Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says Turkey and Greece have agreed to settle tensions through dialogue, a day after a Greek coast guard vessel was damaged in a collision with a Turkish patrol boat in the Aegean Sea.

Yildirim said he told Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in a late Tuesday telephone call that Greece must refrain from acts that strain ties, adding that the Aegean should be a "sea of friendship."

He said: "We have reached an agreement that as of now (tensions) are settled politically and diplomatically in a more calm way, through mutual understanding and with the channels of dialogue constantly open."

Yildirim said the Greek and Turkish military chiefs would meet on the margins of a NATO meeting in Brussels in May.