ISTANBUL: Turkish police on Monday detained the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Cumhuriyet a thorn in the side of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as Ankara widens a crackdown on opposition media.

The newspaper, which had published revelations embarrassing for the government, saidatleastadozenjournalists and executives were detained in early morning raids.

The detentions come af ter authorities fired more than 10,000 civil servants at the weekend and closed 15 proKurdish and other media outlets, the latest purge since July`s failed military coup aimed at ousting Erdogan.

Cumhuriyet`s editor Murat Sabuncu was detained and police were hunting for executive board chairman Akin Atalay, the official news agency Anadolu said.

The Istanbul prosecutor said an investigation had been launched into allegations the secular daily`s output was `legitimising` the attempted putsch.

The newspaper said it would `fight until the end for democracy and freedom` in a statement on its website headlined: `We will not surrender`.-AFP