Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Monday told the European Union to "mind its own business", in a blistering attack against the bloc over criticism by EU officials of police raids against opposition media.

Turkey has come under fire over the arrests Sunday of over two dozen journalists, television producers, police and even TV drama scriptwriters linked to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen who has emerged as Erdogan's arch-foe.

The Turkish government on Monday faced accusations of eroding democracy and press freedoms after over two dozen people were arrested in raids against media critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The swoop on Sunday chiefly targeted a newspaper and television closely allied to the US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, a onetime close ally of Erdogan who has become his arch enemy.

Top EU officials on Sunday denounced Turkish police raids on media representatives as going "against the European values" that Turkey aspires to as it seeks membership in the bloc.

Turkish police on Sunday arrested the editor of the country's biggest selling newspaper and at least two dozen other media figures in a new crackdown on supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's exiled rival, Fethullah Gulen.

Turkish police on Sunday launched a sweeping operation to arrest dozens of supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rival, U.S.-exiled imam Fethullah Gulen, including a raid on the offices of the Zaman daily, which is close to the cleric. 

The operation came just two days after Erdogan signalled a new crackdown against the supporters of Gulen, who Erdogan blamed for orchestrating a corruption probe almost exactly a year ago against members of his inner circle. 

Turkey's top cleric came under fire on Saturday over reports that a luxury Mercedes had been purchased at public expense to serve as his official car -- the latest government splurge to cause a public outcry. 

Mehmet Gormez, the head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate, known as Diyanet in Turkish, will soon be cruising in a Mercedes s500, worth some 350,000 euros ($435,000), the Hurriyet newspaper reported Saturday.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov resumed on Friday talks with Lebanese officials on the presidential impasse following his return from Syria.

Bogdanov met early Friday with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki.

The European Parliament's new rapporteur on Turkey voiced concerns Thursday over a new security bill critics claim could turn the country back into a "police state."

Kati Piri said she was worried by the government-backed "homeland security reform", currently being debated by a parliament commission, which gives police sweeping new powers to search and detain suspects.

Turkey on Thursday joined the chorus of international condemnation over a report on the United States' brutal treatment of "war on terror" detainees, calling it "inhumane."

"Transparency is important but this does not legitimize the torture which was carried out," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a news conference in Ankara.

Egypt has imposed restrictions on male citizens traveling to Turkey and war-torn Libya to stop them joining jihadist organizations like the Islamic State group, a security official said Wednesday.

Men aged between 18 and 40 years who plan to travel to the two countries need prior clearance from Egyptian immigration under the new rules which came into effect on December 3.