Ms. Hilton made the trek to Istanbul, Turkey, on Thursday to take part in the Miss Turkey 2008 competition, acting as a judge in the contest and taking a stab at the country’s traditional belly dancing.

Reports say the dance didn’t go over well, but that Hilton took her first-time role as beauty contest judge very seriously. When asked what she would be looking for in the next Miss Turkey, Paris said she would look at “how the girls carry themselves, what they look like, the way they dress and what they say.”

But just like at home, Paris’ presence seemed to cause more of a stir with the paparazzi than it did with the young ladies in the competition. Upon her arrival at the Istanbul airport, fights broke out among the paps and photographers turned their cameras into weapons. You can watch the celeb-inspired smackdown on TMZ.

Still, Paris is firmly convinced of her heroine status for young ladies, and of the value of her contribution to the world. “I work very hard and I’ve built this empire on my own,” she said. “I think this is an inspiration for a lot of girls out there.”

Note the blind eye to the DUIs, jail time, sex tapes and nipple-and-you-know-what-exposing wardrobe malfunctions, mind you.

We’re happy that you had some fun at a beauty contest, Paris, but maybe stick to regular modeling rather than role modeling to today’s youth – we’d like the young women of this generation to aspire to a little more than an empire of celebrity and bad shoes. After all, there are still children starving in Africa, and a cure for cancer would be totally “hot.”