SIVAS
A 400-450 year old Turkish musical instrument called Baglama, or "Balta Saz (Axe Saz)", which was carved by using an axe in Tunceli province, draws attention.
"Baglama" is a type of plucked string instrument and the term "saz" refers to a family of plucked string instruments.
A master of Baglama, Senturk Iyidogan told AA that he started performing baglama at a young age without being instructed by an expert.
Curious about the old sazs, Iyidogan has a wide range saz collection and takes care of them gracefully.
He said that one of the oldest baglama in his workshop was from Tunceli, which was about to be 400 to 450 years old.
He added that he received the precious instrument from an old Alewi man not too long ago.
He informed AA about the baglama and said, "This is a carved saz. It is believed that it belonged to people from Dersim (Tunceli) region. It was made from a hand-carved mulberry wood. Sometimes called as "balta saz" because there was no opportunity to use anything than an axe to carve in old times."
He explained that while creating a baglama, they prefered using the mulberry or juniper trees which grew in the region.
He stressed that in one month time, they produced up to 15 sazs as they were all hand-made, adding that they tried to keep the tradition alive.
He drew attention to the importance what type of tree was used for making a baglama and said, "We do not use too soft or too tough trees to make one. We try to keep this 7,000 years old tradition up. We struggle under the name of manufacturing. However, there are people who are interested in it. I try my best to continue this."
