A stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, and Central Asia regions. Like the Western lute and the Middle-Eastern oud, it has a deep round back, but a much longer neck. The Turkish bağlama has 7 strings divided into courses of two, two and three. It can be tuned in various ways. It can be played with a plectrum or with a fingerpicking style known as şelpe.

It is sometimes referred to as the saz, although the latter is strictly a family of plucked long-necked lutes. However, the terms are often used interchangeably in Turkey.

Instruments resembling today's bağlama have been found in archaeological excavations of Sumerian and Hittite mounds in Anatolia.

The bağlama (or bağlama saz) is required to play the microtones of Arabic music. It is used in Ottoman classical music, Turkish folk music, Azeri music, Kurdish music, Assyrian music, and in parts of Syria, Iraq and the Balkan countries.