Belgium's prime minister felt a bit of surprise upon returning to his country after participating in the NATO summit held Wednesday in Turkey, when he discovered that his bag contained a pistol and ammunition.

After the summit that brought together alliance leaders in Ankara and witnessed disagreements among participants, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave his guests an unusual farewell gift: an old-style pistol accompanied by live ammunition, indicating that it is not just a souvenir.

Erdogan aimed to highlight Turkey's defense industry, which has become an important tool for exports and foreign policy.

Photos published by the office of Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda showed what appears to be a .357 Magnum Ruger-like revolver, a rare six-shot revolver produced by Turkish arms manufacturer MKE in the 1990s.

The pistol was placed in a wooden display box bearing the Turkish flag and the alliance's logo, along with a plaque inscribed in Turkish and English: "Ruger, the first revolver manufactured in our country."

A spokesperson for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that all leaders received the same model, engraved with their names.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever handed his bag to Brussels airport police to secure it in a safe.

An aide to Polish President Andrzej Duda said in radio remarks that his pistol was awaiting customs clearance at Warsaw airport and would be kept in a suitable place "so that it is safe first, and second, respected as a gift."

He added, "Certainly no one will fire it."

The offices of the prime ministers of the Netherlands and Sweden reported that their pistols were transferred to their countries' embassies in Ankara. The pistol given to the Netherlands is to be deactivated, while the one given to Sweden awaits completion of import procedures.

A source from Downing Street said that the pistol given to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer came with a cleaning kit and 500 rounds of ammunition.

As for Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's pistol, it is already stored at the government headquarters alongside other official gifts.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen intends to donate her pistol to a military museum, while the Greek leader planned to donate his to the War Museum in Athens.

Modern pistol manufacturing in Turkey is primarily focused on semi-automatic weapons, making the Ruger revolver a rare piece that piques the curiosity of gun collectors.

Turkish arms manufacturers have broken into the European civilian firearms market with cheap pistols and rifles, challenging older Italian and Belgian brands long associated with shooting sports and official security force weapons at high prices.

According to a Geneva-based small arms survey, Turkey was the world's third-largest exporter of small arms between 2019 and 2024, with total exports worth about three billion dollars during that period, after the United States and Italy.

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