Erdogan surprises NATO summit leaders with custom-engraved revolvers

Key Points:

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gifted NATO summit leaders a Gumusay .357 Magnum revolver with six rounds, showcasing Turkey's growing defense industry, but the gesture puzzled many due to strict gun laws in their home countries.
• Many recipients, including leaders from Canada, the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands, were unable to keep the revolvers and instead left them behind, donated them to museums, or handed them to authorities for decommissioning.
• The revolvers were engraved with the leaders' names and symbolized Turkey's transformation from a major arms importer to a self-reliant producer of advanced military technology, including drones, warships, and a next-generation fighter jet.
• The gift contrasted with more conventional summit presents and sparked little reaction in Turkey, where gun culture is deeply rooted despite rising incidents of armed violence reported by local gun control advocates.
• Erdogan also presented summit participants with his biography, "The politics of courage: Erdogan and the rise of Türkiye," as a more traditional memento of the event.