IOC head İhsanoğlu to address a conference in Turkey after row with gov’t

ANKARA

İhsanoğlu is among speakers of the “International Conference on Islamophobia: Law and Media” to take place in Istanbul on Sept. 12 and 13.

A conference on Islamophobia to take place in Istanbul will put Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, the chief of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) back on the stage in Turkey following a row between him and senior government officials.

İhsanoğlu is among speakers of the “International Conference on Islamophobia: Law and Media” to take place in Istanbul on Sept. 12 and 13. He will make the opening speeches of the conference along with Directory General of Directorate General of Press and Information Murat Karakaya and Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç.

The conference follows strong-worded criticisms from senior ruling party officials against İhsanoğlu for the inaction of the secretary-general and his institution in the face of the coup d’état in Egypt. Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ called on İhsanoğlu to resign from his position while deputy leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) Hüseyin Çelik slammed the OIC chief, saying, “Is there anybody who knows what İhsanoğlu is doing?”

It has been revealed that the reaction against İhsanoğlu was in fact a sort of road accident caused by a communication problem between foreign policy decision makers and the rest of the party officials.

The conference, to be held in Istanbul, will bring world-renowned experts together including John L. Esposito, Norman Gary Finkelstein, Marwan Mohammed, Nathan Lean, Saied Reza Ameli, Halim Rane, Stephen Sheehi and Ibrahim Salama.