Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu

Prof. Dr. Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu (born 1943) is a Turkish science historian and currently the Secretary-General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the second largest public international organisation after the United Nations.

İhsanoğlu was born in Cairo, Egypt, where he later studied science at the Ain Shams University, receiving his BSc in 1966. He obtained his MSc in 1970 from the same university and his PhD from the Faculty of Science at the Ankara University in 1974.

He was founder and chairman of the Department of History of Science at the Faculty of Letters of Istanbul University from 1984 to 2000. His special interest focuses on culture and scholarship in the Islamic world. He was lecturer and visiting professor at various universities like University of Exeter, United Kingdom (1975-1977), Ankara University, Faculty of Science (1970-1980), Inönü University, Malatya (1978-1980), Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Germany (2003).

He is one of the signatories of A Common Word, an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders, calling for peace and understanding.

Visit to Egypt

İhsanoğlu visited Egypt on February 7, 2007, meeting with President Hosni Mubarak, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, and Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. State-run news network MENA interviewed İhsanoğlu, asking him about the Occupation of Iraq. He said, "What is going on in Iraq is first and foremost a political strife, of which all disputing parties will come out losing." [http://english.people.com.cn/200702/07/eng20070207_348110.html OIC chief calls for halt of violence in Iraq] People's Daily Online]

Honorary doctorates

*1994 Mimar Sinan University, Istanbul, Turkey
*1996 Dowling College, Long Island, New York, U.S.
*2000 Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan
*2001 University of Sofia, Bulgaria
*2001 University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
*2004 Tatarstan Academy of Science
*2006 University of Padua, Italy
*2007 University of Exeter, United Kingdom

Advocacy of dialogue

Dr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu delivered a speech at the University of Oxford stating that the time has come to achieve historic reconciliation between Islam and Christianity. In an interview with al-Sharq al-Awsat, he indicated that there are millions of Muslims of European origins in addition to millions of Muslims who have obtained European citizenship and participate in public life. Islam has also made great contributions to European civilization. Ihsanoglu warned against using freedom of expression to offend Islam [Al-Sharq al-Awsat, May 2, 2008 and Arab-West Report (AWR), [http://www.arabwestreport.info 2008, week 18, art. 54] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.oic-oci.org/ OIC official website]
* [http://www.oic-oci.org/oicnew/page_detail.asp?p_id=58 Curriculum Vitae]