International Narcotics Control Board elects Sevil Atasoy as President

VIENNA, 13 May (UN Information Service) - Sevil Atasoy, a Professor of Biochemistry and Forensic Science of Istanbul in Turkey, has been elected President of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). The Board is currently meeting in its 95th session, which runs through 20 May.

Professor Atasoy has been a member of the INCB since 2005. A distinguished academic, Professor Atasoy was the founding editor of the Turkish Journal of Legal medicine and the author of over 130 scientific papers on various drug-related issues such as drug testing, drug chemistry, drug markets, drug-related and drug-induced and drug abuse prevention. Since 2006, Professor Atasoy has served as the President of the Center of Crime Control and Prevention in Istanbul, Turkey. Professor Atasoy is the first woman to be elected INCB President since Betty Gough, the former U.S. diplomat who served as the Board's President in 1985, 1986 and 1990.

Also elected were Professor Tatyana Borisovna Dmitrieva, First Vice-President; Dr. Carola Lander, Second Vice-President and Chairman of the Standing Committee on Estimates (SCE); and Dr. Camilo Uribe Granja, Rapporteur. The officers are elected by the Board to serve a one-year term, with the current appointments ending on the first day of the Board's May 2010 session.

Having served as President of the Board several times, outgoing President Hamid Ghodse due to other commitments decided not to stand for election this year.

The Vienna-based Board is an independent body, established by the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs to monitor and support Government compliance with the international drug control treaties.

The membership of the Board is as follows: Joseph Bediako Asare (Ghana), Sevil Atasoy (Turkey), Tatyana Borisovna Dmitrieva (Russian Federation), Philip O. Emafo (Nigeria), Hamid Ghodse (Iran, (Islamic Rep. of)), Carola Lander (Germany), Melvyn Levitsky (United States), María-Elena Medina-Mora (Mexico), Sri Suryawati (Indonesia), Camilo Uribe Granja (Colombia), Brian Watters (Australia), Raymond Yans (Belgium) and Xin Yu (China).

Members are elected by the Economic and Social Council to serve in their individual capacities for a term of five years.

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For further information, please contact:
Ms. Siria Gastelum Felix (Associate Drug Control Officer, INCB Secretariat)
Phone: (+43-699) 1459-5118 / email: siria.gastelum@incb.org
or visit the Website: www.incb.org