By Anietie anii-bassey
An unexpected gift presented by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to world leaders attending this week’s NATO summit has generated widespread discussion across diplomatic circles, with several leaders forced to surrender, deactivate or donate the presents because of strict firearms regulations in their home countries.
As leaders gathered in Turkey to address mounting global security concerns, including the war in Ukraine, rising geopolitical tensions and the future of NATO’s collective defense strategy, many departed with an unusual souvenir: an engraved Magnum revolver accompanied by six rounds of ammunition.
The gesture, intended to showcase Turkey’s expanding defense manufacturing capabilities, left numerous officials surprised and prompted varying reactions among allied nations.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed that he was among the recipients, joking that his own diplomatic gift of maple syrup seemed far less impressive by comparison.
“It struck me that my gift of maple syrup kind of undermatched,” Carney told reporters. He added humorously that the firearm had been handed over to police authorities, saying, “I would like to reassure Canadians, they keep guns away from me.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar publicly revealed his gift on social media, posting an image of the presentation box containing the revolver and ammunition. The firearm reportedly bore his name engraved on it.
“An unusual gift from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the NATO Summit: a Magnum revolver with ammunition, engraved with my name,” Magyar wrote online.
Officials did not immediately clarify what became of Hungary’s gifted weapon.
The office of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the firearm presented to her would be rendered inoperable before being donated to a military museum. Similar measures were taken by several other European leaders.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reportedly left the revolver behind in Turkey after being informed that importing the firearm into the United Kingdom would violate domestic laws despite documentation included in the gift package indicating exemptions from Turkish export restrictions.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever surrendered his revolver to airport police immediately upon returning home. Officials in Germany and the Netherlands said that the firearms presented to Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten remained at their respective embassies in Ankara and would also be decommissioned.
In Italy, officials confirmed that the gift presented to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had been formally registered at Palazzo Chigi, the prime minister’s official residence and office. Greek authorities indicated that the firearm received by their delegation would eventually be donated to the country’s War Museum.
Croatian President Zoran Milanović appeared unaware of the gift until after returning home from the summit. His office later stated that the revolver would most likely be transferred to a police museum.
“I didn’t take it. I shoot from different weapons,” Milanović remarked in a comment widely interpreted as a reference to his often combative political approach rather than to actual firearms.
The White House did not immediately provide details regarding whether U.S. President Donald Trump accepted a similar gift or what arrangements, if any, had been made concerning it.
The unusual diplomatic gesture has also revived memories of previous incidents involving firearms presented as official gifts.
During a visit to New Zealand last year, FBI Director Kash Patel reportedly gifted inoperable pistols to senior police and intelligence officials, only for authorities to later determine that the items violated local weapons laws and needed to be destroyed.
Turkish authorities have largely remained silent regarding the NATO summit gifts. However, Turkish media identified the revolvers as Gumusay .357 Magnum models manufactured by the state-owned defense company MKE. The six-shot revolver is regarded as a symbol of Turkey’s growing defense manufacturing sector.
Over the past two decades, Turkey has significantly expanded its domestic arms industry, transforming itself from a nation heavily dependent on foreign military imports into a major producer of sophisticated defense systems.
The country now manufactures armed drones, naval vessels, armored vehicles and missile systems and is currently developing its own next-generation fighter aircraft.
Defense production has become a central pillar of Erdogan’s political and economic agenda, with Turkish-made military equipment increasingly exported to numerous countries around the world.
Within Turkey itself, the gifting of firearms generated little controversy. Gun ownership and firearm culture remain deeply embedded in parts of Turkish society, although concerns over armed violence have increased in recent years.
According to Umut Foundation, a Turkish organization advocating stronger gun control measures, more than 2,700 incidents involving armed violence were recorded in the country last year, highlighting growing concerns about the widespread availability of weapons among the population.
Alongside the revolvers, summit participants reportedly received a more traditional diplomatic present: a copy of Erdogan’s biography titled “The Politics of Courage: Erdogan and the Rise of Türkiye.”
While NATO leaders spent the summit discussing global security challenges and strengthening military cooperation, it was Erdogan’s unexpected choice of parting gift that ultimately became one of the meeting’s most talked-about moments, triggering a mixture of amusement, confusion and legal complications across allied capitals.
Original article
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