of course the different countries and regions in the balkans have differing customs, artefacts and cultural histories some of which some areas share with others and some that are not. that's why they have different countries, languages, etc., even the names and sovereignty of some areas are disputed, but geographically they are all balkan, which is what i referred to. any current political differences are not germane to these older artefacts. some of the names we call the areas by may not have even existed at the time the topic's knife was made.
the knives of the whole area do seem, at least to my untutored eyes, to have certain similarities in basic shape, eared grips, etc and even in more details, that would not be found in south east asia. most of the area from istanbul to vienna was trod by the turkish armies at one point or another, and their edged weapons do seem to have affected local design standards, tho somewhat softened by the local non-turkish cultures...
ah, well, i think i'll head downstairs and sharpen my qama, and my texan bowie, it's american (maybe mexican, maybe US).
p.s. - don't forget the canadians, they are americans too!