Organization of Islamic Conference Changes Name: Chief

2011-06-28

Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said on Tuesday that the body has changed its name into the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

"I have the honor to inform you that senior official meeting preparatory to this esteemed council recommended for approval of the new logo and proposed name which reads 'Organization of Islamic Cooperation'," he said, addressing a meeting of the body's foreign ministers in Astana, Kazakhstan.

"This name has the advantage of preserving the organization's acronym OIC," he said in his speech, which was posted on the organization's website.

The 57-member body is largely made up of countries whose people are mainly followers of the Islamic religion.

Based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the body was established in 1969. The population of the body amounts to 650 million.

The first summit conference in Rabat, Morocco, in 1969 decided that member states would hold talks and consultations together for better and close cooperation in the economic, cultural and spiritual fields, inspired by Islamic teachings.

Source: CRIEnglish.
Link: http://english.cri.cn/6966/2011/06/28/2681s645270.htm.