The Laz people, also known as Lazi, are an ethnic group native to the South Caucasus, primarily residing along the Black Sea coastal regions of Turkey and Georgia. They belong to the Kartvelian language family, which includes languages like Georgian and Mingrelian. The Laz language, though traditionally spoken by the people, is now classified as endangered. In Turkey, only around 20,000 of the 103,900 ethnic Laz speak the language, while in Georgia, the language is experiencing a gradual shift towards Georgian and Turkish. Historically, the Laz people were part of the ancient kingdom of Colchis, mentioned in classical texts by authors such as Pliny the Elder and Procopius. The name…