ANKARA — Prime Minister Erdoğan said Wednesday that the government will not let political or economic uncertainty affect Turkey ahead of the presidential election slated for August. In his address to the nation on TV, Erdoğan said consultations were continuing for his ruling AK Party's presidential candidate.

He said the government would strive for peaceful polls as citizens vote to elect a president for the first time in the history of the Turkish Republic. "I believe Turkey will emerge stronger out of the presidential election and close to the 2023 goals.
We would not let any political or economic uncertainties to rock Turkey, both prior to and after the election," he said. Erdoğan said the Turkish state was facing an organization trying to topple the government, referring to the Gülen Movement led by U.S.-based scholar Fethullah Gülen. "Following the Gezi Park protests, the target of Dec. 17 and 25 coup attempts was to weaken and depose the government. They targeted the peace atmosphere, wanted to collapse the economy, to sweep away all advances and slow down the stability and development of Turkey by inciting the youth to go out into the streets via social media and provoking violence in the country," Erdoğan said.

Turkey has initiated a legal process to investigate Gülen, in a move that may lead to a request by the Turkish government for his extradition from the U.S.The prime minister also celebrated May Day for all workers called for celebrations to be free of violence. "We hope May Day would be celebrated as a festival of democracy, solidarity and peace without resorting to violence, vandalism and conflict,"
Erdoğan said. He said his government wanted to remove a negative image associated with May Day. Erdoğan's government declared May 1 a public holiday in 2009.