ATHENS: Greece on Tuesday signed a maritime border accord with Italy on the Ionian Sea, settling sovereign rights under UN rules and aiming to bolster its hand in a territorial dispute with Turkey.

"Today is a good day for Greece, Italy, Europe and the entire Mediterranean," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a statement.

"I hope that agreements of this kind can be concluded with other countries in the area," he added.

Tuesday's agreement, which updates a 1977 accord, is part of diplomatic efforts by Athens in response to what it perceives as aggressive attempts at Turkish expansion in the Mediterranean.

Ankara last year signed a controversial agreement with Libya's UN-recognised government in Tripoli, which claimed extensive areas of the sea for Turkey. Analysts saw the move as part of a Turkish strategy to avoid exclusion from the gas exploration scramble in the region.

But Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said Tuesday: "Under international law, the delimitation of maritime zones is carried out through legal agreements, not baseless ones...and certainly not through the one-sided submission of coordinates."