Erdoğan's plan to cull Turkey's street dogs will destroy far more than just animals | Alexander Christie-Miller

For centuries these strays have been looked after and respected as part of Turkish culture. Now they've been dragged into the president's culture wars When I first moved to Istanbul in 2010, knowing almost no one and grappling with an unfamiliar language, it was the local street dogs who first drew me into my new life. Chico, an elderly alsatian, and Herkül, a labrador mongrel, lived on a corner near my apartment where they watched the life of the neighbourhood pass by with a vigilant serenity....