Turkey's hair transplant regulation, explained: who is allowed to do what (2023 rules, 2025 amendments)

Reviewed against the official text on 4 October 2026. This article explains a Turkish regulation for international patients; it is not legal advice.

Short answer. Since 6 May 2023, hair transplants in Turkey are governed by a dedicated regulation, the Saç Ekimi Birimleri Hakkında Yönetmelik (Regulation on Hair Transplant Units), published in the Official Gazette (Resmî Gazete) No. 32182 and amended on 3 November 2023 (No. 32358) and 12 September 2025 (No. 33015). Under the current text, opening the channels (incisions) may only be done by a physician; extracting the follicles and placing them into the channels may be done either by a physician or by a certified non-physician health professional, who must work under a physician's supervision and responsibility (Article 9). A hair transplant unit needs its own activity permit inside a licensed hospital, medical centre or polyclinic (Articles 5–6), one patient per operating room at a time (Article 10/4), a signed informed-consent form with before/after photographs (Article 10/2-ç), and a patient record that names the team who performed the procedure (Article 10/3).

Most English-language pages about "hair transplant regulations in Turkey" paraphrase these rules without article numbers, and many still describe the November 2023 wording, which was changed in September 2025. Below is what the regulation actually says, article by article, and what you can check or ask before you book.

What the regulation covers

Article 1 states the purpose: minimum standards for opening hair transplant units, for the procedure itself, for the staff who may work in them, and for inspections. Article 2 applies it to every health facility that opens a hair transplant unit and to everyone working there.

The regulation defines a "health facility" (Article 4/1-d) as Ministry of Health hospitals, state and foundation university hospitals, private hospitals, medical centres and polyclinics. A hair transplant unit can only be opened inside one of these, with an activity permit issued by the provincial health directorate after an on-site inspection; the permit is recorded on the facility's licence (Articles 5 and 6/1–4).

Who may perform which step (Article 9)

Article 9 is the part patients care most about. Its current wording, after the 12 September 2025 amendment:

• Only certified staff may work in a hair transplant unit (9/1). Physicians need a saç ekimi uygulayıcı sertifikası (hair transplant practitioner certificate) unless they are plastic/reconstructive/aesthetic surgeons, dermatologists, or hold a Ministry-registered medical aesthetics certificate (9/2).
• Channel opening (incisions) is reserved to physicians: certified physicians, the specialists listed above, or physicians with a medical-aesthetics certificate (9/3, first sentence).
• Follicle extraction and placement may be performed by those physicians or by health professionals holding a saç ekimi yardımcı uygulayıcı sertifikası (assistant practitioner certificate) (9/3, second sentence).
• Certified assistants work under the supervision and responsibility of the physician (9/4).
• If the procedure is done under sedation or general anaesthesia, an anaesthesiologist must be present (9/5).
• One certified physician may be responsible for at most five operating rooms, and each room must have at least two certified assistants (9/6).

"Health professional" is a defined term (Article 4/1-e): nurse, public-health officer or technician, emergency medical technician or paramedic, anaesthesia technician or technologist. In other words, the "technicians" that clinics mention in their marketing are, under this regulation, required to be licensed health professionals with a Ministry certificate, not lay staff.

What changed, and when

The text patients find online often reflects one of three different versions:

So between November 2023 and September 2025, extraction was also a physician-only step; the September 2025 amendment moved it back to "physician or certified assistant". If a page tells you that "by law only a doctor may extract grafts in Turkey", it is quoting the 2023–2025 wording.

Two transitional provisions also matter in 2026:

• Transitional Article 1: health professionals already working in hair transplant units may continue under a physician's supervision until 31 December 2026, after which they must hold the assistant practitioner certificate (deadline extended by the September 2025 amendment).
• Transitional Article 2: facilities that were already licensed for hair transplantation before 6 May 2023 may continue to operate "in their current form" (wording as amended in September 2025).

What the regulation requires during the procedure (Article 10)

• Sterile instruments and sets; disinfection and sterilisation at every stage; autoclave or ultrasonic steriliser (10/1, 10/2-b, 10/2-c).
• Protective eyewear is mandatory (10/2-a).
• Informed consent: every patient signs an informed-consent form, with photographs of the donor and recipient areas attached, taken before and after the procedure (10/2-ç).
• Patient information form: the clinic must record, in the Ministry's electronic system, the patient's details, the technique used, the number of grafts and the area, photographs taken before and within 72 hours after the procedure, and the names of the team who performed the transplant (10/3; the six-month follow-up photo is waived for international patients).
• One patient per operating room at any time (10/4).

Inspections, prohibited acts and penalties (Articles 11–12)

• Provincial health directorates inspect every hair transplant unit at least once a year, using a standard inspection and sanction form (11/1).
• It is prohibited to run a hair transplant unit without the activity permit, for uncertified persons to perform hair transplantation, or to change the premises, equipment or staff on which the permit was based without approval (11/2).
• For private facilities, breaches with no specific sanction get up to one month to be fixed; if not, a fine of 1 % to 3 % of the previous month's gross service revenue, and ultimately cancellation of the hair transplant activity permit with no re-issue (11/5).
• Facilities with a hair transplant unit are registered in a Ministry portal that is to be published openly online (12/2).

What this means when you compare clinics

The regulation sets the floor; it does not tell you who will hold the blade in your case. On Foxpare, as of 4 October 2026, 11 of the 50 providers that publish package details state on their own websites who performs at least one step (channel opening, extraction or placement) in a given package; the other 39 do not say. We record only what a clinic publishes, verbatim, with the source and date — a clinic that does not state who performs a step is shown as "not stated", never assumed to use technicians.

Questions that follow directly from the regulation, and that any licensed unit should be able to answer in writing:

1. Which physician will open the channels in my procedure, and what is their qualification (specialist, or practitioner certificate)? (Art. 9/3)
2. Who will extract and place the grafts — the physician, or certified assistants under supervision? (Art. 9/3–9/4)
3. How many operating rooms is that physician responsible for on the day? (Art. 9/6, maximum five)
4. If sedation is offered, will an anaesthesiologist be present? (Art. 9/5)
5. Can I see the informed-consent form in advance, and will my before/after photographs be attached to it? (Art. 10/2-ç)
6. Will the patient information form list the names of the team who performed my procedure, and can I have a copy? (Art. 10/3)
7. Is the hair transplant unit's activity permit recorded on the facility's licence, and which facility is it? (Art. 6/4)

A clinic that answers these without friction is operating inside the framework the regulation describes. A clinic that cannot name the physician who will open your channels is asking you to take on faith the one step the law reserves to a doctor.

Sources

• Saç Ekimi Birimleri Hakkında Yönetmelik, Resmî Gazete 6 May 2023, No. 32182 — original text: resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2023/05/20230506-11.htm
• Amending regulation, Resmî Gazete 3 November 2023, No. 32358 (Article 5 amends Article 9)
• Amending regulation, Resmî Gazete 12 September 2025, No. 33015 (Article 2 amends Article 9/3; Article 4 extends Transitional Article 1 to 31 December 2026) — reproduced by the Antalya Provincial Health Directorate
• Consolidated text as in force: mevzuat.gov.tr, "Saç Ekimi Birimleri Hakkında Yönetmelik" (search by title)

Foxpare is an independent information service. We do not assess any individual clinic's compliance with this regulation; we show each clinic's Ministry of Health record status and the package details it publishes.