France's foreign minister said on Monday the decision by Turkish authorities to seize control of the country's largest newspaper was "unacceptable" and went against European values.

""It's not acceptable. We can't want to get closer to European standards and not respect the pluralism of the media. It's obvious and we've said it clearly to the Turks," Jean-Marc Ayrault told France Inter radio.

Turkish authorities seized control of the Zaman newspaper, the country's top-selling newspaper on Friday, at the request of an Istanbul prosecutor.