Erdogan and the guns given to the NATO summit: Meloni brings it to Italy. Here’s what other leaders do

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda shared images of the gift, a Gumusay .357 Magnum pistol, a rare 6-bullet model produced by the Turkish company MKE in the 1990s. The weapon was given as a gift in a wooden case, with the Turkish flag and the NATO logo. On the box, the phrase in Turkish and English ‘Gumusay, the first revolver produced in our country’. Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar published the photo of the kind gift on X: “An unusual gift from President Erdogan at the NATO Summit: a Magnum revolver with ammunition, engraved with my name…”.

Slovakian President Peter Pellegrini examined the gun given as a gift by President Erdoğan and introduced it to members of the press. pic.twitter.com/PhmmXccbhL

— Gündem 7×24 (@gundem7x24) July 9, 2026

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, on the flight back to London, explained that Erdogan had also attached a note exempting weapons from customs controls on Turkish exports. However, Starmer preferred to leave the gun in Türkiye, as bringing it into the UK would have been illegal. Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, as videos on social media show, opened the box and showed the weapon to journalists during the flight back to his homeland.

Each country handles this according to its own laws. Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever reportedly realized he had received a gun only upon returning to Brussels. The gift was handed over to the police. An aide to Polish President Karol Nawrocki explained to Radio RMF FM that the gun, after the green light from customs authorities in Warsaw, will be kept in an appropriate place: “No one will use it to shoot.” Different choices apparently made by the Netherlands and Sweden: the gifts have for now been entrusted to the embassies in Ankara.

An unusual gift from President @RTErdogan at the NATO Summit: a Magnum revolver with ammunition, engraved with my name… pic.twitter.com/Bni4asgPDl

— Péter Magyar (Don’t be afraid) (@magyarpeterMP) July 9, 2026

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will most likely hand the gun over to a military museum. In Greece, the weapon will end up on display in the war museum in Athens. In Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney commented on the story with irony: “My gift, the maple syrup, seemed a little poor…”. Carney, in Ankara, did not realize he had received a gun: “I would like to reassure the Canadians, they keep their guns away from me.” The .357 should be given to a museum.