BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad said it’s still too early to say whether he’ll run for re-election next year, but suggested he would refrain from seeking a third term — if he feels that’s what most Syrians want him to do.

Assad, who spoke in an interview with Turkey’s private Halk TV, made no mention of his government’s role in the civil war that has killed at least 100,000 people so far, instead blaming foreign fighters and governments, including Turkey’s, for the bloodshed.

The interview, broadcast Thursday, was the latest in a series the Syrian president has given to foreign media as part of a charm offensive in the wake of the Russian-brokered deal that averted the threat of a U.S. airstrike over an August chemical weapons attack, which killed hundreds of people.

Meanwhile, heavy fighting today was under way in different parts of Syria, including the southern regions of Daraa and Quneitra on the edge of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, reported anti-government activists.

Clashes also continued between Kurdish gunmen and members of al-Qaida’s Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, mostly in the northern provinces of Hassakeh and Aleppo.

Regarding a potential bid for another seven-year term, Assad said “the picture will be clearer” in the next four to five months because Syria is going through “rapid” changes on the ground.

Government troops have been on the offensive around the capital, in the central province of Homs and in the south, battling against rebel advances there.

Assad has been president since 2000 when he took over after his father and predecessor, Hafez Assad, died after ruling Syria for three decades. His second sevenyear term ends in mid-2014.

Syria’s opposition wants Assad to step down and hand over power to a transitional government until new elections are held.

Despite the bloody conflict, Assad still enjoys wide support among some Syrians, particularly minorities including Christians and members of his Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

“If I have a feeling that the Syrian people want me to be president in the coming period I will run for the post,” Assad said. “If the answer is no, I will not run and I don’t see a problem in that.”

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