Syria's Assad says it's still too early to say whether he'll run again for president next year

In this photo, which AP obtained from Syrian official news agency SANA, has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, President Bashar Assad gestures as he speaks during an interview with Italy's RAI News 24 TV, at the presidential palace in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013. Assad says his government will abide by last week's U.N. resolution calling for the country's chemical weapons program to be dismantled and destroyed. (AP Photo/SANA) (The Associated Press)

BEIRUT – Syrian President Bashar Assad says it's still too early to say whether he'll run for re-election in next year's presidential vote.

Assad says "the picture will be clearer" in the next four to five months because Syria is going though "rapid" changes on the ground.

He spoke in an interview with Turkish television channel Halk TV, aired late Thursday.

Assad has been president since 2000; his second seven-year-term ends in mid-2014.

Syria's opposition wants him to step down and hand over power to a transitional government, with full powers until new elections are held.

Despite the civil war, he still enjoys wide support among minorities, including Christians and Alawites, members of the Shiite Islam sect.

Assad said that if he feels Syrians don't want him, he "will not run."