NATO leaders left this week’s summit in Turkey with an unexpected souvenir after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan presented each of them with an engraved vintage revolver.
The gift, accompanied by live ammunition, was intended to showcase Turkey’s defence industry, which has become an important export sector and a key element of the country’s foreign policy.
Images released by the office of Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda showed what appeared to be a Gumusay .357 Magnum, a rare revolver produced by Turkish state arms manufacturer MKE in the 1990s.
The handgun was displayed in a wooden presentation case bearing the Turkish flag, the NATO logo and a plaque describing it as “the first revolver-type handgun produced in our country” in both Turkish and English.
Leaders take different approaches to the gifts
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s office said every NATO leader received the same revolver, with each firearm engraved with the recipient’s name.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said he was surprised to discover the handgun and ammunition in his luggage after returning home. He later handed the firearm to airport police in Brussels for secure storage.
An aide to Polish President Karol Nawrocki said the revolver was awaiting customs clearance before being placed in secure storage, adding that “certainly no one will be shooting it”.
The offices of the Dutch and Swedish prime ministers said their revolvers remained at their embassies in Ankara. The Dutch firearm is expected to be deactivated, while the Swedish one is awaiting import approval.
A source from Britain’s Downing Street said Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s gift included a cleaning kit and 500 rounds of ammunition.
Some leaders plan to donate the firearms
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s revolver has been placed with other official state gifts at Palazzo Chigi.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen intends to donate hers to a military museum, while Greece’s prime minister plans to send the firearm to the War Museum in Athens.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney joked that his gift of maple syrup to Erdogan was overshadowed by the Turkish president’s present.
“I would like to reassure Canadians, they keep guns away from me,” he said, adding that the revolver had already been deactivated and could eventually be displayed at Canada’s national war museum.
Turkey’s modern firearms industry mainly produces semi-automatic pistols, making the Gumusay a relatively rare collector’s item.
According to the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, Turkey was the world’s third-largest exporter of small arms between 2019 and 2024, behind the United States and Italy.
