

Exactly this. Colonial empires are not going to "liberate" people and give them their own countries out of generosity. Their first priority is finding pieces of land that are excellent for economic exploitation and furthering their geopolitical policies. Decolonization happened because they no longer viewed holding onto distant territories inhabited by rebellious subjects to be worth the hassle anymore. But while they were ruling these places, divide-and-conquer was in their best interest to decrease the likelihood of unified rebellions. The way that Britain and France carved up pretty much the entirety of Africa and the Middle East (plus South Asia) shows how little they cared about the eventual ramifications.

Yep, besides they found other, more indirect ways of control, like you have seen for instance with the US supporting all sorts of corrupt regimes around the world. Maybe the most realistic scenario for a Kurdish state would be if the Soviet Union were able to control parts of Kurdistan after World War 2 and decided to set up a Kurdish People´s Republic as a kind of puppet state.
 
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