A Turkish woman was detained after brandishing a shoebox in an anti-government protest over a sweeping graft probe that has ensnared allies of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, local media reported Monday.

The shoebox has become a symbol of the corruption scandal after police earlier this month found $4.5 million stashed in shoeboxes in the home of one of the suspects, the chief executive of Turkish state-owned Halkbank.

Turkey's embattled Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was to address a political rally on Saturday in a bid to muster support after a fresh round of protests demanding that he step down over a spiraling corruption scandal.

The conservative prime minister, who has dug in his heels over the crisis that has led to the resignation of three ministers, was to speak in the southern city of Manisa later Saturday.

The son of Turkey's prime minister will likely be the next target of a widening graft probe that led to a major cabinet reshuffle after three ministers resigned, Turkish media said Thursday.

Several newspapers said a bitter struggle between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his one-time ally turned opponent Fethullah Gulen was set to become more venomous as the corruption scandal inches closer to the premier's inner circle.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, rattled by a huge corruption scandal implicating some of his closest allies, is preparing a cabinet reshuffle, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Tuesday.

Gul said the premier, who is on an official visit to Pakistan, is expected to announce the reshuffle after he returns late Tuesday.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is planning a major cabinet reshuffle amid mounting tensions over an anti-graft probe that has touched the heart of the government, local media reported.

Erdogan, who was already expected to reshuffle his cabinet ahead of local elections on March 30, is expected to replace 10 ministers by the end of the month, the Hurriyet newspaper reported.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Saturday warned he may expel some foreign ambassadors over "provocative actions", amid mounting tensions over an anti-graft probe that has ensnared government allies.

"Some ambassadors are engaged in provocative actions... Do your job," Erdogan said in televised remarks in the Black Sea city of Samsun. "We don't have to keep you in our country."

Istanbul prosecutors Friday began charging some of the prime minister's closest allies in a huge graft scandal which he has responded to with a spectacular purge of the police.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he was battling "a state within a state" and described the corruption probe, which comes ahead of crucial March polls, as a smear operation.

A sweeping corruption investigation implicating some of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's closest allies is threatening to weaken his grip on power ahead of key elections next year.

At least 51 people including the sons of three ministers and several top business leaders were detained in a series of dawn raids on Tuesday, in the biggest investigation into official corruption since Erdogan took office in 2002.

The Istanbul police chief has been dismissed after dozens of people including the sons of cabinet ministers were detained in a sweeping graft probe, media reports said Thursday.

Huseyin Capkin, who had been at his post since June 2009, is the latest of 30 senior police officers to be sacked in Istanbul and Ankara for "abusing their power".

Five Turkish police chiefs have been dismissed after dozens of people including sons of cabinet ministers were detained in a high-profile probe into bribery and fraud, media reports said Wednesday.

The police raids on Tuesday and the subsequent sackings have highlighted deep rifts in Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's support base ahead of key elections in Turkey next year.