I came across the lavta quite recently, just a few years ago. It's closeness to the sound of the oud imediatly atracted me. It is a very interesting and helpful instrument in a sense that i can complement the fretless nature of the oud that makes harmonic passaes difficult to performance, besides having it's own technique and repetoire.

Known as a lavuta in Armenian, also occasionally called Politiko Laouto (Lute from Constantinople) in Greek, the lavta is an instrument that was popular in the early 20th century, particularly among the Greek and Armenian communities of Istanbul, but also the Turkish community, it was one of the many instruments played by noted Turk Tanburi Cemil Bey. It was gradually replaced by the oud and survived until this day. From the 1980s there has been a revival of interest in this instrument, and now you can find the lavta again both in Turkey and in Greece.