How one country has become a top destination for hair transplants

Rebecca Rosman

October 06, 2025 / 5:02 am

ISTANBUL — In a bright clinic on the eastern side of Istanbul, a man leans over another man's scalp.

There's a marker in his hand, and he's drawing thin, careful lines across the cranium. It looks almost like an art class. Except the canvas here is a human head.

Dr. Mehmet Erdogan (no relation to Turkey's president ) runs the Smile Hair Clinic in Istanbul, a sleek multistory complex that boasts a 90-95% hair transplant success rate. Since it opened in 2018, the clinic has been treating around 5,000 patients every year. Most come from abroad: around a third come from the United States alone.

"OK, I will draw according to what I recommend to you," Erdogan says, as the pen s

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