By Jack Boulware
salon.com
Oct. 16, 2000
For years Turkey has had a problem with prostitutes
who enter the country from Russia and other former Soviet republics.
Despite efforts by the government in Ankara, the so-called Natashas just
keep on coming, fleeing their wretched economies for better
opportunities. Hooker rings have even set up operations in Turkish
hotels. Among government leaders, the message was clear Something has to
be done.
And so they decreed Shave the clients’ faces.
Mustafa Tamer, governor of the eastern province of Igdir, recently
announced a novel plan to battle the invasion of hookers. Any man caught
having sex with a prostitute will get his beard and mustache shaved off,
and then be exposed for all to see in the city’s main square.
For a man living in Turkey, this is apparently a
circumstance of horrible shame and cruelty, certain to put him off
prostitutes and make him think twice about the young woman with bright
lipstick eyeing him on the street corner. A clean-shorn face might look
youthful and hygienically sassy in some cultures, but in Igdir, smooth
cheeks are the mark of a whoremonger.
"It’s time these men came to their
senses," Tamer told a public meeting. "Because of these women,
arriages are being destroyed and financial ruin is being wrought."
According to the Daily Telegraph, Tamer also insists he will shut down
any hotel that caters to prostitutes’ operations.
It was not reported what fate awaits men who don’t
already sport facial hair.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
About the writer
Jack Boulware is a writer in San Francisco and author of "San
Francisco Bizarro" and "Sex American Style.