Abdulaziz bin Mohieddin Khoja

Abdulaziz bin Mohieddin Khoja
Minister of Culture and Information
In office
14 February 2009 – November 2014
Prime MinisterKing Abdullah
Preceded byIyad bin Amin Madani
Succeeded byAbdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Khudairi
Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to the Russian Federation
In office
1991–1996
Succeeded byFawzi bin Abdul Majeed Shobokshi
Personal details
Born1940 (age 84–85)
Mecca
NationalitySaudi Arabian
Alma materKing Saud University
Birmingham University

Abdulaziz bin Mohieddin Khoja (Arabic: عبد العزيز خوجة; born 1940) is a former Saudi ambassador and the minister of culture and information between 2009 and 2014.

Early life and education

Khoja was born in Mecca in 1940.[1] He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from King Saud University. Then he earned a Master of Science degree in organic chemistry in Birmingham University in 1967.[2] He also holds a PhD in organic chemistry at Birmingham University in 1969.[1]

Career

Khoja was appointed dean of the faculty of education in Mecca in 1979,[1] and his term lasted until 1984.[2] Then he served as the undersecretary for information affairs at the ministry of information from 1984 to 1991.[2] Later, he served as the Saudi Ambassador to various countries, including Turkey (1991), Russia and Morocco.[1] He was also Saudi ambassador to Lebanon[3] and was in office from 2004 to 2009. During this period of time, King Abdullah's foreign policy towards Lebanon was highly intense and also seen as an interventionist approach.[4] On 14 February 2009, Khoja was appointed minister of culture and information, replacing Iyad bin Amin Madani in the post who had been in office since February 2005.[1][5] Khoja's appointment was regarded as part of King Abdullah's reform initiatives.[6]

Abdulaziz Khoja met with Indian Culture Minister Chandresh Kumari Katoch in New Delhi, 2014.

Khoja's term as the minister of culture and information ended in November 2014 when he was fired from the office.[7] Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Khudairi replaced him in the post on 8 December 2014.[8] On January 11, 2016, he was appointed as the ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Kingdom of Morocco (for the second time) with the rank of minister and continued in his role until November 19, 2019.[9][10]

Khoja is considered to be a relative liberal and was close to King Abdullah, former ruler of Saudi Arabia.[4] Khoja is also a poet. However, some of his works are banned in Saudi Arabia, although he himself was the minister of culture and information.[11]

Other positions

Khoja was the chairman of the General Assembly of Makkah Establishment for Publishing and Printing, publisher of now-defunct newspaper Al Nadwa (newspaper).[12] As of 2011 he was also the chairman of the International Islamic News Agency (IINA) Executive Council.[13]

Book

In 2020 Khoja published his memoirs in Arabic, titled The Experience: Interactions of Culture, Politics, and Media, printed by Jadawel publishing, a Beirut-based company.[14][15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Profiles". Saudi Gazette. 15 February 2009. Archived from the original on 24 September 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "Biographies of Ministers". Saudi Embassy Washington DC. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  3. ^ Ian Black (7 December 2010). "WikiLeaks cables: Syria stunned by Hezbollah assassination". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  4. ^ a b Christopher Boucek (June 2009), "Saudi Arabia's king changes the guard" (PDF), Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst, Carnegie Endowment, archived from the original (PDF) on 11 April 2010, retrieved 5 May 2012
  5. ^ "14th February 2005 - Saudi Cabinet Meeting". SAMIRAD. 14 February 2005. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  6. ^ "Saudi King appoints first woman to council". CNN. 14 February 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  7. ^ "Saudi names new health minister to combat MERS virus". Business Standard. AFP. 8 December 2014.
  8. ^ "King Abdullah names new ministers". Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Washington DC. 8 December 2014. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  9. ^ okaz_online@, «عكاظ» (الرياض) (19 November 2018). "السفراء المعينون يقسمون بالحفاظ على أسرار الدولة". Okaz (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  10. ^ "Abdulaziz bin Mohieddin Khoja". University of Birmingham. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  11. ^ Hanna Labonté (23 August 2010). "Saudi Man of Letters and Cautious Reformer". Qantara.de. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  12. ^ "King Holds al-Safa Reception". Saudi Press Agency. 12 August 2012. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  13. ^ "IAAs BNA Elected as IINA Executive Council Member". Bahrain News Agency. 10 December 2011. Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  14. ^ "Memoirs of Abdulaziz Khoja… from the Soviet Collapse to Mysterious Murder Attempts in Turkey – Part One". Asharq Al-Awsat. London. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  15. ^ ""التجربة" تأملات الثقافة والسياسة والإعلام لعبدالعزيز خوجة". صحيفة الاقتصادية (in Arabic). 29 February 2020. Archived from the original on 15 March 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Information and Culture
2009-2014 		Succeeded by
Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Khudairi