Named Guns, Live Bullets and a Waiver: Turkey’s Unusual Gift for NATO Leaders

NATO leaders left this week’s summit in Turkey with an unusual diplomatic souvenir — a personalised revolver complete with live ammunition.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan presented each leader with the firearm as a showcase of the country’s growing defence industry, but the gift quickly created logistical and legal headaches as delegates prepared to return home.

Each leader received a wooden presentation box containing a vintage-style Gumusay .357 Magnum revolver engraved with their name. The display also included live rounds, a cleaning kit and documentation exempting the firearm from Turkish export controls. The case was decorated with the Turkish flag and the NATO emblem.

Gift sparks transport challenges

While symbolic gifts are common at international summits, a functioning firearm proved far more complicated than traditional diplomatic mementos.

Many leaders were unable to take the revolver home immediately because of strict firearms regulations. Some weapons were left in Ankara pending customs clearance, deactivation or import approvals, while others were transferred to embassies or local authorities for safekeeping.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was among the first to confirm receiving the engraved revolver. According to Downing Street, the gift also included a cleaning kit and ammunition.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s office said every NATO leader received the same personalised model.

Different countries, different solutions

The unusual gift prompted a range of responses:

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever handed the revolver to airport police for secure storage.
Poland said President Karol Nawrocki’s firearm was awaiting customs clearance before being placed in secure storage.
The Netherlands and Sweden transferred their revolvers to their embassies in Ankara, with the Dutch weapon set to be deactivated before import.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s revolver was placed with other official state gifts at Palazzo Chigi.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen plans to donate hers to a military museum, while Greece intends to display its gift at the War Museum in Athens.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney joked that his own diplomatic gift of maple syrup looked modest by comparison.

“It struck me that my gift of maple syrup kind of undermatched,” he quipped, adding that officials generally keep firearms away from him. Canadian authorities said the pistol accompanying Carney had been deactivated before transport, while the ammunition remained in Turkey.

Showcasing Turkey’s defence industry

The presentation underscored Ankara’s efforts to promote its expanding defence manufacturing sector, which has become an increasingly important export industry and foreign policy tool.

The revolver, believed to be the Gumusay .357 Magnum, is a relatively rare model produced by Turkish state-owned arms manufacturer MKE in the 1990s. Unlike the semi-automatic pistols that dominate Turkey’s firearms industry today, the revolver is considered a collector’s piece.

According to the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, Turkey ranked among the world’s leading exporters of small arms between 2019 and 2024, reflecting the country’s growing presence in the global defence market.