A prominent Dutch journalist who branded Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan a "dictator" has been detained by Turkish police while on holiday.

Columnist Ebru Umar was reportedly held overnight on Saturday and told that she was not allowed to leave the country after being released today.

Umar, who is of Turkish descent , publicly criticised Erdogan for clamping down on dissent in the free Metro newspaper last week and called him a "dictator" after the Turkish consular office called for Turks in the Netherlands to report incidents of insults against him. This call was later withdrawn.

The outspoken journalist's detention was confirmed by officials after she posted details of her detention on Twitter after she was taken to a police station in Kusadasi, a resort town on Turkey's Aegean coast.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he had spoken with Umar after her arrest, according to Reuters, and a Dutch foreign ministry spokesman told them they were "following the situation closely" and "were in contact with her".

Umar's detention comes just over a week after Turkey requested permission from Germany for the possible prosecution of a comedian who wrote a crude poem about the Turkish president.