The gifts surprised officials, with security teams left to decide how to handle the guns and ammunition.
A gun gifted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda at NATO summit in Ankara. Picture taken in Vilnius, Lithuania Jul 9, 2026. (Photo: REUTERS/Lithuanian President's Office)
10 Jul 2026 02:26AM
(Updated: 10 Jul 2026 02:31AM)
BRUSSELS: What does a world leader do with a gun and six bullets? That was the conundrum NATO leaders faced after the Turkish president offered them each a revolver after the Ankara summit.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was the first to mention the highly unusual gift presented by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to his guests.On the flight back from Ankara - where NATO leaders had gathered for two days - Starmer said he and others received a revolver engraved with their name.Alongside the gun sitting in a red box lined in black were six live rounds and a note exempting the weapons from export controls.It was a surprising gift to say the least, several officials from the different alliance member states said, and gave rise to some "insane" scenes among the various delegations' security teams."An unusual gift from President Erdogan at the NATO summit: a Magnum revolver with ammunition, engraved with my name," Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on X.
