III-~GEAN SEA
CONv['\ l<NT1! 1.SI-El>FC/\SE REQUEST FORTHE INDICATION
OF INTERIM Mk~ASLJRKSOF PROTECTION
SCJISMIrrTil;DIIYTI-IEGOVE:RNMENT
OF GREECE
DEMANDE EN INDICATION
DE:MESURES CONSERVATOIRES
PKÉSENTCE PAR LE GOUVERNEMENT
Di.:LA GRÈCE 1. 1 have the hoiioiir t0 refcr to thc Application datcd today, 10 :\iigiist
1970, by ~vliichGreccc lias institiited procccdings against Turkey relative to
the coiitincrital shclf appcr-taining to ccrtiiiriGreek islatids in the Acgcan Sea ;
and hcrcby to subriiit, iriconforrnity with ;lrticle 33of the Gencral Act for the
PricificSctllcrricnt of 1nterriatiori:tl 1)ispiitcs. 1928. Article 41 of the Statutc
of the Court and ~lrticlc 60 of the Rulcs of Court, a reqiiest for the layirig
dowri or iridication by the Coiirt of provisional rneasures of protection for tlic
prescrvation of the rigtits cif Greece periding the firial decision in (or
alterriativcly "outcotiic of') thcsc procccdings.
2. 'l'iic Sollowirig arc tlie riglits wliicii Grcccc submits are entitlcd to
protection :
(il'Thcsovcrcipn rights of Greccc for the purposc of rcsearching. csplorinp
i~ridesploitirip the coritiriciita1stielf appcrtiiiriing to Grccce and adjiiccrit
to [tic islands of Sarnothrace, 1,inirios. Aghios Eustratios. Lesbos, Chios
I'sura. rl~itipsara. Srirnos, 1karia arid al1 the islands of the Dodccancsc
group (13atinc~s1 ..er.o~.Kalimiios. Kos, Astypalaia. Nisiros, Tilos, Sirni.
C'halki, Kliodcs, Karpathos, etc.), hcreiriafter called the islarids. wtiich
rights arc crclusive il1 tlie sense that if Greece does not undertakt
rcscarçli on the coritincntal shclf or explore it or esploit its natural
resourccs, no-unc nia- undertakc these activities, or make a claini to the
said curititicrit:ilshclf. \vithoiit the express consent of Cireece.
(ii) The right of Greccc to the pcrforniance by Turkey of its undcrtakings
coiitained iri Article 2. paragraph 4. and Article 33 of the Charter of the
[iriitcdK:itioiis iiiid iri Article 33 of the Gericral Act for Pacific Settlcrricnt
of Iritcr~iutiorial 1)isplitcs to libstiiiri I'roriial1 rncasurcs likcly to rciict
prcjiidicially irpori the escciitioii of iiriy judicial decisiori givcn in tlicsc
procccdings and to abst~iinfr-omanv sort of action whatsoever ~vhich
niay aggravate or cstcnd the present dispute bctwcen Greece and Tiirkey.
(iii) Al1 rights appcrtainirig to Grcece undcr or in consequence of thc firiri1
dccisiori of thc Court in the prcserit proccedings.
3. I'hc following arc aniorigst the principal corisidcrations thrit justify thc
present Kequcst :
(il1-ticGrcek Application. rcferrcd to in paragraph 1above, discloses :
(rr) frictsrelating to thc grarit by Turkcy of exploration licences in respect
of thc arcas of the contiiierital shclf which Grcecc claims to appertairi
to Grcece ;
fh) exploration activity undcr-taken by 'Turkey or under licence froni
-1'iirkeyin respect of the siid arcas, and
(c.) the fiict that the Tiirkish Governmerit has taken measurcs of a
riiilitary ch:iractcr \sith a vicw to cnsiirinp the protection of thc
Sisrrrik / \\.hile it is opcr:ttiiig illcgiilly upon the continental shclf of'
(J1CCCC.64 ALGEAI\('SEA
(ii) Such grants of exploration licences and such exploration activity must (ri O n 7 August the Grcck Govcrnnicnt addrmsed a Notc to the Tiirkish
tend to anticipate the judgment of the Court ;and, if such judgmcnt wcrc Govcrnriicnt in which it protestcd against tlic violation of its lcgal rights,
given in favour of Greece, would deprive Greece of the full bcncfit rcqiiested that thc latter takc al1 ncccssiirv nieasurcs to cnsurc that this
thereof, inasmuch as licensing and exploration is intended to 'provide violation would riot rccur. in the fiitusc and rcserved al1 its rights under
information which properly concerns only theStatc exercising sovcreign intcrriational law. On 8 Aiigiist 1 Y76 the Turkish Government rcjccted the
rights over the continental shelf in question, in ordcr to criable it to Grcck protest ivhich it "dccriicd dcvoid of riiiv bases and totally unacccp-
formulate its policy respecting this area and the cxercisc of such rights, table". It also statcd that thc "rcscarch activitics shoiild be carried oiit in
which it alone is entitled to do. accordancc with thc cstablishcd prograninic".
(c')011 7 aiid 8 August 1970 the -1'urkisIirescarch vesscl cscortcd by a
A State's rights to exploration of its continental shelf arc excliisivc and, if I'iirkisli niiricswecpcr nrid. ititcrniittcntly. by Turkish aircraft, continucd its
exploration is undertaken by another Statc. not only is this csclusivity esploratiori of ttic Grcck conti~icnial shclf in an area corripriscd ulithin the
destroyed but the damage causcd is irreparable. The loss of cxclu~ivccontrol 1Ollowingco-ordiriatcs :
by the State over the dissemination of information regarding the rcsourccs of
areas of its continental shelf will cause irremediablc harrn to its intcrcst iri I~ititiide 29 25 North - 1,ongitiidc 25 54 East
controlling and developing future exploration in the intcrcsts of the State. 29 22.5 .. - ,, 25 47.2 .,
,, 3920 .. 25 40 ,,
(iii) Such licensing and exploratiori activities, if continucd during the course ,, 3920.7 .. - 25 37 ,,
of the proceedings, would aggravate the dispute. prejudicc the niain- .. 39 25.8 .. - ,, 25 32.6 ..
tenance of friendly relations between Grecce and Turkcy, iri piIr- , 3934 ., - .. 25 25.2 ..
ticular by a further dangerous exacerbation of public feelingsand lead to ,, 39 40 .. - 25 22.5 ,,
military measures or actions which may endangcr international pcacc .. 39 40 ,, - .. 25 27.2 ,,
and security. .. 3930.7 .. - 25 33.5 ,,
39 22.2 ,, - 25 33.7 ,,
4. (a) On 21July 1976 and again on 23 July 1976 the Grcck Arnbassador 39 22.5 ,, - ,, 25 41.3 ,,
in Ankara conveyed to the Turkish Foreign Ministcr, in rnost explicit ternis. * 39 34.5 ,, - . 2536 ,,
the graveconcern of the Greek Government over the infringcmcnt of the Icgal , 39 32.5 ., - .. 25 28.5 ,,
rights of Greece by way of an eventual exploration without its conscrit of the
continental shelf in the Aegean Sea appertaining to Greccc. He also pointcd .. 39 42 .. - ,, 25 32.2 ,,
out the prejudicial effectsof such exploratory activity on the relations bctwccri 39 20.6 ,, - 25 43.5 ,,
the two countries and, more generally, on the situation in the Acgcan. ,. 39 24.9 ,, - . 2548 ,,
,, 39 27.4 ,, .. 25 48.2 .,
(b) In an effort to prevent these undesirable devclopt~ients thc Grcck (11 011 O rluglist ttie Grcck Govcrnnicnt sent a Notc to the Tiirkish
Government considered certain oral assurances givcri to the Grcck Ani- C;ovcrnniciit itidicati~ip thiit :
bassador in Ankara by the Turkish Foreign Ministcr. with a vicw to cri- 1. it coiild nut iicccpt the proiirids for the rcjcctiori of its protest ;
suring that the researchcs made by the vesse1 Sislllik 1 would bc piircly II. the illcgrilexploration of ttic Grcck continental shclf continucd as sct forth
scientific, and would in no case encroach upon the sovereign rights of Grcecc
on her continental shelf. However, before beirig apprizcd of the final vicws of abovc ;and
the GreekGovernment, the Turkish Foreign Minister, who had not sparcd ttic Il1. tlic ~~iiliti~rcyscort pr-c,i:idcdto the Tiirkisli rcsear-chvcsscl rcndcrcd the
time to receive the Greek Ambassador previously, made a public statcnicnt circ.iinist:iricc of thc ~.iol;ition 01'its soifcrcigti rigtits particularly ag-
over the Turkish radio and television system, which by its vcry natiirc gi-ii~;iiinp.
effectively terminated these deliberations. .I'tieGrcek Govcrririicrit Ivdgcda solenln and vigoroiis protcst agairist thcsc
(c) On 6 August 1976,asof 19.45hours. the ~urkish rcscarcti vcsscl Mru- ;ictioris, rcqiicstcd tlic ï'iirkish (;ovcriin~cnt to ccasc thcse activitics arid
Sismik 1 was observed engaging in seismic exploration of an arca of ttie rcfriiin Srciriiiny iilterior provocative action, and reitcratcd the rcscrvation of
continental shelf of the Aegean appertaining to Grecce arid compriscd within its Icgal rights ori thc coritincrital shclf of the Acpcan Sca appertaining to
the following CO-ordinates : (;rccce. 'I'hc tests of ttic Tiirkish Forcign 31inister's public stateriicrit
mcritioried iri subpiiragrapli (11);ihovc. of ttic Grcck Govcrnrncnt's protcst
Latitude 39 26.5 North - Longitude 25 50.51 East
,, 39 25 ,, - ,, 25 48 ,, datcd 7 :liigiist 1976 and of the 'furkish Notc dated Y August. nicntio~icd iri
,, 39 22 ,, - ,, 25 45 ,. siibparagraph ((1)above. of tlic Grcck Sotc dated 9 Aiigust 1976 and thc
,, 39 23 ,, - ,, 25 44 ,, A.leriiorriridiiritihcrciri rcfcrrecito.alid nddrcsscd bv the Grcek Enibassy to tlic
- ,, 25 45 ,, Turkisti Forcigri Xlinistry ori 24 hlarch 1970, mentioncd in subparrigraph fl
,, 39 26 ,, - abovc. appeiir iii~liincs VIII. of the :lpplicariun Institiiting Procecdings.
,, 39 28 ,, - ,, 25 44 ,,
)y 3930 ,, ., 25 43 ,, 7-hc l~.~trc,t~ (~c,~~~~~co**11t0 Rcl(i~/c.st
Seismic exploration of the Greek continental shclf ceriscd on 7 August iit 5. 111:itfdition to ttic fr1c.ttilitlicir \:Cr?piirposc constitiitcs riviolntiori of
00.30 hours. (tic sovcrcigii riptits of (;rcccc. thc csploriitic~n activitics of Turkcy isiili 66 AEGEAN SEA
respect to the continental shelf of Greece are accompanied by measurcs of a
military character which also per se constitute a threat to the peacc of the
region. For its piirt, Greece is obliged in response to these measures to place its
own forces in a state of readiness and to send naval units to the arca of
operations of the Sistnik I to maintain survcillance not only of this ship but
also of the Turkish naval and air units which are in contact with the ship for
the purpose of protecting it in its illegal activities. In consequence. sizcable
armed forces of both countries are facing each other throiighout this period of
Turkish exploration with al1 the dangers that such a situation cntails. The
above-mentioned circumstances impress the present request with special
urgency.
In the light of the foregoing consideratioris, Greccc submits that this is a
proper and necessary case for the Court to esercise its power to Iiiydown or
indicate provisional measures of protection iriorder to prescrve the rcspcctivc
rights of the Parties pending the final outcome of the procecdings.
Greece accortlingly requests the Court to direct that the Govcrrirnents of
both Greece anclTurkey shall :
(1) unless with the consent of each other and pending the final judgnierit of
theCourt in this case, refrain from al1exploration activity or any scicntific
research, with respect to the continental shelf areas within which Turkey
has granted such licences or permits or adjacent to the Islands. or
otherwise in dispute in the present case ;
(2) refrain froni taking further military measures or actions whicti maÿ
endanger their peaceful relations.
, (Sigtlcd) Nicolas KAK:\NI)K~:~\s.
The Hague, 10 August 1976.
Request for the indication of Interim Measures of Protection submitted by the Government of Greece