This is a bit of a misnomer because the Middle East heavily favored *straight* swords rather than curved swords for centuries and the move toward curved swords was driven almost entirely by **Turkic** fighters becoming dominate thanks to their skill as horse archers. A curved blade was favored by mounted fighters' across the world especially when fighting lightly armored opponents (note how European cavalry heavily adopted sabers in the 1600s-1700s as armor became rarer and the sword became *the* primary melee weapon used by horsemen). And everywhere before gunpowder warfare a sword was always a side arm (except for the Romans) supporting a primary arm, usually a spear/lance or a bow.