The Belgian prime minister was a bit surprised when he returned home from Wednesday’s NATO summit in Turkiye to discover he had a gun and ammunition in his luggage.
After NATO leaders gathered for Wednesday’s contentious summit in Ankara, their host, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, gave each of them an unusual parting gift: an antique revolver, along with live ammunition, signaling it wasn’t just for show.
Erdogan wanted to showcase Turkiye’s defense industry, which has become a key foreign and export 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 with the Turkiye flag and the NATO logo, as well as a sign with the inscription “Gumusay, the first revolver-type pistol produced in our country” in Turkish and English.
Engraved Turkish revolvers are original gifts
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s spokesman said all leaders had been given the same model, engraved with their own names.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever handed his over to police at Brussels airport for safekeeping.
An adviser to Polish President Karol Nawrocki said RMF FM Radio that his revolver was awaiting customs clearance at Warsaw airport and would be stored in an appropriate place “so that, firstly, it is safe and, secondly, it is respected as a gift.”
“Certainly no one will film,” he added.
The offices of the Dutch and Swedish prime ministers said their revolvers had been taken to their respective embassies in Ankara. The Dutchman had to be disabled while the Swede was waiting for the import procedures.
The gun handed over 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 in the government headquarters, Palazzo Chigi, along with other state gifts.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen intended to donate hers to a military museum, while Greece’s leader planned to donate his to the Athens War Museum.
Turkiye’s modern weapons industry focuses primarily on semi-automatics, making the Gumusay something of a curiosity for collectors.
Turkish gunmakers have entered the European civilian firearms market with inexpensive pistols and shotguns, challenging older Italian and Belgian names long associated with higher-priced 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, behind the United States and Italy.
