Istanbul, Turkey, Sept 4 (ZEENEWS.COM) The Pakistani Prime Minister has called on Muslim youths to stay away from "extremism" and serve humanity in the "noble tradition of Islam."

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was speaking in Istanbul at a ceremony marking the inauguration of the 56-nation organization of the Islamic Conference's Youth Forum, an organization aimed at encouraging dialogue among young people from the world's largest Islamic Bloc. President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also attended.

"The Muslim youth must be prepared to serve humanity in the noble tradition of Islam," Aziz said at the ceremony yesterday held at a former Ottoman Palace by the Bosporus. "We want them to be proud and progressive Muslims."

"Extremism and terrorism which have maligned our noble faith must be curbed," he said.

Aziz said the Muslim world made up one-fifth of humanity and pledged Pakistan's support to the Muslim youth.

"Our level of socio-economic development needs to improved," he said. "These challenges can only be addressed through sustained reform and development."

The forum's headquarters were formally inaugurated by Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc who at the same time launched the "Youth Alliance of Civilizations" project – an initiative designed to promote friendship between youths from the Muslim world and Western societies.

The project's goal is to advance the United Nations "alliance of civilizations" initiative which Turkey and Spain are co-sponsoring to overcome misunderstandings between the West and the Arab and Muslim world