Turkish police have detained four employees of the satirical magazine LeMan over a controversial cartoon which authorities claim depicted the Prophet Muhammad.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday condemned as a "vile provocation" a cartoon in a satirical magazine that appeared to depict Prophets Mohammad and Moses, amplifying an outcry by religious conservatives after the arrest of four cartoonists.

A Turkish court on Wednesday ordered the arrest of cartoonist Dogan Pehlevan and three others pending trial, after a drawing in their satirical magazine stirred outrage among religious conservatives and condemnation by President Tayyip Erdogan.