Turkey gives Syria VP their vote

Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Shara "is a man of reason" who could replace President Bashar Assad, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Saturday, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing AFP.

Davutoglu was quoted as saying on Turkish television channel TRT: "Faruq al-Shara is a man of reason and conscience and he has not taken part in the massacres in Syria. Nobody knows the (Syrian) system better than he."

According to the report, the Turkish foreign minister stressed that the Syrian opposition "is inclined to accept Shara" as the future leader of the Syrian administration.

Davutoglu also said he was convinced that the Syrian vice president was still in Syria, despite reports that al-Shara defected.

Shara, appointed six years ago after the defection of Abdul-Halim Khaddam, is a Sunni Muslim from the southern Deraa province where the 17-month-old uprising against the Alawite president first erupted.