Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, August 2009, pages 61-62
Muslim-American Activism
OIC Secretary-General Welcomes U.S.-Muslim World Cooperation
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IN A SPEECH before a crowd of international reporters at the National Press Club on June 23, Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu offered praise for President Barack Obama’s Cairo speech, calling it framework for cooperation.”
Ihsanoglu, the OIC’s first elected secretary-general and one of those in attendance at Obama’s address to the Muslim world, called the speech “historic” and said he was excited by the new president’s approach. “There should be a new beginning” for U.S. relations with the Muslim world, he agreed.
Of special significance to the OIC has been President Obama’s oft-repeated call for U.S.-Muslim relations to be based on “mutual interest and mutual respect.” Ihsanoglu reminded the audience that this phrase actually first appeared in an open letter to the president from the OIC published in The New York Times titled “Toward A New Partnership.” Obama’s adoption of the phrase, Ihsanoglu stated, “is an assurance that the new administration is attempting to establish relations on a strong basis.” He then reciprocated the president’s gestures by declaring, “OIC proposes to be an active partner” with the American government in issues affecting the U.S. and Muslim world.
After discussing the Cairo speech, the secretary-general proceeded to list the many issues the OIC sees as opportunities for cooperation with the United States. Most pressing were conflicts in areas such as Sudan, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan. “It is our duty to help...and work with international actors to stop these conflicts,” Ihsanoglu said, adding that past and current U.S. involvement in the region had made relations with the West “one of our biggest challenges.”
Offering a suggestion on how to end a potential arms race in the Muslim world and the Middle East specifically, Ihsanoglu described Obama’s call for a world without nuclear weapons as “a hint on how to deal with the nuclear issue,” as well as past experience.
“If you look to Kazakhstan,” he explained, “they had nuclear weapons...[but] they decided to have Central Asia be a nuclear-free zone. I think we can apply this to the Middle East.”
Other issues the OIC seeks to address include human rights and the fields of science and technology. Most recently, however, women’s issues have figured prominently into the OIC’s agenda. Ihsanoglu noted that his term has marked “the first time in the history of the OIC that women’s issues have been a main focus.” Citing the ban on hijab in France, he called the issue “unpleasant” in many countries for different reasons.
When asked about the strains between U.S.-Muslim relations under the Bush administration, Ihsanoglu mentioned “the Islamophobia campaign that has created a lot of tension between the two sides,” but he also pointed out that it was under President George W. Bush that the first U.S. envoy was sent to the OIC. Although President Obama has yet to name an envoy of his own, Ihsanoglu suggested this person would serve as “an open channel” between the two sides.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference represents 1.5 billion people in 57 countries, making it the largest international organization after the U.N. Celebrating its 40th anniversary, the OIC states that it serves as “the spokesman of the Muslim umma (community).”
—National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations Intern
