&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Vintage gun, live ammo: Erdogan's 'unusual' gift to NATO leaders creates security headache")
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan presented an unusual farewell gift to leaders attending Wednesday's NATO summit in Ankara. Each leader received a vintage revolver engraved with their name, along with live ammunition, making it clear that the firearm was not intended as a display piece.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was the first to reveal the gift. He said he and several other leaders were presented with a revolver bearing their names.
The firearm was placed inside a red box lined with black fabric. The package also included six live rounds and a note stating that the weapon was exempt from export controls.
NATO summit gift catches leaders off guard
The gift left several officials from NATO member states surprised and created what some described as "insane" situations for security teams responsible for transporting the weapons.
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"An unusual gift from President Erdogan at the NATO summit: a Magnum revolver with ammunition, engraved with my name," Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on X.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said he only became aware of the exact nature of the gift after arriving back in Belgium.
"The prime minister was surprised and immediately handed it over to airport police so it could be placed in a secure safe, and the matter was handled in accordance with relevant procedures," AFP reported, citing an official.
De Wever's security team also took charge of the revolvers given to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa, creating additional security and protocol challenges.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's revolver has already been placed at the Palazzo Chigi, the seat of the Italian government, along with other official state gifts.
Images released by the office of Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda showed the firearm to be a Gumusay .357 Magnum, a rare revolver produced by Turkish state-owned arms manufacturer MKE during the 1990s.
According to reports, Turkey wanted to showcase its defence industry, which has become a major export sector and an important part of Ankara's foreign policy.
As per the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, Turkey was the world's third-largest exporter of small arms between 2019 and 2024. The country exported about USD 3 billion worth of small arms during the period, behind only the United States and Italy.
