A family of plucked long-necked lutes used in Ottoman classical music, Turkish folk music, Azeri music, Kurdish music, Assyrian music, and in parts of Syria, Iraq and the Balkan countries. The father of the Greek bouzouki, it originated in Central Asia where Turks lived before their westward migration.

The Turkish saz typically has 7 strings arranged in 3 courses and has traditional tied frets that are movable.

There are several types of saz, broadly determined by body length, bowl radius, neck length and pitch. A bağlama saz (the most common) is required to play the microtones of Arabic music.