The Organisation of the Islamic Conference was established by decision of the First Islamic Summit Conference held in Rabat on 22-25 September 1969, Upon the reactions of the Islamic world provoked by the arson attack against Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is the third holiest site in Islam and located in Jerusalem under the Israeli occupation, by an Australian extremist Jewish on 21 August 1969. Turkey has been a founding member since the set up of the institution. The OIC has 57 members. Dr. Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen (Saudi Arabia) is the General Secretariat since 2016.
 
Member States: 

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Indonesia, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Libya, Lebanon, Maldives, Malaysia, Mali Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Palestine, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Suriname, Syria*, Tajikistan, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Yemen.
 
Observer Countries: The OIC has five observer members.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (by name of Turkish Cypriot State), Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Central African Republic, the Russian Federation and Thailand.
 
Turkey’s Representation within OIC: Turkey decided to establish a Permanent Mission to the OIC by the decree of the Council of Ministers dated 22 May 2014 and it was opened in Jeddah on 24 July 2015.
  
OIC Charter:

The Organisation’s constituent document is the New Charter adopted at the 11th OIC Summit held in Dakar on 13-14 March 2008 to substitute the OIC Charter adopted at the 3rd Session of the CFM in Rabat in 1972. The Charter predicates the Organisation’s objectives and principles and determines the membership, observation, peaceful settlement of the disputes, budget and finance as well as the operational rules.

The new Charter, which revised and substituted the prior Charter dated 1972, is the most crucial milestone for the Organisation’s reform. The New Charter forms the legal basis and the organs necessary for the cooperation and activities among the Islamic countries in accordance with the contemporary requirements in the recent environment that have undergone radical changes in the international fora since 1972.

Turkey signed the new Charter at the 35th Session of the CFM (that took place in Kampala/Uganda on 18-20 June 2007) and the Charter entered into force in Turkey on 16 June 2012.
The Charter can be accessed through the following link:

https://www.oic-oci.org/upload/documents/charter/en/oic_charter_2018_en.pdf
 
OIC Organs:

1. Islamic Summit
2. Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM)
3. Standing Committees
4. Executive Committee
5. International Islamic Court of Justice ( It is planned to be the Organisation’s principal judicial organ following the entry into force of its status )
6. Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission
7. Committee of Permanent Representatives
8. General Secretariat
9. Subsidiary Organs
10. Specialized Organs
11. Affiliated Institutions
 
Council of Foreign Ministers:

The Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), which is the second decision making organ following the Summit, is held once a year in one of the Member States. As is the case with the Summit Meetings, Extraordinary Sessions of the CFM may convene, when necessary, for critical issues concerning the Islamic world.

The CFM makes decisions on issues about fulfilling purposes and implementing general policies of the Organisation, tracks the progress in implementing the resolutions adopted at previous Islamic Summits and CFM Meetings, evaluates and approves the budgets of the General Secretariat and subsidiary organs and elects the Secretary General.

Turkey hosted CFM Meetings three times in total, in 1976 (7th CFM), in 1991 (12th CFM) and in 2004 (31st CFM).
 
Standing Committees:

The OIC established the following Standing Committees so as to further address the critical issues for the Organisation and the Member States. Kings, Presidents and Prime Ministers chair the Standing Committees. These Committees are established in accordance with the Summit’s resolutions and upon suggestions made by the Council of Foreign Ministers and Committee Members.

1. Al Quds Committee
2. Standing Committee for Information and Cultural Affairs (COMIAC)
3. Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC)
4. Standing Committee for Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH)

Executive Committee:

The Executive Committee consists of eight members, including the Summit and CFM Troikas (previous, current and incoming Chairs), Saudi Arabia as the Host Country of the Secretariat and the Secretary General of the OIC and it convenes when necessary.

As a result of Israel’s increasing violent attacks against Palestinian territory, mass punishment of the Palestinian people and the burning of a Palestinian teenager named Mohamed Abu Khdair, the Executive Committee held Extraordinary Meetings in Jeddah on 10 July and on 12 August 2014 in order to review the steps to be taken by the OIC against Israel’s ongoing attacks targeting the Palestinian people, its institutions, Al-Aqsa Mosque as well as the sanctuaries of the Muslims and Christians. Also, it convened an open-ended Extraordinary Meeting at the level of the Foreign Ministers to discuss the incidents in Haram Al-Sharif, upon the call of Turkey, in Istanbul on 1 August 2017.

Finally, upon Turkey’s call as the Chair of the Summit, an open-ended Emergency Meeting of the Executive Committee at the level of the Foreign Ministers was held in Istanbul on 22 March 2019 in order to deal with the increasing Islamophobia as well as racist and xenophobic violence actions, particularly the terrorist attack perpetrated against two mosques in New Zealand on 15 March 2019. Nineteen countries attended the aforementioned meeting at the Ministerial level, which was chaired by Foreign Minister of Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also attended one part of it and delivered a speech.

Secretary General:

The Secretary General, who is the chief administrative officer of the Organisation, is elected from among nationals of the Member States for a period of five years, renewable only once, by the CFM in accordance with the principles of equitable geographical rotation and equal opportunity.

The Secretary General is responsible for bringing to the attention of the competent organs of the Organisation matters which concern the Organisation; following-up the implementation of resolutions and recommendations of the Islamic Summits and CFM; coordinating the work of the relevant Organs of the Organisation; preparing the programme and the budget of the General Secretariat and submitting annual reports to the CFM on the work of the Organisation.

Personalities whom have been elected as OIC Secretaries General since the establishment of the Organisation are as follows:

Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission:

The Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC), established within the OIC Ten-Year-Programme of Action which was adopted by the 3 rd Extraordinary Islamic Summit in Makkah on 7-8 December 2005, was officially launched with the adoption of its Statute by the 38 th Session of the CFM in Astana on 28-30 June 2011.

According to the new OIC Charter, IPHRC started to function temporarily with its headquarters in Jeddah in 2012 and convenes twice a year on a regular basis. It was decided at the 41st Session of the CFM that Saudi Arabia shall host permanently the Commission.

IPHRC consists of eighteen members including six members each from Asia, Africa and Arab groups. Dr. Hacı Ali Açıkgül, Head of Department of Human Rights of the Turkish Ministry of Justice, is a member of this Commission.