Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan handed every NATO leader a vintage revolver and live ammunition as a parting gift at the Ankara summit on Wednesday, triggering security headaches, diplomatic confusion and a wave of bewildered reactions from the Belgian airport police to the Greek War Museum.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was the first to reveal the gift publicly, disclosing on his flight home that each leader received a Gumusay .357 Magnum revolver engraved with their name, six live rounds and a note exempting the weapons from export controls. Starmer’s came with a cleaning kit and 500 extra bullets. Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar posted on X that he had received a Magnum revolver with ammunition engraved with his name. Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever only discovered the exact nature of his gift after landing in Brussels, immediately handing it to airport police to place in a secure safe.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s security team handled hers separately. Her spokesman confirmed she expressed thanks and the revolver would be decommissioned and donated to a military museum. The Dutch and Swedish revolvers were sent to their respective Ankara embassies pending paperwork.
The Gumusay is a rare six-shooter produced by Turkish arms maker MKE in the 1990s, a collector’s curiosity designed to showcase Turkey’s defence industry on the world stage.
The Siyah Sancak broadcasting organization posted on X a video of the Slovak President Peter Pellegrini examining the special weapon gifted by President Erdogan at the NATO Summit.
