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A Zaman media group journalist holds a banner as he stands outside the headquarters of Zaman daily newspaper in Istanbul December 14, 2014. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

By Daren Butler and Humeyra Pamuk

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police raided media outlets close to a U.S.-based Muslim cleric on Sunday and detained 24 people including top executives and ex-police chiefs in operations against what President Tayyip Erdogan calls a terrorist network conspiring to topple him.

The raids on Zaman daily and Samanyolu television marked an escalation of Erdogan's battle with ex-ally Fetullah Gulen, with whom he has been in open conflict since a graft investigation targeting Erdogan's inner circle emerged a year ago.

In scenes broadcast live on Turkish TV channels, top-selling Zaman's editor-in-chief Ekrem Dumanli smiled and studied police documents before being led through the newspaper's headquarters to applause from staff crowded onto balconies

"Let those who have committed a crime be scared," he said before police struggled to escort him through the crowds to a waiting car. "We are not scared."

Several hundred people chanted "The free press cannot be silenced" and "Turkey is proud of you".

TERRORISM CHARGES

Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Hadi Salihoglu said in a statement arrest warrants had been issued for 31 people on charges of "establishing a terrorist group", forgery and slander.

In raids across EU-candidate Turkey, 24 people have been detained, including two former police chiefs, state broadcaster TRT Haber said. Also detained were Samanyolu's chairman and the staff of two Samanyolu drama series, one about an anti-terrorism squad and the other set in a southeast hit by Kurdish rebellion.

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Turkish police raid media outlets close to Gulen, detain 23 people