Belgium’s Prime Minister was fairly taken aback upon returning home from Wednesday’s NATO summit in Turkey when he discovered a handgun and ammunition in his luggage. After the summit in Ankara, host Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan presented each leader with an unusual farewell gift: an antique revolver loaded with live ammunition, clearly not just a prop. Erdogan aimed to highlight Turkey’s defense industry, which has become a significant export and strategic asset.
Photos circulated by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda’s office showed what appeared to be the Gumusay 357 Magnum, a rare six-shooter made by Turkish arms manufacturer MKE in the 1990s. The firearm was displayed in a wooden box adorned with Turkey’s flag, NATO’s emblem, and a sign stating “Gumusay, the first revolver-type handgun produced in our country,” printed in both Turkish and English.
While engraved Turkish revolvers are uncommon gifts, all NATO leaders received the same model, personalized with their names. The Belgian Prime Minister, Bart De Wever, handed his to Brussels airport police to be stored securely. A Polish presidential aide, Karol Nawrocki, said his revolver was awaiting customs clearance in Warsaw and would be stored safely, emphasizing it would not be used for shooting.
The Dutch and Swedish prime ministers reported their revolvers had been moved to their respective embassies in Ankara, with plans for the Dutch one to be disabled and the Swedish one awaiting import approval. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s revolver came with a cleaning kit and 500 bullets, according to a Downing Street source. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s firearm was already stored at Palazzo Chigi, Italy’s government headquarters, alongside other diplomatic gifts.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen intended to donate her revolver to a military museum, and Greece’s leader planned to gift his to Athens’ War Museum. Turkey’s handgun industry mostly produces semi-automatics, making the Gumusay something of a collector’s rarity. The country’s firearms manufacturers have gained a foothold in Europe’s civilian market by offering low-cost pistols and shotguns, challenging long-established Italian and Belgian brands associated with higher-end sporting and service weapons.
According to the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, Turkey ranked as the world’s third-largest exporter of small arms from 2019 to 2024, earning roughly $3 billion in exports during that period, behind only the United States and Italy.