Laz people in Turkey

The Laz people in Turkey are Turkish citizens of Laz descent, an ethnic group native to the eastern Black Sea coast of Turkey and southwestern Georgia.

Terminology

The Turkish public sometimes uses the name "Laz" generally to refer to all inhabitants of Turkey's Black Sea provinces east of Samsun, and the word is often associated with certain social stereotypes. However, the Laz themselves are increasingly keen to differentiate themselves from other inhabitants of these regions. Also, the non-Laz does not want to be called "Laz", preferring to be called Karadenizli . The Laz language is a Kartvelian language, also known as South Caucasian, unrelated to the Black Sea dialect of Turkish language.