At the NATO summit held in Ankara, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan presented each attending NATO leader with a highly unusual gift: a Magnum revolver engraved with their name, accompanied by six live bullets.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was the first to publicly mention the gift, stating that he and other leaders received the revolvers on their flight back from Ankara, where the summit lasted two days. Alongside the guns, which were placed in red boxes lined in black, was a note exempting the weapons from export controls.

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar confirmed the gift on social media, describing it as "an unusual gift from President Erdogan at the NATO summit: a Magnum revolver with ammunition, engraved with my name."

The gifts surprised officials and led to what were described as "insane" scenes among the various delegations' security teams, who had to decide how to handle the firearms and ammunition. Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever reportedly only learned of the exact nature of the gift after landing in Belgium. He was surprised and immediately handed the revolver over to airport police for secure storage, with the matter handled according to relevant procedures.

It is understood that the revolvers will have to be transported to Sweden following all applicable regulations. One source expressed certainty that no one intends to fire the weapons.

A photograph taken in Vilnius, Lithuania, shows one of the guns gifted by President Erdogan to Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda.

Sources