Was Erdoğan's gun gift a faux pas or an old-school diplomatic tradition?
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gifted NATO leaders custom-engraved .357 Magnum revolvers during a summit in Ankara, causing confusion and security concerns among some delegations. While some viewed the gift as a diplomatic faux pas, others noted that gifting firearms is a long-standing, albeit controversial, diplomatic tradition.
Why it matters
The incident underscores the intersection of diplomatic protocol, national arms manufacturing, and the perception of Turkey's international role.
When NATO leaders left the two-day summit in Ankara with a parting gift, most of them did not bother to look inside the gift bags they were carrying.In fact, it wasn’t until UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and a handful of other heads of government first opened the lavish wooden boxes they received from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that they realised the black felt-lined burgundy chest carried a .357 Magnum revolver toted by the likes of Dirty Harry — or rather, its Turkish-made equivalent.The discovery caused panic among some, most notably Belgian Premier Bart De Wever, whose staff took a photo of the box in a paper gift tote on the Brussels airport tarmac, having discovered the carefully personalised chrome piece only after landing back home.The delegations’ security teams were further frenzied by the fact that the box also carried six live rounds, throwing heads of state in a…
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