Turkey has detained the editor in chief of the opposition secularist Cumhuriyet newspaper, Turkish media report.

On its website on October 31, Cumhuriyet confirmed editor in chief Murat Sabuncu and a columnist for the paper, Guray Oz, had been detained, following raids on their homes.

The Istanbul prosecutor said in a statement that the newspaper and the Cumhuriyet Foundation, which owns the daily, were being investigated over links to Kurdish militants and the Gulen movement.

The investigation was probing whether they committed crimes on behalf of the two "terror organizations," the prosecutor was quoted as saying by Turkish media.

According to CNN Turk, 13 arrest warrants were issued for journalists and executives from the daily.

The arrests come amid a government crackdown on anyone suspected of links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by the government of masterminding the failed July coup attempt.

Gulen has denied any involvement in the plot.

Dozens of media outlets, including a large number of Kurdish media, have been shut down in recent weeks.

Cumhuriyet's former editor, Can Dundar, was sentenced to six years in jail earlier this year for publishing state secrets involving Ankara's Syria operations.

His conviction sparked condemnations from media groups and Western governments worried about worsening human rights in Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Based on reporting by Reuters, dpa, and AFP