OIC ‘Elects’ First Turkish Secretary-General

Turkey’s bold move paid dividends as their candidate, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, became OIC’s newest Secretary-General during the organization’s 31st Foreign Ministries Summit in Istanbul. Ihsanoglu’s victory also marks the first time Turkey has held the OIC Secretary-General position.

Turkey introduced the idea of electing the Secretary-General as talks to find a consensus among the candidate countries of Bangladesh, Malaysia and Turkey stalled. Ankara requested that the candidates first make 10-minute speeches about their prospective plans if they were assigned to the position. Following the speeches an election would be held.

The Bangladeshi and Malaysian candidates, who each won 12 votes, withdrew their candidacy when it became apparent that they could not challenge Ihsanoglu, who received 32 votes.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, who campaigned for Ihsanoglu night and day, said about the election, "Reforms and democratization start inside the Organization."

The goal of Turkey from now on is to make OIC more active and allow it to be a bridge between East and West.