Turkey issues warrants for ex-staff of Zaman newspaper

Turkey issued arrest warrants for 47 former staff of the Zaman newspaper, AFP reports.

The official, declining to be named, said the swoop covers "executives and some staff including columnists", describing Zaman as the "flagship media organisation" of the movement led by Fethullah Gulen, a US-based preacher.

The official insisted the warrants were not related to what individual columnists had previously said or written.

But "prominent employees of Zaman are likely to have intimate knowledge of the Gulen network and as such could benefit the investigation", the official explained.