Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said Turkey was ready to meet with Greece's leader to resolve the standoff over energy exploration in contested waters in the eastern Mediterranean.

The search for gas and oil in the region has sparked a row that has seen the two NATO neighbours stage rival air and navy drills in strategic waters between Cyprus and the Greek island of Crete.

At the centre of the Greece-Turkey row was Ankara's deployment last month of a seismic research vessel, the Oruc Reis, and an accompanying fleet of warships in disputed waters near the Greek island of Kastellorizo.

On Sunday the Oruc Reis seismic survey vessel returned to port for what Ankara called routine maintenance, a move Greece said was a positive first step in easing tensions.

"Let's give diplomacy a chance, let's put forth a positive approach for diplomacy. Greece should also positively meet this approach of ours, and let's take a step accordingly," Erdogan said in Istanbul after Friday prayers. "This is why we did it."

"But this does not mean that because Oruc Reis was pulled back for maintenance, our seismic activities will fully stop," he told reporters. "Once the maintenance period is finished, Oruc Reis will go back to its operations again and continue its work there."

Erdogan said he was ready to discuss the issue with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in person or via video conference.

Open to dialogue

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias in Prague on Friday said Greece believed "a dialogue should start and that international law should not be violated. Of course in this area nobody should try to prevail by force."

He added Greece was "always open to a dialogue with Turkey as regards coastal waters in the exclusive economic zone, provided that Turkey stops its provocative acts in the area."

Turkey's Yavuz drillship, meanwhile, will continue its search for oil and gas off Cyprus until October 12 despite international calls to withdraw.

Ankara's dispute with Athens has sparked a crisis that has drawn in some EU member states, particularly France, which sent navy vessels and fighter jets to the region in support of Greece.

EU leaders are due to discuss possible sanctions against Ankara at their meeting on September 24-25.

"We would like our partners and friends in the EU to draft a list of sanctions which should not be imposed on Turkey immediately but rather serve as an example of sanctions that could be imposed on Turkey if it doesn't stop its unlawful acts," Dendias said.

(With input from agencies)