NATO leaders each gifted engraved revolver by Turkish President

NATO leaders each gifted engraved revolver by Turkish President
A gun gifted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda at the NATO summit in Ankara. Picture taken in Vilnius, Lithuania, 9 July, 2026.
Reuters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gifted each NATO leader a revolver engraved with their name, along with ammunition at the alliance’s summit in Ankara. 

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was one of the attendees given one of the presents.

The outgoing British Prime Minister left his revolver in Türkiye. It is expected to be decommissioned so that it can no longer fire live ammunition, before being brought back to the UK. 

Erdoğan waived export controls on the revolver so that it could leave Türkiye legally. But it remains illegal to import a live firearm into the UK. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan holds a press conference during NATO leaders' summit in Ankara, Türkiye, 8 July, 2026.
Reuters

The Belgian Prime Minister’s Office released a photo of the revolver gifted to the country’s Prime Minister Bart De Wever on social media.

It shows the gun, six bullets and a card bearing a Turkish flag in a box. 

Lithuania’s President’s Office also released photos of the revolver given to the country’s President Gitanas Nauseda. 

The card accompanying the gift reads: “With the compliments of the President of the Republic of Türkiye.”

The Canadian Government said the pistol gifted to the country’s President Mark Carney had been transferred to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to be decommissioned. 

CBC, Canada’s national public broadcaster, citing an unnamed senior official, reported that Carney’s gift could end up in a Canadian museum.

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