Belgium’s prime minister was somewhat surprised when he landed home from Wednesday’s Nato summit in Turkiye to find he had a gun and ammunition in his luggage.
After NATO leaders gathered for Wednesday’s raucous summit in Ankara, their host, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, presented each with an unusual parting gift: a vintage revolver, along with live ammunition, indicating it wasn’t just for show.
Erdogan wanted to showcase Turkey’s defense industry, which has become an important export and foreign policy tool.
Pictures shared by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda’s office showed what appeared to be the Gumusay 357 Magnum, a rare six-shooter produced by Turkish arms manufacturer MKE in the 1990s.
It was put in a wooden display case with the flag of Turkey and the Nato logo, as well as a poster with the inscription “Gumusay, the first revolver-type pistol produced in our country” in Turkish and English.
Engraved Turkish revolvers make unusual gifts
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s spokesman said all the leaders had been given the same model, engraved with their own names.
The Belgian Prime Minister, Bart De Wever, handed his to the Brussels airport police to be secured in a safe.
An aide to the Polish president Karol Nawrocki told that Radio RMF FM that his revolver was awaiting customs clearance at Warsaw airport and would be kept in a suitable place “so that it is firstly safe and secondly respected as a gift”.
“Certainly nobody wants to shoot it,” he added.
The offices of the Dutch and Swedish prime ministers said their revolvers had been taken to their respective embassies in Ankara. The Dutch one had to be deactivated while the Swedish one was awaiting import papers.
The gun given to Britain’s Keir Starmer came with a cleaning kit and 500 bullets, a Downing Street source said.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s revolver was already stored at the seat of government, Palazzo Chigi, along with other state gifts.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen intended to donate hers to a military museum, while Greece’s leader planned to give hers to the war museum in Athens.
Turkey’s modern handgun industry focuses mainly on semi-automatics, making the Gumusay something of a collector’s curiosity.
Turkish gunmakers have entered Europe’s civilian firearms market with inexpensive pistols and shotguns, challenging older Italian and Belgian names long associated with more expensive sporting and service weapons.
According to the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, Turkiye was the world’s third largest exporter of small arms between 2019 and 2024, with exports totaling around $3 billion during the period, after the United States and Italy.
