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).

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.

[edit] 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."^[1]