Erdogan's NATO gift of revolvers leaves Western leaders with legal headaches

Ankara,UPDATED: Jul 10, 2026 18:29 IST

Western leaders who travelled to Turkiye for this week's NATO summit left with an unusual gift from host President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: a revolver and six rounds of ammunition. The gesture was seen as a way to showcase Turkiye's growing defence industry, but it also left several leaders dealing with legal and practical issues after returning home.

Some leaders were unable to take the firearms with them because of gun laws in their countries, while others arranged for the gifts to be decommissioned or donated to museums. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters, "It struck me that my gift of maple syrup kind of undermatched," adding that the firearm was now in police possession. "I would like to reassure Canadians, they keep guns away from me," he said.

The revolvers were engraved with the names of the leaders. Hungary's new Prime Minister Peter Magyar wrote on X: "An unusual gift from President @RTErdogan at the NATO Summit: a Magnum revolver with ammunition, engraved with my name," and posted a photograph of the display box containing the revolver and six cartridges. It was not immediately clear what he did with the gift.

A spokesperson for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she had thanked Erdogan for the gift and that it would be decommissioned and donated to a military museum. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the gift bag included a note waiving export controls, but he left his behind to be decommissioned because it would be illegal to import it into Britain.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever handed his revolver to airport police on arrival. Officials said the revolvers given to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten were left at their countries' embassies in Ankara and would also be taken out of service. In Italy, an official said the gun was logged as a gift at Palazzo Chigi, the official seat of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. In Greece, officials said the firearm would be donated to the War Museum.

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said he only learnt after returning from the summit that Erdogan had given him a gun. His office said it would probably be handed over to a police museum. "I didn't take it. I shoot from different weapons," Milanovic said, referring to his political style. The White House did not immediately respond to questions about Erdogan's gift to leaders.

Erdogan's office has not commented on the gift. Turkish media reports identified the revolver as the Gumusay .357 Magnum, a vintage six-shot revolver produced by Turkish state arms manufacturer MKE. Reports said the gift was meant to highlight Turkiye's defence industry, which has in recent decades shifted from heavy dependence on imports to producing advanced military systems including drones and warships, and is also developing its own next-generation fighter jet.

Gun culture is deeply rooted in Turkiye and the gift drew little reaction in the country. Umut Vakfi, a foundation that campaigns for gun control, has said incidents of armed violence have reached alarming levels, with more than 2,700 reported last year in the country of 86 million people. Turkiye's state-run Anadolu Agency said summit participants also received a more conventional gift: a copy of Erdogan's biography, titled "The politics of courage: Erdogan and the rise of Trkiye."

The summit gift, intended to underline Turkiye's defence capabilities, instead prompted a range of responses from Western leaders, many of whom left the engraved revolvers to be held by police, embassies or museums.

With PTI Inputs

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