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Turkey had lobbied long and hard
for this position. Its victory in the election will bring great
pleasure to the government. Mr Ihsanoglu
won a surprisingly easy victory, gaining thirty two votes
to the twelve given to both Bangladesh and Malaysia.
The victory is interesting for both the organisation and for
Turkey itself. For Turkey, in the year when it hopes to receive
a date for membership negotiations
with the EU to begin, its victory gives
added weight to its claim to be
a bridge between Europe and the Islamic world.
For the organisation and its member states, the choice may indicate
a further movement towards reform. The Turkish government
presented Mr Ihsanoglu as a reform candidate,
both in terms of the organisation
and the wider Islamic world. The choice of the Turkish candidate
follows a speech by the outgoing
secretary general in which he highlighted
what he called the extensive backwardness of the Islamic world.
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lobbied: tried to persuade people
won a surprisingly easy victory:
was successful with little opposition
membership negotiations: discussions aimed at reaching
agreement about Turkey joining the EU
gives added weight to: improves
the argument in favour of
a bridge: something that is a
bridge between two groups makes it easier for differences between
them to be overcome
a further movement towards reform:
gradual development in attitude in favour of improving the organisation
and its members through change
reform candidate: somebody who
wants to make changes and is being presented for a position
in terms of : specifying the
aspects that are being talked about
outgoing: someone who is leaving
a position
highlighted: if you highlight
a problem you draw attention to it
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