If a single instrument were to represent Turkish folk music it would have to be the baglama. There is no region, no village in Anatolia which is not familiar with this string instrument. It is descended from the kopuz, which is frequently mentioned in the sagas of Dede Korkut dating from around the 8th century. The kopuz, a generic name for several forms of string instrument, was being used by the Turkish tribes of Central Asia about two thousand years ago, and was brought to Anatolia by Turkish strolling minstrels from the 10th century onwards. The Shamanist Turks of Central Asia regarded the kopuz as sacred, and it was even said that the warrior with a kopuz at his waist was protected from injury at enemy hands in battle.

The kopuz differs from the baglama in having a leather covered body, a fingerboard without frets, and two or three strings made either of horsehair, or of sheep or wolf gut. It is played by beating with the fingers, rather than being plucked with a plectrum.