Speaking at a press conference in Ankara days before leaving his post, Ihsanoglu evaluated his nine years as the Secretary-General of the OIC.
Stating that he met with the Turkish President, Prime Minister, Speaker of the Parliament and some ministers in Ankara, Ihsanoglu noted that this was his "last visit" to the capital city as the Secretary-General of the OIC.
Ihsanoglu said that the OIC increased its power and influence under his leadership and added that the impacts of the reforms would be observed better in the long term.
In addition to the significant progress made regarding the issues of democracy, human rights, good governance, and women's and children's rights,Ihsanoglu said that trade was another area of growth, with the trade volume of the organisation increasing to 742 billion US dollars as of 2012 from 205 bn dollars in 2005.
Reminding that a third of the 105 countries who recognized the independence of Kosovo are OIC members, Ihsanoglu said that it was again OIC who showed strong support of Azerbaijan regarding the issue of Karabakh.
Ihsanoglu also underlined the organisation's attempts at combating Islamophobia: "It is through our efforts and initiative that the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on combating intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief," Ihsanoglusaid.
Noting that the OIC had no organs regarding humanitarian issues when he was elected as the Secretary-General, Ihsanoglu said that a special department for humanitarian affairs was established, and this department has been working in close cooperation with non-governmental organizations, carrying out activities in various parts of the world including Aceh, Muzaffarabad, Somalia, Niger, Gaza, southern Lebanon and Syria.
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