After NATO leaders gathered for Wednesday's (June 8) fractious summit in Ankara, their host, Turkish President Recep Tayipp Erdogan, handed them an unusual parting gift: custom-made revolvers, along with live ammunition indicating the firearms weren't merely decorative.

The diplomatic present reflected Erdogan's broader push to showcase Turkey's domestic defence industry, which the country has increasingly used as a tool of exports and foreign policy.

Images shared by the office of Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda with Reuters showed what appeared to be the Gumusay .357 Magnum, a rare six-shot revolver produced by Turkish arms maker MKE (Mechanical and Chemistry Industry Corporation) in the 1990s that is no longer being manufactured.

The revolvers were embedded within a wooden display box featuring Turkey's flag and NATO logo, as well as a placard inscribed with "Gumusay, the first revolver-type handgun produced in our country" in both Turkish and English.

Not all leaders were immediately aware of the exact nature of the gift. The office of Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever told Reuters he was surprised to learn it was a gun upon arrival to Brussels and immediately handed it to airport police to be secured in a safe.

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NATO leaders bring home from summit rare revolvers gifted by Turkey's Erdogan

VIDEO SHOWS: HANDOUT PHOTOS OF THE REVOLVER GUN THAT ERDOGAN GAVE TO TOP EUROPEAN LEADERS

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SHOWS: MELSBROEK, BELGIUM (JULY 8, 2026) (BELGIUM PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE - Access all)

1. REVOLVER GIFTED TO BELGIUM PRIME MINISTER BART DE WEVER AT NATO SUMMIT

VILNIUS, LITHUANIA (JULY 9, 2026) (LITHUANIAN PRESIDENT'S OFFICE - Access all)

2. VARIOUS OF REVOLVER GIFTED TO LITHUANIAN PRESIDENT GITANAS NAUSEDA AT NATO SUMMIT