Nobel laureate Aziz Sancar appears in public announcement, advocates to quit smoking

Turkey's first Nobel laureate in chemistry, Aziz Sancar, recently appeared in a public service announcement against smoking, released by the Ministry of Health.

In the announcement, Sancar said, "When you smoke, consume tobacco products and smoke hookah, DNA is damaged, stimulating lung cancer. My biggest recommendation is to quit smoking, tobacco products and hookah. These are all responsible for lung cancer. Leave them."

The announcement was shot during the Nobel laureate's Turkey visit as a part of the ministry's initiative to encourage more people to quit smoking. The ministry previously sent Sancar's words as an SMS message to 40 million people. The 40-second announcement will soon be broadcasted on local TV channels.

On Dec. 10, Sancar received the coveted Nobel Prize from Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf for his work on how cells repair damaged DNA, sharing the 2015 Nobel Prize in chemistry with two fellow scientists.

As one of eight children of an impoverished family from a small southeastern Turkish town, Sancar became the pride of Turkey when he was announced as a winner of the Nobel Prize in chemistry. He is also the co-founder of the Aziz and Gwen Sancar Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes Turkish culture and supports Turkish students in the United States.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted Sancar at the Presidential Palace in Ankara last week. Sancar told media after a meeting with the president that Erdoğan asked him to tell the public to quit smoking, and affirmed that quitting smoking is the best way to decrease the risk of cancer.