The NATO summit in Ankara, Türkiye is drawing attention due to an unusual gift presented by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the attending heads of state and government from member countries.
The annual NATO summit, convened against the backdrop of the US–Iran conflict, the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war, and US President Donald Trump’s anger over member states’ commitment to spending, loyalty, and support for actions against Iran, was hosted by Türkiye at the Presidential Complex (Beştepe), marking its second time as host after Istanbul in 2004.
The 32 member countries bloc reaffirmed its restatement of Article 5 (“an attack on one is an attack on all”) and NATO’s 360-degree approach to deterrence and defense.
Perhaps, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan parting gift, an engraved Gumusay revolver and bullets encased in a wooden box commemorating the meeting was presented to NATO leaders after hosting the NATO summit in Ankara.
Keir Starmer was the first to draw attention to the highly unusual gift given by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to his visitors. During the return flight from Ankara, where Nato leaders had convened for two days, the British prime minister explained that he and others had been presented with a revolver inscribed with their names.
Next to the gun resting in a red box with a black lining were six live rounds and a note stating that the weapons were exempt from export controls..
Erdogan aimed to highlight Turkey's defence sector, which has evolved into a significant instrument of both exports and foreign policy. Photographs circulated by multiple world leaders appeared to feature the Gumusay .357 Magnum, an uncommon six-shot revolver manufactured by Turkish weapons producer MKE in the 1990s.
It was a surprising gift to say the least, several officials from the different alliance member states said, and gave rise to some “insane” scenes among the various delegations’ security teams.
Hungarian prime minister, Péter Magyar, said on X, “An unusual gift from president Erdoğan at the Nato summit: a Magnum revolver with ammunition, engraved with my name.”
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever only became aware of the precise nature of the gift after his arrival in Belgium. "The prime minister was taken aback and promptly turned it over to airport police so it could be stored in a secure safe, and the situation was dealt with in line with the applicable procedures," an official said on Thursday.
Von der Leyen “expressed her thanks” to Erdoğan for the gift, her spokesperson said, adding that it would be decommissioned and donated to a military museum.
The revolver presented to the Polish president, Karol Nawrocki, also arrived safely, but with the necessary precautions and a previous incident still fresh in everyone’s minds.
In December 2022, Poland’s national police commander returned from Ukraine with an anti-tank grenade launcher he had been given as a present. The weapon detonated in his office, causing minor injuries to him and significant damage to the police headquarters in Warsaw.
This time, “it is certain that no one is going to fire it”, an aide to Nawrocki told a local radio station.
Several revolvers, including those owned by Starmer, the German chancellor Friedrich Merz, and the Dutch prime minister Rob Jetten, are for the time being still in the Turkish capital.