Following a NATO summit in Ankara that concluded on Wednesday, alliance leaders discovered that their host, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, had gifted each of them a vintage revolver. The surprise presents, which included live ammunition, prompted security concerns and logistical challenges for delegations across the 32 member countries.
Security Protocols and Logistical Hurdles for NATO Delegations
The distribution of the revolvers created immediate complications for the security teams tasked with transporting the weapons back to the leaders’ respective home nations. For many officials, the nature of the gift was not apparent until they had already departed Turkey.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever learned of the handgun and ammunition in his luggage only after landing at home. According to reporting by Reuters, De Wever promptly handed the weapon to airport police to be secured in a safe. Similarly, the office of Polish President Karol Nawrocki confirmed that his revolver was held for customs clearance at Warsaw Airport, with an aide emphasizing that the weapon would be stored safely, stating, "so that it is firstly safe and secondly respected as a gift."
Other delegations encountered similar difficulties. The Dutch and Swedish prime ministers had their gifts transported to their respective embassies in Ankara, with the Dutch office confirming plans to have the weapon disabled. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney opted to take the revolver but left the ammunition in Turkey, later joking at a press conference that his own gift of maple syrup had "kind of undermatched" the Turkish offering.
The Gumusay Revolver: A Turkish Defense Industry Showcase
The gift featured the Gumusay .357 Magnum, a six-shooter produced by the Turkish arms manufacturer MKE during the 1990s. The revolvers were presented in wooden display boxes featuring the Turkish flag and the NATO logo, accompanied by a placard identifying the item as "Gumusay, the first revolver-type handgun produced in our country."

The inclusion of live rounds and a note exempting the items from export controls did little to alleviate the security headaches reported by various teams. While Turkey’s modern defense industry primarily focuses on semi-automatic handguns, the Gumusay served as a collector’s item intended to showcase the nation’s manufacturing capabilities. According to the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, Turkey ranked as the world’s third-largest exporter of small arms between 2019 and 2024, with total exports valued at approximately $3 billion.
For more on this story, see Erdogan’s Unique Gift to All NATO Leaders.
Managing the Diplomatic Gift Conundrum
The reactions of the recipients varied significantly based on national laws and institutional policies regarding firearms. While some leaders kept the items, others sought to remove them from their possession entirely.
- Ursula von der Leyen (EU Commission President): Plans to donate the revolver to a military museum.
- Leader of Greece: Intends to donate the gift to the War Museum in Athens.
- Luc Frieden (Prime Minister of Luxembourg): Stated the weapon will be stored with diplomatic gifts after being made "irreversibly unusable."
- Giorgia Meloni (Prime Minister of Italy): Confirmed the revolver is stored at the Palazzo Chigi alongside other state gifts.
The Polish delegation remains particularly sensitive to such gifts following an incident in December 2022, when an anti-tank grenade launcher received as a gift from Ukraine accidentally exploded in the office of Poland’s police chief. Regarding the new Turkish gift, an aide to President Nawrocki told Radio RMF FM, "Certainly no one will be shooting it."

The Turkish presidency did not immediately respond to inquiries regarding the intent behind the gift, which occurred during a summit focused on high-stakes issues including Ukraine, Iran, and relations with US President Donald Trump. While the exchange of gifts is standard diplomatic practice at such summits, the inclusion of functional firearms necessitated an unusual level of coordination, with some officials describing the scenes among security teams as "insane." The unusual diplomatic exchange highlighted both the ceremonial tradition of gift-giving and the heightened security protocols required to manage live ammunition in a high-profile international setting.
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