(Harretz) In exclusive interview with NBC News ahead of U.S. trip, the Turkish PM says Assad crossed a red line by using chemical weapons, and called on the U.S. to take further steps.

In an exclusive interview with NBC News Thursday, Prime MinisterTayyip Erdogan said Turkey would support a U.S.-enforced no-fly zone inSyria and warned that Damascus crossed President Barack Obama’s “red line” on chemical weapons use long ago.

A no-fly zone to prohibit Syrian military aircraft from hitting rebel targets has been mentioned by American lawmakers as one option the United States could use to put pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“Right from the beginning … we would say ‘Yes,” Erdogan said when asked if Turkey, a NATO member that shares its longest border with Syria, would support such action, according to an NBC.com report.But setting up a no-fly zone would require U.S. air strikes, and possibly forces sent into Syria, at the risk of casualties. There is little chance the United States would undertake that anytime soon, U.S. security officials say.Still, Erdogan’s comments could add pressure on Washington to take action in a two-year revolt that has killed 70,000 people and further destabilized a volatile region.Erdogan also said Assad has fired missiles with chemical weapons at his opponents, crossing Obama’s so-called red line a “long time ago.”Obama said in August he views the use of chemical weapons in Syria as a “red line.” But, wary of the false intelligence used to justify the 2003 war in Iraq, the United States says it wants proof before taking any action.”It is clear that the regime has used chemical weapons and missiles. They used about 200 missiles, according to our intelligence,” Erdogan said in the interview with the U.S. television news outlet.

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Tags: syrria, Turkey, US