Turkey rejects Greece's demand to remove ships

Turkey said its research vessel, the Oruc Reis, will remain in waters that Greece regards as its territory until at least Nov 14, prolonging a territorial dispute between Ankara and Athens that first flared up in August.

Athens has called for the ship and two accompanying vessels, the Ataman and Cengiz Han, to be withdrawn immediately.

The vessels are reportedly probing the extent of oil and gas reserves south of the island of Kastellorizoin, waters Turkey insists it rightfully owns. The ships had originally been slated to remain in the area until Wednesday.

Greece and Turkey are both NATO allies but have fought against each other in the past and still have many territorial disputes.

Athens has said Ankara's hydrocarbon research mission in the Eastern Mediterranean is in contravention of international laws and amounts to "illegal conduct".

Greece's Foreign Ministry tweeted that Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias was keeping Athens' allies informed about the situation.

"This action only increases tensions in a vulnerable region where attention is currently focused on aid and support and solidarity (after Friday's earthquake in the region)," the foreign ministry wrote, referring to the quake that was centered close to the Turkish city of Izmir and has claimed at least 116 lives.

Cyprus and Greece have tried to resolve the dispute by seeking sanctions against Turkey during a meeting of European Union leaders on Oct 2. The bloc subsequently said it would sanction Turkey if it failed to withdraw its ships.

The EU recognizes the waters as belonging to Greece and said it would be illegal for Turkey to conduct drilling and energy exploration there.

Turkey has said any threat of sanctions was "unconstructive".

Athens then issued a statement in response to Ankara's announcement of an extension of the stay of Oruc Reis, saying: "These actions show once again that Turkey is continuing to act in defiance of the appeals of the international community."

The BBC noted that in a bid to mitigate the risk of accidental military escalation, Greece and Turkey agreed last month to set up a mechanism that includes a hotline between Athens and Ankara.