President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday announced he would chair a cabinet meeting in January, a move unprecedented for a Turkish head of state in recent times.

Erdogan, a pious Muslim accused of authoritarianism by critics, led the Turkish government from 2003 to 2014 as prime minister but in August this year won the first ever direct presidential elections to become head of state.

Turkey has the freest press in the world, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday, brushing off accusations that media freedoms were being eroded under his rule.

A Turkish court on Friday freed a 16-year-old high school pupil arrested for "insulting" President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, amid accusations his detention was the latest sign of a lurch to authoritarianism under the strongman leader.

The boy, Mehmet Emin Altunses, was released following a complaint by his lawyer, but he still faces trial in the future, the official Anatolia news agency reported.

Turkey and Armenia should not expect to resolve a long-running dispute over the mass killing of Armenians in World War I on the 100th anniversary of the tragedy in 2015, a top adviser to the prime minister said.

Armenia and its diaspora want Turkey to recognize the mass killings of Armenians in the final years of the Ottoman Empire from 1915 as genocide, something Turkey has so far vehemently resisted.

A Turkish teenager who survived a severe head injury inflicted by the police in last year's anti-government protests was sentenced to more than three months in jail, local media reported on Thursday. 

A 16-year-old high school student has been arrested in central Turkey for "insulting" President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by accusing him and his ruling party of corruption, sparking angry criticism on Thursday from the opposition.

The boy, identified by his initials M.E.A., was believed to be a member of a leftist organization, the Hurriyet newspaper reported.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday accused the European Union of starting a "dirty campaign" against Turkey by criticizing the arrests of opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday praised as "clean and lawful" the legal process against his opponents that has been sharply criticised by the EU and includes an arrest warrant for his arch-foe Fethullah Gulen.

"I have been watching this process closely as president of this country. Everything is lawful and in line with procedure ... a really diligent and clean process is going on at the moment," Erdogan said in a televised speech in Istanbul.

Turkish prosecutors on Friday requested an Istanbul court to issue an arrest warrant for the US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen who has emerged as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's number one foe.

The request by prosecutors said Gulen, who has lived in exile since 1999, led a "criminal" group acting against the "rules and laws in media, economy and bureaucracy," the state Anatolia news agency reported.

A Turkish court on Friday remanded in custody the head of a national TV network and three ex-police officers on terrorism charges, in a case linked with a top foe of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that has strained EU ties.

Turkey's state-run TRT television and the Sabah daily said the court has also issued an arrest warrant for Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Turkish cleric who Erdogan now regards as his top enemy. However this was not officially confirmed.