Prominent Turkish Editor Figures Among 27 Detained by Police

Signalling a new crackdown on one of the Turkish President's political rivals, police detained 27 people including the editor of the country's largest-selling newspaper and a head of a television station.

The police conducted a series of raids in 13 cities Sunday. State-run news agency Anadolu reports that the detainees have been accused of forming an illegal organization to seize control of Turkey.

This move is considered to be the latest round in the battle between Turkey's President Recep tayyip Erdogan and his ally-turned-for Fethullah Gulen.

Gulen is a U.S.-based Turkish cleric who, according to the President, is looking to overthrow the Turkish government.

One of the detainees is Ekrem Dumanli, the editor-in-chief of the Zaman daily newspaper which is closely linked to Gulen. Another prominent mediaperson held by the police Sunday was Samanyolu Media Group Chairman Hidayet Karaca. Both the organizations were founded by followers of Gulen.

"This is officially a coup against freedom, free thought, free speech," Dumanli said in front of hundreds of supporters at Zaman's Istanbul headquarters, hours before police escorted him away, The Washington Post reports.

It has been learnt that a Turkish judge had ordered the arrest of 31 people including former police officials and journalists linked to Gulen.

Gulen fled the country after secularist prosecutors charged him with seeking to overthrow the state and has been residing in Pennsylvania since 1999.

The case against him was dismissed in 2006.

Recently, Erdogan vowed to crack down on Gulen's followers. He said: "We will bring down this network and bring it to account," The Los Angeles Times reports.