ISTANBUL, May 31 (Reuters) - Turkey's military played down its manoeuvres near the Iraqi border on Thursday, saying they were a routine, seasonal affair aimed at deterring Kurdish separatist rebels. Ankara sent more tanks to its border with Iraq this week as part of manoeuvres that have spurred talk of an impending cross-border military operation into northern Iraq to crush Turkish Kurd guerrillas hiding there. "This is spring planning. We can't do it in the winter when temperatures are minus 20-30 Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit). No new troops have been sent to the region," General Yasar Buyukanit, head of the army General Staff, told reporters.
