alone or by subrnission to a tribunal competent to exercisejurisdiction in the matter, either following upon negotiations or even in the absence of them." 31. Again, in the Turkish Ambassador's letter of 24 April 1978, the further argument is advanced that the dispute between Greece and Turkey is "of a highly political nature". But a dispute involving two States in respect of the delimitation of their continental shelf can hardly fail to have some political element and the present dispute is clearly one in which "the parties are in conflict as to their respective rights". Greece has asked the Court to pronounce on its submissions "in accordance with the . . . principles and rules of international law". Turkey, for its part, has invoked legal grounds in reply to the Greek claim, such as the existence of "special circumstances". It is clear from the submissions in the Greek Application and Memorial, as well as in the observations in the various Turkish diplomatic communications to Greece, that Greece and Turkey are in conflict as to the delimitation of the spatial extent of their sovereign rights over the continental shelf in the Aegean Sea. Thus there are certain sovereign rights being claimed by both Greece and Turkey, one against the other and it is manifest that legal rights lie at the root of the dispute that divides the two States. The Court therefore finds that a legal dispute exists between Greece and Turkey in respect of the continental shelf in the Aegean Sea. 32. The Court will now proceed to the consideration of its jurisdiction with respect to this dispute. In paragraph 32 of the Application the Greek Government has specified two bases on which it claims to found the jurisdiction of the Court in the present dispute. Although it is said in paragraph 3 of the Greek Memorial on the question of jurisdiction that these two bases "mutually strengthen each other", they are quite distinct and will therefore be examined separately. 33. The first basis of jurisdiction is formulated in paragraph 32 (1) of the Application as follows : "Article 17 of the General Act for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, 1928, read together with Articles 36 (1) and 37 of the Statute of the Court. Respectively on 14 September 1931 and 26 June 1934, Greece and Turkey acceded to this instrument, which is still in force for both of them. The texts of these accessions were accompanied by declarations which are irrelevant to the present case." 34. Article 17 of the General Act of 1928 forms part of Chapter II of the Act, entitled "Judicial Settlement", and reads as follows: