Gul (L) congratulates the Turkish candidate (R)

By Sa’ad Abdul Majid, IOL Correspondent

ISTANBUL, June 16 (IslamOnline.net) - The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) elected Tuesday, June 15, Turkey's Ekmel Eddin Ihsanoglu as its new secretary general.

After a four-hour meeting, the senior representatives of the 56-member Islamic grouping decided on a voting to name the new chief after failing to reach a consensus.

Professor Ihsanoglu, a 61-year-old historian, received 32 votes against 12 each for the Malaysian and Bangladeshi candidates, becoming the first Turk to assume the prestigious post in 44 years.

"It is the first time that the OIC has voted in a secret ballot to elect its secretary general," Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said, describing it as a "sign of democratization."

"It is a new step for the OIC, a sign for the Muslim world," he added.

Ihsanoglu, who speaks fluent English and Arabic, was born and raised in Egypt. He graduated from the Faculty of Science, Ain Sham University, Egypt, in 1968.

After the death of his father, who had immigrated to Egypt and contributed to the opening of Turkish language departments in Egyptian universities, Ihsanoglu returned to Turkey.

He received his MP from Istanbul University and later traveled to Britain for his PhD.

In 1982 was appointed director general of the Istanbul-based OIC Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture.

Ihsanoglu, a father of three, will succeed Morocco's Abdel Wahed Belkeziz, whose four-year tenure expires at the end of this year.

The OIC secretary general cannot be elected for more than two consecutive terms. Four assistants are also elected with the secretary general.

Cyprus

The OIC foreign ministers opened their 31st meeting Monday, June 14, in Istanbul to tackle the Muslim world’s burning issues.

High on the agenda are the incessant Israeli aggressions on the Palestinians, the US occupation of Iraq, Cyprus, international terrorism and the US reform recipes.

The meeting concludes Wednesday, June 16.

Turkish political analysts told IslamOnline.net that Ankara, in winning the post, will seek Islamic and Arab recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

The analysts described Ihsanoglu’s winning stands as a "historic opportunity" to get the much-hoped Arab and Islamic recognition of TRNC.

Only Turkey and Pakistan recognize the TRNC which has otherwise been subject to international ostracism and sanctions ever since it was set up in 1983.

Separate referendums were held on April 24, in the two parts of Cyprus on a UN peace plan to reunite the Mediterranean island as a loose confederation of two ethnic zones. The Turkish Cypriot minority voted in favor.

But their rivals, the Greek Cypriot majority, voted overwhelmingly against, thus killing off the plan and with it hopes of Cyprus joining the EU as a united community.

The OIC was established in Rabat, Morocco, on 12 Rajab 1389H (25 September 1969) in the wake of the criminal arson perpetrated on 21 August 1969 by Zionist elements against Al-Aqsa Mosque, in Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem).

In March 1970, the first meeting for OIC foreign ministers was held in the Saudi city of Jeddah and set up a permanent General Secretariat, to ensure a liaison among member states and charged it to coordinate their action.

In the meeting, the top diplomats appointed a secretary general and chose Jeddah as the headquarters of the OIC, pending the liberation of Al-Quds, which would be the permanent host.