TextParser.php

<?php
// namespace etc

class TextParser {

  // other methods

  public static function iconvUTF8($string) {
        // see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3371697/replacing-accented-characters-php
        $map 						= array(
            'À'=>'A', 'Á'=>'A', 'Â'=>'A', 'Ã'=>'A', 'Ä'=>'A', 'Å'=>'A', 'Æ'=>'A', 'Þ'=>'B', 'Ç'=>'C',
            'Ð'=>'D', 'È'=>'E', 'É'=>'E', 'Ê'=>'E', 'Ë'=>'E', 'Ì'=>'I', 'Í'=>'I', 'Î'=>'I', 'Ï'=>'I',
            'Ñ'=>'N', 'Ò'=>'O', 'Ó'=>'O', 'Ô'=>'O', 'Õ'=>'O', 'Ö'=>'O', 'Ø'=>'O', 'Š'=>'S', 'Ù'=>'U',
            'Ú'=>'U', 'Û'=>'U', 'Ü'=>'U', 'Ý'=>'Y', 'Ÿ'=>'y', 'Ž'=>'Z',  'ß'=>'ss',

            'à'=>'a', 'á'=>'a', 'â'=>'a', 'ã'=>'a', 'ä'=>'a', 'å'=>'a', 'æ'=>'a', 'þ'=>'b', 'ç'=>'c',
            'ð'=>'d', 'è'=>'e', 'é'=>'e', 'ê'=>'e', 'ë'=>'e', 'ì'=>'i', 'í'=>'i', 'î'=>'i', 'ï'=>'i',
            'ñ'=>'n', 'ò'=>'o', 'ó'=>'o', 'ô'=>'o', 'õ'=>'o', 'ö'=>'o', 'ø'=>'o', 'š'=>'s', 'ù'=>'u',
            'ú'=>'u', 'û'=>'u', 'ü'=>'u', 'ý'=>'y', 'ÿ'=>'y', 'ž'=>'z',
            // additional Turkish
            'Ğ'=>'G', 'ğ'=>'g', 'İ'=>'I', 'ı'=>'i', 'Ş'=>'S', 'ş'=>'s',
            // additional Romanian
            'Ă'=>'A', 'ă'=>'a', 'Ș'=>'S', 'ș'=>'s', 'Ț'=>'T', 'ț'=>'t',
            // additional Czech
            'Č'=>'C', 'č'=>'c', 'Ň'=>'N', 'ň'=>'n', 'Ť'=>'T', 'ť'=>'t', 'Ů'=>'U', 'ů'=>'u',
        );

        return strtr($string, $map);
    }

}