Ankara, Turkey: Turkish authorities on Monday issued arrest warrants for over 40 journalists in a new phase of a controversial legal crackdown after the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that has alarmed the West.

With Erdogan seeking to rally national cross-party support for his rule 10 days after defeating the attempted putsch, he hosted two top opposition leaders for an unprecedented meeting at his presidential palace.

Over 13,000 people have been detained so far in a vast sweep in the wake of the July 15 military coup bid, which the authorities blame on the reclusive US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.

The crackdown has raised tensions with the European Union, further hampering Ankara's stalled membership bid, while a potential diplomatic crisis with Washington is looming if the United States refuses to extradite Gulen to Turkey, a fellow NATO member.

Istanbul anti-terror prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 42 journalists as part of the coup investigation, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.

Among those targeted were prominent journalist Nazli Ilicak who was fired from the pro-government Sabah daily in 2013 for criticising ministers caught up in a corruption scandal, it added.

Five people have been detained so far although 11 of the suspects are believed to already be outside the country, the Dogan news agency said.

Other prominent journalists hit with warrants include the commentator Bulent Mumay and the news editor of Fox TV in Turkey, Ercan Gun.

Erdogan's government had been under fire even before the failed putsch for restricting press freedoms, accusations the authorities strongly deny.

The French foreign ministry said Turkey's response to the coup "should not compromise the rule of law and fundamental liberties like freedom of the press".

- 'Military academy raided' -

In new raids on Monday, police detained some 40 people at the army's military academy in Istanbul.

Meanwhile, 31 academics, including professors, were detained in an operation in Istanbul over alleged links to Gulen, Dogan said.

Amnesty International claimed it had "credible evidence" of the beating, rape and torture of post-coup detainees but a Turkish official vehemently denied the accusations.

Turkey has undergone a seismic shift since the night of violence when renegade soldiers sought to topple Erdogan but were stopped by crowds of civilians and loyalist security forces. At least 270 people were killed on both sides.

The authorities have announced they will disband the 2,500-strong presidential guard, which has seen almost 300 members detained.

The length of time suspects can be held in custody without charge has been extended from four days to one month under a state of emergency that has caused alarm in the EU.

The government says the stringent measures are needed to clear out the influence of Gulen from Turkey's institutions, claiming he has created a "parallel state" inside Turkey.

Gulen, 75, who lives in a compound in rural Pennsylvania and whose foundation runs a global network of schools, charities and media interests, has strongly denied the accusations.

Chief of staff Hulusi Akar, who resisted the coup and was held hostage by the plotters, told investigators in a statement that rebel generals had offered to speak personally with Gulen if he joined them.

"I told them 'you are on the wrong path'. I said 'don't do it, don't spill blood'," he was quoted as saying

"But (rebel General) Mehmet Disli said 'we have taken that path. There is no going back'."

- 'No to coup!' -

Erdogan, whose Justice and Development Party (AKP) holds the majority in parliament, began talks with Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) chief Devlet Bahceli, the first such meeting during his term in office.

However, in a sign that the harmony is not complete, the head of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtas was not been invited.

But the fact the meeting is taking place at all signals a major turnaround in the polarised world of Turkish politics, in particular for Kilicdaroglu who had vowed never to set foot in Erdogan's new palace, which he had denounced as illegal.

The CHP had on Sunday called a mass rally in Istanbul's Taksim Square and, to signal a united stand against the coup plotters, the demonstration was also backed by Erdogan's AKP.

"No to the coup!" said the headline in the Hurriyet daily above a picture of many thousands filling the vast urban space.

Erdogan supporters also kept up a "vigil" for democracy ordered by the president by filling city squares across the country.

He has told his supporters to remain in the streets until further notice, warning of the danger of another coup.

In the northwestern city of Edirne, star oil wrestler Recep Kara went directly from winning the country's most famous annual wrestling championship -- where competitors do battle smeared in olive oil -- to take part in the democracy vigil, Dogan said.