Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday joined calls for a boycott of French goods, ramping up a standoff between France and Muslim countries over Islam and freedom of speech.

The discovery in recent years of huge natural gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean has whetted the appetite of nearby countries but exacerbated geopolitical tensions between Turkey and its neighbours. 

Relations have been strained in recent months following Turkish exploration and drilling operations in waters claimed by both Cyprus and Greece. 

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades on Monday congratulated right-wing Turkish Cypriot nationalist Ersin Tatar on his election victory and called on him to back a new United Nations-led peace initiative.

Germany on Tuesday called on Turkey to end a "cycle of detente and provocation" in the Mediterranean, after Ankara's decision to redeploy a research ship at the centre of tensions with Greece over energy and maritime rights.

Greece on Monday condemned as a "direct threat to regional peace" Turkey's decision to send back to the eastern Mediterranean the research ship at the centre of tensions over energy rights.

Turkey announced plans late Sunday to send the research ship at the centre of an energy rights row with Greece to the eastern Mediterranean again, a move likely to reignite tensions with Athens.

NATO said on Wednesday there had been "good progress" in military talks between Greece and Turkey aimed at avoiding clashes in the eastern Mediterranean, the scene of a dispute over energy resources.

Turkey announced it would conduct a live fire naval exercise off the coast on Cyprus between Saturday and Monday despite the looming threat of EU sanctions.

Turkey on Saturday launched new military manoeuvres in the eastern Mediterranean expected to last two weeks, in a sign that heightened tensions between Ankara and Athens were likely to continue.

Human Rights Watch on Wednesday called on the Turkish government to investigate "serious abuses" allegedly committed by police and "nightwatchmen" against more than a dozen people in the southeast and in Istanbul.