regards the continental shelf of the Aegean Sea by the International
Court at The Hague. They defined the general lines on the basis of
which the forthcoming meetings of the representatives of the two
Govemments would take place.
In that connection they decided to bring fonvard the date of the
meeting of experts concerning the question of the continental shelf of
the Aegean Sea and that of the experts on the question of air
space."
98. In presenting the Communiqué as constituting a definitive agreement between the Prime Ministers to submit the present dispute to the
Court, the Greek Govemment places particular emphasis on the word
"décidé" and the words "doivent être résolus" in the original-French- text
of the second paragraph. These words, it says, are words of "decision" and
of "obligation" indicative of a mutual commitment on the part of the
Prime Ministers torefer the dispute to the Court. Specifically, it claims that
the "agreement" embodied in the Communiqué "is more than an undertaking to negotiate" and directly "confers jurisdiction on the Court"
(Memorial, Part 2, Section III, Heading A). It likewise claims that the
Communiqué "comrnits the parties to conclude any implementing agreement needed for the performance of the obligation" (ibid, Heading B), and
that the refusal by one party to conclude such an agreement "permits the
other party to seise the Court unilaterally" (ibid, Heading C). In its view,
moreover, no implementing agreement is required by the Communiqué
which, it says, "enables the parties to resort to the Court by Application no
less than by special agreement" (ibid., Heading D). Finally, if it is considered that "a complementary agreement is a legal prerequisite for seisin of
the Court", it maintains that "the two parties are under obligation to
negotiate in good faith the conclusion of such an agreement" (ibid., Heading E).
99. The Turkish Government, in the observations transmitted to the
Court on 25 August 1976, not only denies that the Communiqué constitutes "an agreement under international law" (para. 15)but also maintains
that in any event the two Governments cannot be said to have thereby
"jointly and severally accepted the jurisdiction of the Court in the present
matter" when they have never agreed on the scope of the "matter" to be
subrnitted to the Court (para. 14). Examination of the text, it maintains,
shows that the intention was quite different, and that the Communiqué
was "far from amounting to agreement by one State to submit to the
jurisdiction of the Court upon the unilateral application of the other State"
(ibid.). According to the Government of Turkey:
". . . it is clear that there was no commitment to submit to the Court
without a special agreement because the following paragraph said in
this connection that the two Prime Ministers had decided to accelerate
the meeting of the experts concerning the question of the continental
shelf of the Aegean Sea" (ibid.).