Turkey has succeeded in having its candidate appointed as next secretary general of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. It was the first time that the organisation had voted on the position. This report from Jonny Dymond:

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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.

Jonny Dymond, BBC, Istanbul

Listen to the words

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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