Turkey would consider working with Syria's Assad if he won a democratic election

Turkey would consider working with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if he won a democratic election, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a conference in Qatar on Sunday.

Turkey backed the opposition to Assad in the Syrian civil war that broke out in 2011.

Assad, whose family has been in power for nearly five decades, managed to stay in power thanks to massive Iranian and Russian military support, but large parts of Syria remain outside his reach, including regions in the north, under Turkish control, and in the east, ruled by a U.S.-backed Kurdish-led coalition.

Cavusoglu said he believed U.S. President Donald Trump was considering a policy of leaving Syria. (Reporting by Dmitry Zdhannikov; Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Mark Potter)

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