The Belgian Prime Minister was a little surprised when he returned from the NATO summit in Turkiye on Wednesday to find that he had a handgun and ammunition in his luggage.
After NATO leaders gathered for Wednesday’s hectic summit in Ankara, their host, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, presented each with an unusual farewell gift: a vintage revolver, complete with live ammunition, signaling that this was not just for show.
Erdogan wanted to showcase Turkey’s defense industry, which has become a key export and foreign policy tool.
Images shared by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda’s office showed what appeared to be the Gumusay 357 Magnum, a rare six-shot cannon produced by Turkish arms manufacturer MKE in the 1990s.
It was placed in a wooden box emblazoned with the flag of Turkey and the NATO logo, as well as a sign reading “Gumusay, the first revolver-type handgun produced in our country” in Turkish and English.
Engraved Turkish revolvers make unusual gifts
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s spokesman said all leaders had received the same model, engraved with their own names.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever handed it over to Brussels airport police for safekeeping in a safe.
An aide to Polish President Karol Nawrocki said Radio RMF FM that his revolver was awaiting customs clearance at Warsaw airport and that it would be kept in a suitable place “so that it would first be safe and then respected as a gift”.
“No one will definitely 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. Dutch had to be disabled while Swedish waited for import documents.
The weapon given to Briton 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 government headquarters, Palazzo Chigi, along with other state gifts.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen intended to donate hers to a military museum, while the Greek leader planned to donate his to the Athens War Museum.
Turkey’s modern handgun industry focuses primarily on semi-automatic weapons, making the Gumusay a curiosity for collectors.
Turkish gunsmiths have established themselves in the European 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, Turkey was the world’s third-largest exporter of small arms between 2019 and 2024, with exports totaling around $3 billion over the period, behind the United States and Italy.
