Yep, eastern Turkey has been also for me so far the only place in +50 countries ridden, where I´ve actually been attacked by large dogs that roamed free...... in fact only one mountain pass area or region near Dogubayazit, but it was damn scary! Decided not to stop, just use the horn and go full throttle, and they backed off at the last minute... I don´t know, what would have happened, if I had stopped. I had taken rabies jabs before leaving home.

Do remember, that not only dogs can carry it, it´s also possible to get infected by bats, monkeys and several other animals. Also remember, that their saliva is infectious, so just simply best to completely keep away from any physical contact with animals, no matter how cute. This is something you do NOT want to fool around with, because it is a 100% lethal disease.

Note, that if you are in a faraway area, and suspect you might have got infected, getting somewhere where counter-jabs are available, in 24 hrs, can be hard. That´s when having the jabs beforehand can become helpful (you will still need those extra jabs after a suspected infection, but you have more time to get them).

I would not lose sleep over this, the risk is much smaller than having a bad traffic accident in basically any developing country, for example. Just follow the precautions, and depending on areas, where you´ll be going, make a decision, whether you´ll take the jabs or not.

(sorry a bit off-topic, but just asking if anyone has had similar experiences in the place mentioned below?)

Marked with red is where I had my pulse-raising encounter with the big dogs... this was back in 2007, but if my memory serves me right, it was the Tendurec Gecidi pass, where there was a huge old lava flow right next to the road on the Lake Van side. And dogs were only a problem up in the pass area itself, just there where the road goes very very close to the border of Iran. There were some dwellings that looked like shepherd huts, maybe they were actually their dogs: