The NBA's Hedo Turkoglu and Peja Stojakovic of the Sacramento Kings are leading a group of Turkish and Greek basketball players serving as coaches for the second annual Basketball Without Borders in Istanbul, Turkey. The summer camp for 12- to 14-year-olds is designed to promote friendship and understanding through sport.

The inaugural Basketball Without Borders took place in July 2001 in Treviso, Italy, with Vlade Divac of the Sacramento Kings, Toni Kukoc of the Atlanta Hawks and five other NBA players from the former Yugoslavia uniting to work with 50 children from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYRO Macedonia, Slovenia and Yugoslavia.

Sacramento Kings All-Star Peja Stojakovic, a Yugoslavian who speaks fluent Greek, explains a drill to a group of players. Staton R. Winter/NBAE/Getty Images

This year's Basketball Without Borders brings together 50 young Greeks and Turks who were selected to participate on the basis of their basketball skills and leadership potential.

The coaches for the camp include some of the NBA's emerging stars. Stojakovic is originally from Yugoslavia but played professional basketball in Greece and is fluent in Greek. Turkoglu is a native of Turkey and a key member of the Turkish national basketball team. Antonis Fotsis of the Memphis Grizzlies is of Greek descent. Turkish international players Mirsad Turkcan (CSKA Moscow) and Ibrahim Kutluay (Panathinaikos BSA Athens) are also coaching at the camp. Each professional player has been assigned to one of the camp teams and is working with the children individually.

The camp's third day on Saturday, July 6 began with a basketball clinic teaching the basic fundamentals and ended the morning session with a skills and drills competition with the Pistons winning with 19 points. The skills events became quite competitive not only with the campers but the coaches as well. The Kings were a close second with 13 points, the Suns had 10 and the Grizzlies had seven points. The teams were a mix of both Greek and Turk players with NBA and professional European players acting as coaches

Turkgolu, the main host for the camp, hopes this will provide an example for the young players on building friendship through sport and not negative politics.

"The problem has always been politics," he said about problems between nations. "Since politics can affect sports, why can't sports affect politics? Hopefully, actions like this can help future of politics. Not just in the NBA, but other organizations can use sports in this way. This is a great way to begin friendship."

Ioannis Aviziotis, a 14-year-old from Greece, agreed. "This camp is great. I play well with other kids from my country and from Turkey. I'm very happy because I met a lot of kids and learned very much. Now, I know that Turkish kids play basketball very well."

Ioannis Damalis, another 14-year-old Greek teen, believes this will be an unforgettable experience for all the players involved: "This camp is very important for me. First of all, it's important to have new friends from Turkey and Greece. Then for me it will help me for my career as a basketball player. It will be an unforgettable souvenir for everyone."

"This camp is a good thing for the kids," Stojakovic said. "It's a great opportunity for us to come back to the countries we started playing basketball, and to reach the community and to try to make the kids understand what basketball is. This is the second time that the camp is organized by the NBA and the United Nations. The first was in Treviso and was very successful for the kids in Yugoslavia. I think this camp will have the same success. People are going to have more understanding of the situation between Greeks and Turks."

The afternoon featured a competitive match between the winners of Friday's games. On the main court, the Grizzlies defeated the Suns 57-56 and on the practice court the Kings defeated the Pistons 32-30.

"It's just great, " said Ahnet Aribogan, a 13 year-old from Turkey. "I can play basketball, learn many things about my favorite sport thanks to the NBA and to meet some new Greek and Turkish kids.

The winners will go on to play for the championship on Sunday afternoon. The morning game will feature the two runner-ups.

The Darussafaka Ayhan Sahenk facility in downtown Istanbul is hosting the event in conjunction with the Turkish and Hellenic Basketball Federations and the Fédération Internationale de Basketball (FIBA). Corporate co-sponsors include Sprite Turkey, Nike, Champion Europe, Garanti Bank of Turkey, Spalding, Olympic Airways and the Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation.