WASHINGTON
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey might say yes to a US led no-fly zone in Syria.
Ahead of his US trip, Erdogan gave an exclusive interview to American NBC News channel.
In the interview, Erdogan accused Syrian government of using chemical weapons against its citizens and called on the US to take stronger steps. "It is clear that the regime has used chemical weapons and missiles," stated Erdogan but did not make clear when and where those weapons were used. But Erdogan said US President Barack Obama's "red line" on chemical weapons use had been crossed long ago.
He said, "we want the US to assume more responsibilities and take further steps" adding that they were going to talk about what sort of steps they would take.
According to NBC news, Erdogan cited as evidence the "remainders of missiles" — at least 200 by his count — that he believed were used in chemical attacks, along with the injuries of Syrians brought over the Turkish border for medical treatment. "There are patients who were brought to our hospitals as they were wounded by those chemical weapons," he noted.
Erdogan rejected any suggestion that the rebels might have used chemical weapons, saying, "There was no way we could believe in this now. First of all, how are they going to obtain this? And who will give this to them?" he said but added, "But if it exists, we are against it...We are against whoever holds such weapons."
Erdogan said his government had not determined whether sarin gas was used.
Erdogan said if US took a step towards a no-fly zone in Syria, Turkey might say yes to it.
The Turkish prime minister denied that Turkey had provided military support to the opposition but said his country had spent nearly 1 billion USD on aid to 300,000 Syrians sheltered in Turkey.
"We keep the open door policy because they are fleeing oppression," said Erdogan.
Erdogan said he had heard reports that Assad's wife and children had already left Syria, and added, "The thing Assad should do now is to leave Syria."
Erdogan's statements at NBC interview were misreported in some news reports
On the other hand, Turkey's Prime Ministry said it was observed that Prime Minister Erdogan's statements in an exclusive interview he gave to American NBC television in Istanbul were misreported in some news reports.
Prime Ministry said, "Turkey's Prime Minister never mentioned or assessed any possibility of US's sending military forces to Syria and Turkey's supporting that."
The ministry cleared what Erdogan said on establishment of a no-fly zone in Syria by releasing the transcript of Erdogan's statement, which is; "Right from the beginning...we may say 'yes': If UN Security Council puts this on the table, we have a positive look on this, and we do our share. A very important mission is on UNSC, especially Russia and China".
