Ankara, Turkiye. NATO leaders arrived in Turkiye this week to discuss security in an increasingly volatile world. They left with an unexpected souvenir: an engraved revolver and six rounds of ammunition.

The unconventional gift from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, host of the NATO summit, was intended to showcase Turkiye's growing defense industry. Instead, it left many leaders grappling with legal and logistical challenges upon returning home.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney joked that his own diplomatic gift of maple syrup "kind of undermatched" Erdogan's present, adding that the revolver had been handed over to Canadian police.

"I would like to reassure Canadians, they keep guns away from me," Carney told reporters.

The revolvers, identified by Turkish media as Gumusay .357 Magnum six-shot firearms manufactured by state-owned defense company MKE, were engraved with each recipient's name.

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar shared a photo of his gift on X, describing it as "an unusual gift" from Erdogan, although he did not say what he intended to do with it.

Several European leaders decided not to keep the firearms because of their countries' gun laws. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will have hers decommissioned before donating it to a military museum. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer left the revolver in Turkiye to be decommissioned because importing it into the United Kingdom would be illegal, despite receiving documentation waiving export controls.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever surrendered his revolver to airport police upon arriving home. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten left theirs at their embassies in Ankara, where officials said they would also be taken out of service. In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office registered the firearm as an official state gift, while Greek authorities said their revolver would be donated to the War Museum.

Croatian President Zoran Milanović said he only learned after returning from the summit that Erdogan had given him a firearm.

"I didn't take it. I shoot from different weapons," Milanović quipped, referring to his political style.

The White House did not immediately comment on the gift received by the US delegation.

Erdogan's office has not publicly explained the decision to present firearms, but Turkish media reported that the revolvers were intended to highlight the country's expanding defense industry. Over the past two decades, Turkiye has transformed itself from a major arms importer into a growing producer of advanced military equipment, including drones, warships, armored vehicles, and missile systems. The country is also developing its own next-generation fighter jet.

Although the gift generated surprise among many foreign delegations, it drew little reaction inside Turkye, where gun ownership has deep cultural roots. Gun control advocacy group Umut Foundation, however, has warned that armed violence is rising, reporting more than 2,700 firearm-related incidents across the country last year.

In addition to the engraved revolvers, summit participants also received a more conventional gift: a copy of Erdogan's biography, The Politics of Courage: Erdogan and the Rise of Türkiye.

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