I am an American male age 55 that flew to Istanbul from Los Angeles during Covid on October 19 to have my 6000 fue hair graph operation done by Dr Mehmet at Diamond Hair Clinic. It was a very pleasant professional experience with no complications especially with Covid, and a 5 star treatment from the moment Emir picked me up at the Airport in a new Mercedes until he dropped me off a week later. I flew over 13 hours and since it was a long flight I opted to stay at a different 5 star hotel in Sisli called the Marriott Sisli because I am a Bonvoy member, and I preferred a nice view from the 30th floor over Istanbul and stayed extra days after the surgery to recuperate before flying back on such a long flight. Dr Mehmet office was kind enough to discount the price to accommodate this hotel change and that was extremely polite, and his Manager Mahmoud was a complete professional communicating all details via Whatsapp during the month prior to my flight about all aspects of the operation. This was not a quick decision for me as I have been debating doing this hair transplant for the last 2 years. I researched doctors in Beverly Hills but they cost over $30k and would not do more than 3000 fue hair graphs in one session so that option was not a good option plus the cost was way too high. I researched over 20 doctors in Turkey to make a good decision on the right doctor to pick and the right fue procedure using a Sapphire blade, and luckily a very good friend recommended the extra benefits of doing it in Istanbul versus in the Los Angeles so I felt much more comfortable going to Turkey since he had his hair operation also in Istanbul with great success. The reason I picked Dr Mehmet is for many solid reasons and I highly suggest you do the appropriate research as there are many options in Turkey but these are the main points that made my decision very easy: Dr Mehmet is a certified medical Hair Surgeon (versus the lower cost ones being a Hair Specialist with no formal medical training), and he speaks Fluent English (this was very important for me since I wanted to make sure that during the entire operation he would be present and available in case I had any questions etc) , and Dr Mehmet only operates on 1 patient per day in a top rated Hospital and uses an IV drip and Heart Rate monitor and can do 6000-7000 fue hair graphs in one day using a Sapphire blade (versus most others Doctors are like a factory pumping out 4-10 patients per day with only 3000 hair graphs maximum and do not provide any IV drip or Heart Rate Monitor, and even the top rated Istanbul doctors do not speak Fluent English and they only do the consultation and maybe 1 hour spent with the patient with some not even making the incisions, and most of all they are not available during the entire operation plus charge high prices like $8-12k just because they are famous and have their name on the side of the building like rich Beverly Hills doctors). And also Dr Mehmet provides a 2 hour consultation prior to the surgery and you do not have to pay for anything in advance, except provide your airline ticket confirmation, which made me more at ease that I could at any time change my mind if I did not feel comfortable with anything. And another reason that might not be so important for other people is that Dr Mehmet creates a custom natural hair line unlike most other Doctors that just draw a terrible round bowl like shape because that is the easiest way rather than spending extra time with each patient to draw a natual hair line to make it unique to each person. My good friend is one of those unlucky people that went to a less expensive clinic and came back with a cheap looking round bowl like hair line that did not look very natural. And the last point is that I do not enjoy needles and Dr Mehmet uses this new cool French device called the ‘Dermojet’ that is "needless" air compressed anesthesia device that pushes air with Novocain without needles to numb your head before the surgery. And last part is that Dr Mehmet price never changed even after I asked for a discount due to Covid the price never changed, and his price was very fair in the medium price range which was perfect for my budget. And after the operation I can easily assure you that it was a bargain since I was at his offices from 8am until 1 am which is an impressively long day and I felt no pain at all yet recommend you bring some headphones and good music or podcasts as it is a long day if you are going to do 6000 hair graphs like I did but it was well worth it. And the follow up after the operation from Dr Mehmet is superb and he requests that you send photos of your hair every week for the next 1.5 years. I arrived at the IST Airport in Istanbul on October 19 and purchased a $20 dollar airport visa next to the Passport Entry (make sure you do this first) and then proceeded to the Exit where I was greeted by Emir who was waiting for my arrival. The new Mercedes SUV Van was very nice and has free wifi which is a nice addition so I could confirm to my family and friends that I had arrived safely especially with Covid still pretty active. Emir drove me to my hotel which was only 30 mins away and I was surprised to notice that everyone in Istanbul was not only wearing masks but also doing Temperature checks at every location so it was much safer than in the Los Angeles where that rarely happens. My surgery was scheduled for 3 days later so that I could enjoy checking out the city of Istanbul which is a magical place . I was picked up from my hotel by Emir on Oct 22 at 730am so we could be at the Hospital at 8am for the operation. The hospital is a top rated JCI accredited called Medical Park just like Dr Mehmet office confirmed on Whatsapp and his offices are on the 9th floor. I was met by Dr Mehmet in his white doctor outfit with his name on the front. He is very professional and warm person and once we sat in his private office I felt at ease while he spent the next 2 hours going over every detail of the operation and we discussed different options for my 6000 hair graphs and he also recommended an additional 200 hair graphs on my side burn area which had worn off from my wearing sunglasses too much during long hikes over the years. Once we finished discussing the operation, we spent 90 minutes going over my hair line and figuring out the best natural hair line options. This was probably the most pleasant surprise as Dr Mehmet is a perfectionist and almost like a Da Vinci artist that wanted to ensure that I was happy with the exact look of my natural hair line and we went over 20-30 photos that I had from my 20s, 30s until now and decided on my original natural hair line plus he makes sure to draw a non symmetrical lines on both sides of the hair line to make it look more natural. This is a key element for me especially making sure that only single hair graphs are used in the front hair line to make it look more natural also. Some of the other doctors do not pay attention to this type of detail and it was another reason for using Dr Mehmet and I felt very comfortable that I had made the right and appropriate decision by selecting him as my hair surgeon. Once the hair line was drawn with him allowing for me to also provide input and feedback so it was a collaboration of both of us agreeing on the final look of the hair line, we then moved on to the operation. At this point, is when Dr Mehmet asked for me to pay for his services which I did in cash and felt very at ease moving forward. This would never happen in Los Angeles where doctors expect full payment before you even open the door or at least partial payment before arriving to their offices. Dr Mehmet has two wonderful nurse assistants , Gamze and Sehmuz who are very professional and were very patient during the entire operation. We started the operation at 10/11am and the operating room had a state of the art Heart Rate monitor and they inserted an IV drip attachment into my arm and connected me to the IV drip that has Saline, Antibiotics and Pain Killer combination to maintain fluid levels while they do the operation. My good friend later told me his operation did not have this option and in the middle of his operation he felt like he would faint and had no idea that the operation should require an IV drip due to the extraction and incisions creating some blood loss. The Dermojet was exactly as I imagined it and it was a painless experience and actually pretty cool feeling that numbed my skin of my head, and then they used the needles to inject long term anesthesia that last 24 hours. The first stage of extraction of the hair graphs took the 2 nurses about 3 hours to remove 6200 hair graphs from the back of my head and a little bit from behind my ear area since I did not want the option of using my beard neck area. We took a lunch break at 2/3pmwhich was a nice steak and fries meal and some natural peach juice and water. The entire time of the extraction of the hair graphs Dr Mehmet would come in and out of the operating room to check and see how I was doing which was very reassuring and professional. After the lunch, Dr Mehmet spent 3-4 hours making the 6200 precise incisions using the Sapphire blade and once again it was a very painless experience especially since I played my music the entire time and felt nothing at all. At 7-8 pm the 2 nurses started to insert the 6200 hair graphs which took about 5-6 hours until 1am next day and it was a pleasant experience but it required a lot of patience to lay down on the operating table for such a long amount of hours with short bathroom breaks in the middle. The last stage Dr Mehmet took me into his office to provide final instructions with medicines and lots of shampoo products, vitamins and his personal number to stay in contact. It was a 5 star experience from beginning until the end. I highly recommend Dr Mehmet and his team. Eric