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| OIC Secretary General Ihsanoglu says mutual understanding is necessary condition for enhanced US-Islamic world relationships |  | | Al-jazeerah - 4/12/2011 | | Ihsanoglu Calls for a Constructive Partnership Between the USA and Muslim World
The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, participated in the 2011 US – Islamic World Forum organized by the Saban Center of the Brookings Institute in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, 12 April 2011. He discussed the need to boost mutual relationships between the Muslim world and the United States, and stated that President Barrack Obama's speech which he delivered in Cairo in June 2009 was a landmark address wherein he reached out to the Muslim world seeking a new beginning for a relationship based on mutual interest and mutual respect. However, he also emphasized on the need to have mutual understanding which is a necessary condition to achieve the desired objective.
Ihsanoglu pointed out to the profound transformation taking place in some parts of the Muslim world and noted that the people must be afforded the opportunity to translate their aspirations into the necessary political will to find home-grown solutions to their problems. He also raised the problems faced by Muslims in the West and noted that the growing anti Islamic feeling in the West is a contemporary manifestation of racism and must be addressed in that context, adding that Muslims have been subjected to various forms of scrutiny, suspicion and negative stereotyping in the entire Western world. Ihsanoglu called for dialogue, structured and sustained engagement to address the whole range of similar issues. In this context, he underscored the role of the OIC, which is driven by its vision of moderation and modernization, and underlined that the OIC is engaged in implementing a diverse agenda including Human Rights, Good Governance and cultural diplomacy as stated in the Organization's Ten Year Programme of Action.
The Secretary General expressed his hope that the 2011 US – Islamic World Forum will come out with concrete recommendations for closer relations between the USA and the Islamic World. He presented some proposals for consideration by the Forum, which included a call for a constructive partnership between the USA and Muslim world; giving prevalence for the Middle East Peace process in US-Muslim world relations; proactive role by the USA in OIC countries' initiatives such as fostering result-oriented dialogue for peace and tolerance; and working towards abandoning double standards and discriminatory practices like racial profiling.
It is important to mention that the OIC Secretary General, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, wrote an open letter to President Obama on the day of his inauguration, which was published on the New York Times and International Herald Tribune newspapers, calling for partnership to enhance relations between the Muslim world and the USA based on understanding and mutual interest.
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