A day after Turkey's top-selling newspaper Zaman was taken over by the state, it dropped its criticisms of the government on Sunday and published flattering stories on President Tayyip Erdogan. The episode is the latest twist in a long-running conflict between Erdogan and US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen.
Police raided the offices of Zaman, which is affiliated with Gulen, late on Friday after a court approved a request by a prosecutor to appoint a state administrator to the daily. The prosecutor is investigating whether funds have been diverted to Gulen.
Sunday's front page included a story about Erdogan's planned reception to mark International Women's Day and his visit to the site of a bridge being built across Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait.
There was no mention of protests by Gulen's supporters on Friday and Saturday when police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse large crowds gathered outside of the newspaper.
Rights groups and European officials criticised the seizure, saying it infringed on press freedom in the EU candidate country.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who is flying to Brussels for an emergency summit on refugees on Monday, rejected that charge, saying a legal process was under way to investigate illicit financing of a "terrorist" organisation and that there had been no political interference.
Erdogan and Davutoglu accuse Gulen of plotting to topple their government in 2013 after police suspected of belonging to the religious movement leaked a corruption investigation into Erdogan's family and ministers.
Some 50 people stood outside of the paper's Istanbul offices again on Sunday, witnesses said.
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