Although one year has passed since Turkey and Armenia took a major step and signed protocols in Zurich to improve relations, they have both failed to approve them. Despite the official stalemate, civil society contacts and projects have been active on both sides of the closed border between the two countries.

Israel is sending a ship to Turkey on Monday with a large and noisy cargo on board. This shipment is part of a decades-long struggle, but one against nature: it aims to calm ties between the two countries while simultaneously saving Asian pachyderms from extinction.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said they wanted to open a new field in diplomacy called "Science Diplomacy"...We decided to establish "Science Diplomacy" to improve Turkey's scientific image and bring high technology to Turkey in a shorter period of time, Davutoglu stressed.

Etihad, national airline company of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has opened a new office in Turkey. According to a written statement issued on the issue on Wednesday, Etihad Airlines started to give services in June 2009 and the new office, opened in Besiktas district of Istanbul, showed the importance attached to Turkey.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul has joined world leaders in congratulating Armenia on the 19th anniversary of its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. President Serzh Sarkisian's press office did not publicize the text of the letter he received from Gul nor report any of its details, and there was no word of it on Gul's website.

Hundreds of Armenians gathered at the 10th-century Holy Cross Church near Van, a city close to Turkey's border with Iran, for the first religious service there since the mass killings of Armenians in 1915. The event, at a site considered sacred by many Armenians, was seen as a symbolic gesture by Turkey to mend relations with Armenia.

Energy diplomacy dominated proceedings at the two-day meeting of Turkic-speaking countries in Istanbul, even though members had ostensibly come to the conference to focus on fostering solidarity in the Turkic world...The energy ministers of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Turkey held three-way talks on Wednesday on the margins of the event about the Caspian region, natural gas pipelines and energy projects...

At the time these lines were being written, a very important basketball event was taking place in Turkey: the 2010 World Championship held by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). The tournament ended on Sunday, but as a basketball fan I will still say that, despite the outcome, there were two winners: Greece and Turkey.