Turkish Candidate Ihsanoglu Becomes OIC Secretary General

ISTANBUL - Turkish candidate Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu became Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) on Tuesday.
A voting was held for the first time in the history of the Organization to elect the Secretary General of OIC under the 31st Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers in Istanbul.
Ihsanoglu was elected as the new Secretary General in the first tour.
Ihsanoglu received 32 votes, while candidates of Bangladesh and Malaysia received 12 votes each.
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu was born in 1943. He is married with three children. He is international officer, Turkish professor of history of science, member of numerous international academic institutions, experienced in organizing international symposia on history, art and culture. Ihsanoglu supported development of the art of calligraphy.
Designation:
- Director General of Islamic Conference Organization Research Center for Islamic History, Art, and Culture (IRCICA) Istanbul, Turkey, 1980.
- President of International Union of History and Philosophy of Science, (IUHPS/DHS) 2001.
- Secretary of the Islamic Conference Organization International Commission for the Preservation of Islamic Cultural Heritage (ICPICH), Istanbul, Turkey, 1983-2000.
- Vice Chairman of Al Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation, London, Britain, 1998.
- Founder and Chairman of Turkish Society for History of Science (TBTK), Istanbul, 1989.
Awards and Honors:
-``Commandeur de l`Ordre National du Merite`` conferred by the President of the Republic of Senegal, 2002.
- The World Prize for the Book of the Year, presented by H.E. President Seyed Mohammad Khatemi, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 2000.
- Dr.h.c. from Mimar Sinan University, Istanbul, Turkey 1994, Dowling College, Long Island, New York, U.S.A., 1996, Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan Republic, 2000, University of Sofia, Bulgaria 2001, University of Sarajevo, 2001.
- Medal of Distinguished State Service conferred on by the President of the Republic of Turkey, March 2000.
- ``Independence Medal of the First Order`` conferred by Crown Prince Hassan Bin Tallal of Jordan, 1996.
- Rewarded with the ``Certificate of Honor and Distinction`` by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, 1995.
- Received the medal of ``Distinction of the First Order`` from the President of Arab Republic of Egypt in 1990.
Ihsanoglu speaks English and Arabic fluently and has a working knowledge of French and Persian languages.
(GC-AÖ) 15.06.2004