Lazistan Eyalet
The Lazistan Eyalet (or Lazistan;
Erdoğan reportedly said in 2013, that the Ottoman Empire used to call the Black Sea region — “Lazistan”,[1] which belonged to the Laz community, while the founding Parliament of the Republic of Turkey used to call the southeastern Anatolian region — “Kurdistan.” His remarks referring to the provincial administration of the Ottoman Empire was target of criticism since they could be interpreted as a sign of Erdoğan’s desire to implement a federal system. To challenge the opposition nationalists, Recep Tayyip Erdogan alluded to the Ottoman eyalet system of semi-autonomous provinces and recalled that during the Ottoman era there were eyalets called Kurdistan and Lazistan.[2] In his opinion 'A powerful Turkey should never fear the state system',[3] autonomous self-governance within the state of Turkey should be possible and would even be a source of strength for Turkey.