Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is being battered on all fronts, with fresh street protests and party resignations pushing his country's currency to a record low.
Police fired water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of anti-government demonstrators in both Ankara and Istanbul who had been calling for the government to step down over a bribery scandal.
In Istanbul, some protesters shot fireworks at police.
At least two protesters were hurt when police responded with tear gas.
Some of the 700 protesters who had gathered in a central square in Ankara had held up shoe boxes in reference to images of boxes stuffed with millions of dollars found in the home of one corruption probe suspect, the head of state-controlled bank Halkbank.
Erdogan, though, was ignoring the demands to step down.
On Friday he reiterated that the corruption probe, which has brought down part of his cabinet and resulted in the arrests of business allies to his government, was a "smear campaign" mounted by obscure international forces.
"Those who call it a corruption inquiry are corrupt themselves," he told a large crowd of his supporters as he returned to Istanbul from a political rally in the northwest.
Erdogan also lashed out at politicians who have quit his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) because of the scandal, saying they have "betrayed us along our journey".
Earlier on Friday, another three politicians quit the AKP. One of them, former culture minister Ertugrul Gunay, said the party was being directed by "arrogance".
The political fall-out was having economic repercussions, dealing a bad blow to the premier who has overseen a decade of growth.
Turkey's lira fell to 2.1492 against the US dollar at Friday's close, a record low after days of losses. The Istanbul stock market also dropped by 1.04 per cent to 63,885.22 points.
"The unfolding political crisis has upset the balances," economist Erdal Saglam told AFP.
"If this political earthquake with economic ramifications lasts a long time, serious problems might emerge in macro-economic indicators including growth, inflation and the current account deficit," he said.
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