Yannis,
The wood is very, very old and dry. this is why the opening is so narrow. It needs to be replaced.
The small fittings are different from the rest, although they also look old and worn. The big fittings are very professionally repoussed whereas the small are chased.
The guard is old. The reason it does not fit perfectly is the crumbled "cement" within it, and the direction is correct. I shall clean it and reposition properly.
Overall, there is no doubt in my mind this is old and was not recently renovated. Old repairs? Sure, why not.
The idea of Bulgarian origin is interesting and did not occur to me. May just be the case.
As to the name... Turks call their swords Kilij, Iranians call them Shamshir.A Turkish sword with Shamshir blade was called Ajem Kilij, and one with a wavy blade Atesh Kilij.
Obviously, this is neither. And it is not Turkish, as we agree. It was fashioned in the Ottoman style but with a local blade. God only knows what the locals called it. I use the word Kilij for convenience, because shamshir implies a very special form of the blade which is not the case.
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