Should the weapon be left in Ankara? Take it with you? Or offer it to a museum? The leaders of NATO countries found themselves in embarrassment after the gift given by the Turkish president at the end of their annual summit: a revolver, with six rounds of ammunition. A present which gave rise to “lunar” scenes within the different delegations.
Several leaders said they discovered the contents of the gift package late, or did not even see it before it was seized by their security services. In any case, the surprise was almost general.
Keir Starmer was the first to mention this unusual gift, to say the least, offered by Recep Tayyip Erdogan to his guests. On his plane returning from Ankara, where the heads of state and government of the Atlantic Alliance had met for two days, he explained that the Turkish president had given each leader a revolver engraved with his name. Also present in this red box, lined in black: six live bullets, and a note exempting the weapons from export controls.
It was only upon their arrival in Belgium that the teams of Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever “became aware of the exact nature of the gift”. “The Prime Minister was surprised and immediately handed it over to the airport police, so that it could be placed in a secure box and the rest would be managed in accordance with applicable procedures,” explained his entourage.
The Belgian Prime Minister’s security teams were also handed over the weapons offered to Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa, heads of the European institutions located in Brussels – with all the headache in terms of security and protocol that such an operation can represent.
Ursula von der Leyen will donate the weapon to a museum
The President of the European Commission, just as surprised by the gift as the other leaders, “thanked President Erdogan for this gesture”, according to one of her spokespersons. The leader plans to donate the weapon “to a military museum” once it is decommissioned, he said.
Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden will keep the revolver at the Ministry of State like all other “diplomatic gifts”. But he first ensured that it was neutralized and made “irreversibly unusable”, according to his services.
This Magnum 357 type revolver also arrived safely at the Polish presidency, but with the usual precautions and a spectacular precedent in everyone’s minds in Warsaw. In December 2022, the Polish police chief brought back from Ukraine an anti-tank grenade launcher that he had just received as a gift. The device exploded in his office, lightly injuring him and causing significant damage to the police headquarters. This time, “it is certain that no one is going to shoot it,” an aide to President Nawrocki told a local radio.
Why such a gift?
Several weapons, such as those offered to Keir Starmer, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten or German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, have for the moment remained in the Turkish capital. And for good reason: depending on the legislation in force, it is often not so simple to transport firearms, especially when they are functional.
The weapon offered to Ulf Kristersson “must be transported to Sweden in accordance with the rules of the art”, assures his team. When questioned, the Élysée made no comment.
Beyond the logistical challenge, these revolvers also aroused the incomprehension of several delegations present at this summit, devoted to Ukraine, Iran and relations with Trump. With a question, repeated over and over again: why such a gift? The Turkish president’s services had not responded to the question Thursday evening.
It is certainly extremely common for heads of state to exchange various gifts during their meetings or summits. But without requiring such precautions. “My maple syrup gift was a little out of sync,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney quipped Thursday to journalists in Saudi Arabia.
