Turkish Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli listens to a Turkish official during a NATO defence ministers meeting at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 15, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey will continue to take measures in Syria’s Afrin region, from which it drove the Kurdish YPG militia in an offensive this year, until all terror risks there are eliminated, Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli said on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters in parliament, Canikli said Afrin would be handed over to a central government in Syria when a new administration has been formed following elections, once terror threats in the region have been eliminated.