A Turkish military patrol boat fired shots early Friday morning in the area around the eastern Aegean island of Farmakonisi, the Greek defense ministry said.

According to the ministry, Turkish authorities issued a Navtex on Thursday informing of a military exercise with live ammunition in the area east of Farmakonisi on Friday morning.

But the Greek defense ministry issued a Navtex rejecting the Turkish notification saying it was invalid because it covered Greek territorial waters.

The Greek gunboat Nikiforos was sent to the area to monitor the Turkish ship until it left the area.

The incident occurred after a recent flurry of Turkish violations of Greek airspace and increased tensions between Athens and Ankara, which were further fueled last month when the Greek Supreme Court refused to extradite eight Turkish servicemen to Turkey for their alleged role in the botched coup attempt in the neighboring country in July.

