BMC Public Health 2008, 8(Suppl 1):S4 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/8/S1/S4 Control and Prevention; the Turkish Ministry of Health, Primary Health Care General Directorate, Mental Health Department of Primary Health General Directorate, Substance Dependence Section of Mental Health Department; and the Ministry of Education,Turkey. The authors would like to acknowledge the directors, school personnel and students of schools that participated in the study; the Ministry of Education for giving permission for this survey; Ms Ionela Petrea (Technical Officer, Tobacco Free Initiative-WHO Regional Office for Europe), Dr Mark Tabladillo, Ms Juliette Lee and Ms Veronica Lea (Epidemiologists, CDC- office on Smoking and Health) for their help in the organization and implementation of this survey and the completion of this report; and Turkish colleagues at Provincial Mental Health Departments who contributed to the successful implementation and field work of this study. We acknowledge the students who participated in the GYTS and the survey administrators. The production of this supplement was made possible through a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Pan American Health Organization. This article has been published as part of BMC Public Health Volume 8 Supplement 1, 2008: The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) - linking data to the implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The full contents of the supplement are available online at http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/8?issue=S1. References 1. World Health Organization: WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2003. [http://www.who. int/fctc/en/index.html] 2. Law No: 5261 on Approval of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (OG No: 25656, 30 November 2004, Decree of Council of Ministers No:2004/8235, 25 December 2004) 3. Law No: 4207 on The Prevention of Harmful Effects of Tobacco Products (OG No: 22829, 26 November 1996). 4. The Global Tobacco Surveillance System Collaborating Group: The global tobacco surveillance system (GTSS): purpose, production and potential. J Sch Health 2005, 75:15-24. 5. Warren CW, Jones NR, Eriksen MP, Asma S: Patterns of global tobacco use among young people and implications for future chronic disease burden in adults. Lancet 2006, 367:749-753. 6. Ergüder T, Soydal T, Ugurlu M, Çakir B, Warren CW: Tobacco use among youth and related characteristics, Turkey. Sozial- und Präventivmedizin/Social and Preventive Medicine 2006, 51:91-98. 7. The GYTS Collaborative Group: Tobacco use among youth: a cross country comparison. Tobacco Control 2002, 11:252-270. 8. Pierce JP, Choi WS, Gilpin EA, Farkas AJ, Merritt RK: Validation of susceptibility as a predictor of which adolescents take up smoking in the United States. Health Psychol 1999, 15:355-361. 9. Shah BV, Barnwell BG, Bieler GS: Software for the Statistical Analysis of Correlated Data (SUDAAN): User’s Manual. Release 7.5, 1997. Research Triangle Park, NC: Research Triangle Institute; 1997. 10. Hinkle DE, Wiersma W, Jurs SG: Applied Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences. 5th edition. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.; 2003. 11. Lopez AD, Collishw NE, Pha T: A descriptive model of the cigarette epidemic in developed countries. Tobacco Control 1994, 3:242-247. 12. Erbaydar T, Lawrence S, Dagli E, Hayran O, Collishaw NE: Influence of social environment in smoking among adolescents in Turkey. Eur J Public Health 2005, 15:404-410. 13. Brener ND, Kann L, McMannus T, Kinchen SA, Sundberg EC, Ross JG: Reliability of the 1999 Youth Risk Behaviors Survey Questionnaire. J Adolesc Health 2002, 31:336-342. 14. Bilir N, Guciz B, Yildiz AN: Smoking Behavior and Attitudes. Ankara: Hacettepe Public Health Foundation; 1997. 15. Bilir N, Guciz B,Yildiz AN: Assessing tobacco control strategies in Turkey. Ankara: Hacettepe Public Health Foundation; 2003. 16. Grimshaw GM, Stanton MA: Tobacco cessation interventions for young people. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2006, 4: 1469-493X. 17. European Strategy for Tobacco Control [http://www.euro.who. int/Document/E77976.pdf] 18. Ranney L, Melvin C, Lux L, McClain E, Morgan L, Lohr K: Tobacco Use: Prevention, Cessation, and Control. Evidence Report/Technology Assessment No. 140. (Prepared by the RTI International-University of North Carolina Evidence-Based Practice Center under Contract No. 290-02-0016).AHRQ Publication No. 06-E015. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2006. 19. Jha P, Chaloupka FJ: Tobacco Control in Developing Countries. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press; 2000. Page 7 of 7 (page number not for citation puroposes)