Are Arab politicians hoping to heighten their charisma and win more elections by getting mustache implants in Turkey?

(An excerpt from Hurriyet, full text here.) Turkey, which has made a name for itself in hair implants, has now begun to export moustache implants. More and more patients are coming to Turkey every day in search of the thick moustaches they see on their favorite Turkish television shows and stars like İbrahim Tatlıses and Kadir İnanır. Arabs – and especially politicians from the region – are particularly keen on the moustache implants…

In fact, according to [Doctor Selahattin] Tulunay, politicians from the Arab world are now coveting moustache implants to add to their charisma during election periods. “Every month we have about 60 applications for beard and hair implants,” Tulunay said.

“We have applicants from Iran, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Germany, France and Ireland who come for hair, moustache and beard implants… In many of the barbershops in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, one sees posters of Necati Şaşmaz, who plays Polat Alemdar on the Turkish TV series “Kurtlar Vadisi” (Valley of the Wolves), and Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ, who is very popular in Arab countries.