World leaders leaving the recent NATO summit in Ankara were treated to an unconventional parting gift from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: a fully functional, personalized vintage revolver complete with live ammunition. The choice of gift was intended to showcase Turkey’s rapidly growing domestic defense industry, which has emerged as a crucial economic driver and foreign policy tool for the nation.
Presented in a black-lined wooden display case bearing the Turkish flag and the NATO logo, each gift featured a Gumusay .357 Magnum—a rare six-shooter produced in the 1990s by state-owned arms manufacturer MKE. The barrels were individually engraved with each leader’s name. Packaged inside the case were six live rounds, a cleaning kit, and an official note exempting the firearm from Turkish export controls. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer later told reporters that a larger supply of ammunition—reportedly 500 rounds—was managed by accompanying delegation staff.
The Diplomatic and Logistical Conundrum
While diplomatic gift exchanges are standard at international summits, the presentation of fully operational firearms triggered immediate logistical and legal headaches for foreign security details, as international transport laws strictly regulate functional weaponry.
The unconventional gifts met vastly different fates depending on national regulations:
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Left in Turkey: The revolvers belonging to British PM Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Dutch PM Rob Jetten were temporarily left behind in Ankara. The Dutch delegation made plans to have their weapon disabled, while Sweden’s remained at their embassy pending complex import paperwork.
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Surrendered to Security & Customs: Belgian Premier Bart De Wever handed his revolver over to Brussels airport police for safekeeping. An aide to Polish President Karol Nawrocki confirmed their weapon was held at the Warsaw airport customs terminal awaiting clearance to ensure it was stored safely and “respected as a gift.”
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Sent to State Storage: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s revolver was transported directly to the government’s official seat at the Palazzo Chigi to join other official state gifts.
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Donated to Museums: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis both announced intentions to donate their respective handguns to national military and war museums. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney joked that his own gift of maple syrup “undermatched” the gesture, confirming his deactivated revolver would likely go to a national war museum while the live ammunition was left behind in Turkey.
Turkey’s Industrial Muscle
The choice to distribute a collector’s item like the Gumusay underscores Turkey’s aggressive push into the global arms trade. While its modern commercial focus centers heavily on affordable semi-automatic pistols and shotguns—successfully challenging traditional European powerhouses in Italy and Belgium—the country has become an export giant. Data from the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey reveals that between 2019 and 2024, Turkey was the world’s third-largest exporter of small arms, executing approximately $3 billion in sales.
