Dion Nissenbaum, 49 years old, was held for 2½ days this past week and wasn't permitted contact with his family or attorneys before his release. He and his family arrived in San Francisco on Saturday evening.
Police took Mr. Nissenbaum from his Istanbul apartment on Tuesday evening. He was released from a detention center on Friday morning.
A person familiar with the matter said he was held for allegedly violating a government ban on publication of images from an Islamic State video.
"While we are relieved that Dion was released unharmed after nearly three days, we remain outraged at his peremptory detention, without any contact with his family, legal counsel or colleagues," said Gerard Baker, editor in chief of the Journal.
Mr. Nissenbaum's detention came amid a broader crackdown on press freedom in Turkey, where dozens of reporters, mainly Turkish, are behind bars. The Turkish government has imposed a state of emergency and since the summer has closed more than 100 domestic media outlets.
"It was the fear of the unknown that sits with you all day, wondering how long you're going to be in there, and the fact that I was held incommunicado," Mr. Nissenbaum said Saturday evening, speaking by phone upon his return to the U.S.
While in custody, Mr. Nissenbaum, a U.S. citizen, was denied access to lawyers despite repeated requests, he said. He also wasn't allowed to contact his family or his employer. Mr. Nissenbaum said authorities told him he was under investigation, but they declined to say for what.
Turkish officials contacted Saturday didn't respond to requests for comment.
Fresh details of Mr. Nissenbaum's captivity emerged Saturday upon his return to the U.S.
He was strip-searched upon his arrival to the prison and officials confiscated all of his belongings, he said late Saturday.
Plainclothes police told Mr. Nissenbaum when they detained him that he would be deported, according to Mr. Nissenbaum and a Journal staff member who was on the phone with him at the time. Police took Mr. Nissenbaum's phone and led him away, leaving his wife and their seven-month-old child behind.
On the first night in police custody, Mr. Nissenbaum said, authorities asked him to sign a document written in Turkish. The document showed his Twitter handle and some personal information, he said.
Mr. Nissenbaum said he declined to sign the document, insisting on an English translation.
Police then told Mr. Nissenbaum that he didn't have to sign anything, he said.
Mr. Nissenbaum was taken to a detention facility for foreigners outside of Istanbul. He said he was held much of the time in solitary confinement in the basement of the detention center in a room with no toilet and a boarded-up window.
He could only tell the time of day by hearing the call to prayer and observing slivers of light that passed through the boards over the window, he said.
"It was psychologically draining to not know whether I was going to be there three days, three months or three years,"Mr. Nissenbaum said.
For two days, the Journal couldn't determine Mr. Nissenbaum's location. A person familiar with the situation said an administrative deportation order had been issued against him for allegedly violating the media ban. But the Journal's representatives didn't have access to documents about the case.
Late Thursday, the Journal confirmed Mr. Nissenbaum's location and was told by people familiar with the situation that it should be ready to pick him up the following morning. He was released shortly after 10 a.m., without receiving any deportation order.
Mr. Nissenbaum said his treatment slightly improved on the second day, when one official at the prison would allow him occasional breaks from isolation and gave him an English-language book about Mexico and a notebook to write in.
In 2005, Mr. Nissenbaum was kidnapped by Palestinian gunmen on the Gaza Strip. He was held alongside a photographer for less than a day.
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