Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a fierce critic of Bashar al-Assad, on Thursday suggested for the first time that the Syrian president could have a role to play in a future political transition. "The process could possibly be without Assad, or the transitional process could be with him," Erdogan told reporters after Eid prayers in Istanbul, when asked about a possible solution to Syria's four-year civil war. But "nobody envisages a future with Assad in Syria," Erdogan added, saying it was "impossible for them (Syrians) to accept a dictator who has led to the deaths of up to 350,000 people." Erdogan's remarks, which came a day after he held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, an ally of Assad, mark a shift from the Turkish leader's previous insistence that the Syrian leader relinquish power.
