ATHENS — An independent Greek government committee decided on Saturday to grant political asylum to a Turkish officer who fled last year’s failed coup in his country. The decision provoked an immediate angry response from Turkey, and hours later the Greek prime minister’s administration moved to block it.

The officer was one of eight Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece in a military helicopter in July 2016 after the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, thwarted the attempted coup.

On Saturday, the Greek committee for asylum requests ruled in favor of granting the officer asylum after determining there was no evidence implicating him in the coup. It also said the human rights situation in Turkey raised questions about his safety should he return to his homeland.

The committee has yet to rule on the other seven, who have also applied for asylum.

The office of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras moved immediately to file an appeal against the decision, in an apparent effort to avoid further antagonizing Turkey. The committee’s decision put Mr. Tsipras in a difficult political position: While the prime minister has said that Greece does not support those involved in the coup, he has also voiced support for the independence of Greece’s judicial system.