Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during a meeting in Ankara, Turkey April 9, 2018. Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Presidential Palace/Handout via REUTERS

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday described as “very wrong” the approach of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the future of Syria’s Afrin region, where Turkey carried out an offensive to drive out the Kurdish YPG militia.

Russia’s Interfax on Monday reported Lavrov as telling a news conference that the easiest way to normalize the situation in Afrin was to put the area back under the control of the Syrian government.

Erdogan told reporters that Turkey would hand over Afrin to its residents “when the time comes”.