ISTANBUL, September 26, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has opened an inter-civilization conference in Istanbul amid charges of conspiracy and anti-Islam from some Islamists.

Addressing the plenary session of the three-day “Meeting of Civilizations” conference, Erdogan hit out Sunday, September 25, at equating Islam with terrorism.

“If there is terrorism today, then it has nothing to do with any divine religion,” he said strongly. “Any talk about ‘Islamic terrorism’ or ‘Muslim terrorists’ is indeed some sort of ignorance and is unacceptable.”

The leader of the ruling Justice and Development party further called anew for criminalizing Islamophobia on a par with anti-Semitism, and for reconciliation between Muslims and Jews by letting bygones be bygones.

Erdogan said the conference, which brought together delegations from up to 30 European and Mideast countries including Israel, is the result of cooperation with his Spanish counterpart Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

The alliance initiative was first unveiled by the Spanish premier at the UN General Assembly in New York in September of last year.

The initiative was later co-sponsored by Erdogan in a March summit between both leaders.

Erdogan appointed his chief foreign policy adviser Rafet Akgunay as Turkey's representative in the project.

Spain in return has appointed retired ambassador Maximo Cajal to the initiative.

Critics say Turkey is courting the West to join the euro bloc. (Reuters)

Some Islamists, however, faulted Erdogan for hosting the conference which they called a “conspiracy against Islam.”

Erdogan’s speech was heckled by some of the audience, who shouted anti-US slogans and accused Erdogan’s party of being “an agent".

The deputy head of the opposition Saadet party, Tamel Oglo, has charged that the conference was a “Western ploy dictated on the Justice and Development party.”

He further said the conference is part of what he called an “organized campaign against Islam led by the United States under the guise of inter-faith dialogue and religious tolerance.”

Mohamet Silay, a former MP for the outlawed Virtue party, told Turkish newspaper Milli Gazete that the proposed “Alliance of Civilizations” was helping entrench the US Broader Middle East and North Africa initiative, which serves best the interests of Israel.

The Islamic current’s Andadulu Youths magazine further held Sunday a seminar entitled “Saladin…The Architect of Peace in the Middle East” to counter the conference.

They urged the government not to bow to Western pressure and to rather adhere to nationalist viewpoints.

Pundits say that Turkey is trying to play a key role in bridging the gap between the West and the Muslim world as part of its tireless efforts to join the enlarged European Union.

They cited a controversial conference hosted by Istanbul September 24-25 on the alleged massacre of thousands of Armenians by Turks during and after World War One.

The conference sparked mass rallies with nationalist demonstrators hurling eggs and tomatoes at participants as they arrived at Istanbul's private Bilgi University for the conference.

Reports further spoke about Turkey’s role in normalization of relations between Israel and Muslim countries, chiefly Pakistan.

Well-placed sources told Turkey’s NTV network earlier in the month that Israel was planning to open interest sections at the Turkish embassy in a number of Islamic countries.