Istanbul (Daily Sabah) - Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan convened media representatives yesterday and made striking remarks on the upcoming local elections. Criticizing the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Erdoğan said, "If my party fails to rank first in the upcoming elections, I am ready to retire from politics, but can the CHP and MHP leaders do it? I do not think that they can." He added that the only policy followed by opposition parties is the "political smear campaign."

On the AK Party's three-term rule stipulating that a deputy may only be prime minister for three consecutive terms, Erdoğan said he personally does not support changing the rule but if requested by members, it would be up to the party to decide. When asked whether Erdoğan will be in the running for president, he said, "That is not on our agenda for now. The current president can continue to serve." He criticized the Gülen Movement for its subversion with an aim to destabilize the current government and Turkey. According to Erdoğan, it ignited the Gezi Park protests of last year and staged the Dec. 17 operations for this reason.

He accused the Gülenists of infiltrating the police and judiciary. The movement also allegedly tried to blackmail leading businessmen to "donate" money to fund the movement's religious activities, using recordings of those businessmen.

He claimed that CHP and MHP also succumbed to the threats of the movement. He said that "we are face to face with a violation of law and treason against the state. These wiretapes are totally illegal and arbitrarily recorded. The prosecutors linked to "paralel state" have wiretapped the prime minister, ministers and even president of Turkey," said Erdogan. "They have wiretapped our Energy Minister's confidential international talks and released the wiretapes on Internet which has possibility of costing millions of dollars to Turkey." Touching upon the freedom of press in Turkey, Erdoğan said that Turkey is not against the freedom of media but is against illegal means and attempts by certain media groups. Last week, it was revealed that the Gülen Movement illegally tapped nearly 3,000 politicians, journalists, bureaucrats and everyday citizens.

He touched on the reconciliation process between Ankara and the Kurds that started in 2012, saying the reconciliation process is ongoing and for the first time in the last 30 years, no one has been killed in a year. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 and used terrorist tactics to get its political demands.