Turkish surgeon promises good looks to foreign clients

A Turkish plastic surgeon has promised drop-dead gorgeous looks to foreign customers, who are already coming to Turkey in droves for hair transplants.

In an interview with Anadolu Agency (AA) at his clinic in Istanbul, Dr. Güncel Öztürk urged potential customers from abroad, including the Gulf states, to have their plastic surgery procedure done in Turkey and "become more beautiful."

Plastic surgery is one of the top forms of medical tourism worldwide and Turkey has made major strides in developing its medical tourism sector by implementing policies that effectively facilitate the process for tourists.

Öztürk said Turkey is among the top 10 destinations for such procedures worldwide.

It is estimated that the number of tourists who came to Turkey for medical tourism last year reached more than 700,000. According to data from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, there was an increase of 550,000 people from abroad seeking treatment at Turkish hospitals last year.

Turkey is even more advanced than Europe in plastic surgery and medical tourism, the surgeon said, adding that the country has also invested in hotels and transportation to boost this sector.

The country also has specialists in rhinoplasty (nose job), abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) and skin tightening, especially around the eye area.

Rhinoplasty is most popular among foreigners, the surgeon said.

He added that all cosmetic surgery and hair transplant operations are done at Health Ministry-approved hospitals and clinics in Turkey.

Turkish specialists are already known the world over for advanced hair transplantation techniques, including Direct Hair Implantation (DHI), Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE), Gold and IceGraft.

Tourists from the Gulf states primarily come to Turkey for hair transplants, he said. Many hair transplant patients come from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon.

Patients come from Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Denmark and the U.K., Öztürk added.

Öztürk said that the reason for this is the high quality of operations provided at competitive rates. In Europe, a hair transplantation can cost up to 10,000 euros ($10,971) while the cost exceeds $30,000 in the U.S., according to estimates.

Turkey has long been known as a top destination among patients seeking better treatment. Throughout history, the Anatolian region has been known as a center for healing. Even Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine and healing, is believed to be from this region.

During the time of the Romans, Hippocrates, known as the father of medicine, is also believed to have lived in Turkey's western İzmir province, before Jesus Christ.