Islamic Cooperation chief,   Ihsanoglu to visit Suriname

Friday in New York, Suriname‘s UN   Ambassador, Henry Macdonald met with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s   (OIC) Ambassador to the UN, Mr. U*** Gokcen, to follow up on a meeting that was held between the OIC   Secretary General , Mr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu and the Foreign Minister of   Suriname, Mr. Lackin, at the   sidelines of the 67^th United Nations General Assembly a few weeks   ago. Mr. Henry MacDonald on behalf of the President of Suriname, Desire   Bouterse, officially invited Dr. Ihsanoglu to visit Suriname.

According to MacDonald the visit will most likely take place in   February 2013 but the details are yet to be flesh out between Paramaribo and officials   at the OIC Secretariat.

Next   week, Mr. Gokcen will meet with Guyana's UN ambassador, Mr. George Talbot to   express the desire of Dr. Ihsanoglu to combine Guyana with his planned visit to Suriname.  Guyana is yet to formally invite   Dr. Ihsanoglu for an official visit since becoming a member of the OIC in   1998. Suriname joined the OIC in   1996.   This will be the   first visit by an OIC secretary general to both Guyana and Suriname.  

Both   Guyana and Suriname hasn’t been active   participant at OIC forums. Guyana hasn’t paid its due for over   a decade and that has been an embracing issue for Guyanese diplomats attending   OIC meetings. Guyana is yet to appoint a   permanent envoy to the OIC. But Ihsanoglu is keen to forge stronger ties   between Suriname,   Guyana and the OIC   especially since Bouterse came to power in Suriname and has promised stronger OIC ties   according to Suriname’s Foreign Minister Winston   Lackin. Suriname recently cleared all backed up   membership dues to the OIC and Paramaribo has instructed all its diplomats   to advance bilateral and multilateral ties with the international community in   an effort to attract foreign direct investment.

Born into a Turkish   family in Cairo, Egypt, and educated at the prestigious Al Azar University,   Dr. Ekmeleddin   Ihsanoglu since becoming the Secretary General in 2005, has   revitalize and reformed the OIC to enhance its role in international affairs   by internationalizing various issues facing the Middle East and the Islamic   world especially Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sub Saharan Africa, Somalia and   Myanmar. He has been at the forefront of intercultural dialogue and   Suriname is the ideal place   for him to see first hand an OIC member-state where Muslims, Jews, Christians   and Hindus peacefully coexist and where a Mosque and a Synagogue stand side by   side in downtown Paramaribo.