Erdogan gifts personalized revolvers to NATO leaders at Ankara summit
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan presented each NATO leader at the 36th NATO summit in Ankara with a custom‑made revolver – identified as the Gumusay .357 Magnum (also described as the Sarsılmaz SR 38) – together with six real cartridges and a note waiving export controls. The weapons, bearing the recipient’s name, were produced by the state arms maker MKE and trace their design to the 1990s Gümüşhane‑origin revolvers.
National gun‑law restrictions forced many leaders to leave the gifts in Turkey or hand them over to security services. Belgium’s Prime Minister Bart De Wever immediately gave his revolver to airport police; UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he could not take the firearm into the United Kingdom and left it at the Turkish embassy; EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen plans to donate hers to a military museum; German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni likewise placed theirs under official custody. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney handed his to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The gifts sparked diplomatic discussion about Turkey’s growing defence‑industry capabilities and the practical challenges of transporting firearms across borders.
The revolvers were shipped in wooden boxes containing a cleaning kit and ammunition produced by GoldForce in Sungurlu, highlighting domestic arms production. While the gesture was intended to showcase Turkey’s export‑ready weapons sector, it generated a complex security and legal response across the alliance.