Erdogan Gifts NATO Leaders Engraved Pistols And Live Ammunition At Ankara Summit

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave NATO leaders engraved pistols or revolvers and live ammunition as leaving gifts during the NATO summit in Ankara on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“- Published Sir Keir Starmer was given a personalised revolver with live ammunition as a gift by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the Nato summit”

BBC

CP24 reported that Global Affairs Canada said the gun was turned over to the RCMP for decommissioning and that "The ammunition remained in Türkiye," while POLITICO.eu said EU officials confirmed the firearms were presented to Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa.

BBC

BBC reported that Sir Keir Starmer was given a personalised revolver with live ammunition, engraved with his name, and that Erdogan waived export controls on the gift but it was left in Turkey because it is illegal to import a live firearm into the UK.

The Telegraph said Erdogan presented each NATO leader with an engraved revolver bearing their name and a box of live ammunition after hosting the alliance’s summit in Ankara, and that he also gave each leader a letter waiving Turkey’s export controls on the gun.

RFI said Starmer told British reporters on his flight home that Erdogan offered a pistol as a gift to each fellow leader who attended the NATO summit in Ankara and that the pistols were inscribed with the name of each leader.

BBC said Sir Keir Starmer’s revolver has not been brought back to the UK and remains with British officials in Turkey, where it is expected to be decommissioned before it is returned so it would no longer be capable of firing live ammunition.

The BBC also reported that Erdogan waived export controls on the gift but it was left in Turkey because it is illegal to import a live firearm into the UK, and that Downing Street had not released a picture of the revolver.

CP24

RFI (AFP) reported Starmer said he had to leave his gift in Turkey because importing it into Britain would be illegal, despite a letter from Erdogan lifting export controls on the weapons.

DIE WELT reported that a Merz government spokesperson said the revolver was handed over to the embassy so it could be properly introduced and then inventoried in the collection of official gifts.

POLITICO.eu added that other European leaders, including outgoing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, said publicly they would leave their pistols in Turkey to be decommissioned before they are brought home.

CP24 said the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed all NATO leaders received the unusual gift from Erdogan and that Global Affairs Canada stated the gun was being transferred to the possession of the RCMP for decommissioning.

“British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was the first to tell reporters about the unusual gifts on the return flight”

DIE WELT

POLITICO.eu reported that a European Council official said Costa’s security team took the weapon for checks and that they would follow Belgian procedures to bring it to Belgium and then store it in line with the security requirements imposed by the General Secretariat of the Council.

The Guardian said Starmer told reporters on the plane back to the UK that Erdogan gave him and all the other leaders a revolver engraved with their names and a box of live rounds, but that Starmer had to leave his in Ankara because it remained illegal to import it to the UK.

Times Now said the gift was a Turkiye-made Sarsilmaz SR 38 revolver engraved with each leader's name and accompanied by a box of live ammunition, and that Starmer’s revolver remained in Ankara where it will be decommissioned.

POLITICO.eu also said the top-of-the-range ceremonial pistols are likely to fall foul of strict limits on the value of gifts and are unlikely to be kept personally by the recipients.