Greek and Turkish warships were involved Sunday in a brief faceoff near a group of disputed Greek islets in the Aegean, coinciding with renewed tensions between Athens and Ankara.

The Greek defence ministry said a Turkish navy missile boat, "along with two special forces rafts," entered Greek territorial waters near the Imia islets.

Located just off the Turkish coast and claimed by Ankara, the unhabited rocky specks are an historic flarepoint in a long-running demarcation dispute.

Greek coastguard vessels and a navy gunboat shadowed the Turkish group, notifying them of the violation, and the Turks left the area after about seven minutes, it said.

In Turkey, the local media initially reported that the Turkish warship -- with Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar onboard -- was blocked by Greece from approaching the islets.

The private Dogan news agency reported that there were "tense moments" for half an hour before the Turkish ship returned to the Turkish peninsula of Bodrum.

But Turkish armed forces, quoted by the state-run news agency Anadolu, denied that the ship had been blocked, and said a small Greek coastguard vessel had watched from afar.

It added that General Akar was onboard the ship to "review and inspect" Turkish vessels in the Aegean.

The Imia islets -- called Kardak in Turkey -- lie just seven kilometres (4.5 miles) from Bodrum.

A row over their sovereignty islets flared in January 1996, when the two countries sent marines to two neighbouring islands in a sign of an imminent armed confrontation.

They then withdrew their troops after heavy diplomatic pressure by the United States, a fellow member of NATO.

Sunday's incident comes amid fresh tension between the two countries, after the Greek Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the extradition of eight former army officers who had fled to Greece after the failed July 15 coup.

Turkey lashed the ruling as "political" and threatened to scrap a "readmission agreement" under which Turkey has been taking in migrants landing illegally in Greece.

Turkish NATO soldiers seek asylum in Germany: report
Frankfurt Am Main (AFP) Jan 28, 2017 - Several dozen Turkish soldiers assigned to NATO have sought asylum in Germany, a media report said Saturday, quoting officers who said they fear jail and possibly torture back home.

Around 43,000 people are under arrest in Turkey on charges or links to last year's failed military coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"About 40 Turkish troops, mostly of high rank and stationed in NATO bases, applied for asylum in Germany," Der Spiegel magazine and the ARD television station said in a joint report.

One officer, who insisted he had no connection to the coup attempt or sympathy for those behind it, was quoted as saying: "If I return to Turkey I risk imprisonment, or perhaps torture."

The report quoted Germany's interior ministry and Office for Migrants and Refugees as saying the soldiers would be treated no differently as other people who apply for asylum.

Turkey has been vital to European Union (EU) plans to stop the mass flow of migrants from the Middle East and Africa into the bloc, especially to Germany.

Relations between Ankara and Berlin deteriorated in the aftermath of the attempt to topple Erdogan but German Chancellor Angela Merkel is planning to visit Turkey on February 2.

The German government has expressed alarm about the crackdown on alleged plotters linked to the coup while Turkey has criticised Berlin for failure to extradite alleged terror suspects.

Turkey blames the coup effort on US based preacher Fethullah Gulen. He denies the charges.

Around three million Turkish people live in Germany.