By SUZAN FRASER<\/p>\n
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) \u2014 Western leaders came to Turkey<\/a> to discuss security in an increasingly perilous<\/a> world. They each left with a revolver and six rounds.<\/p>\n The unconventional gift from the host of this week\u2019s NATO summit<\/a>, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan<\/a>, was meant to showcase his country\u2019s growing defense industry.<\/p>\n But it left officials across the alliance scratching their heads. Some were forced to leave their gifts behind due to gun laws in their countries, while others donated theirs to museums.<\/p>\n \u201cIt struck me that \u2060my gift of maple syrup kind of undermatched,\u201d Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters, adding that the firearm was now in police possession. \u201cI would like to reassure Canadians, they keep guns away from me.\u201d<\/p>\n The revolvers were engraved with leaders\u2019 names<\/p>\n \u201cAn unusual gift from President @RTErdogan at the NATO Summit: a Magnum revolver with ammunition, engraved with my name,\u201d Hungary\u2019s new Prime Minister P\u00e9ter Magyar said on X, posting a photograph of a display box containing the revolver and six cartridges.<\/p>\n It was not immediately clear what he did with the gift.<\/p>\n Ursula von der Leyen, the European Union commission president, thanked Erdogan for the gift, which will be decommissioned and donated to a military museum, her spokesperson said.<\/p>\n British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters that the gift bag included a note waiving export controls. Still, he left his behind to be decommissioned, because it would be illegal to import it into Britain.<\/p>\n Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever handed his revolver to airport police upon arrival. The revolvers gifted to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten were left at their countries\u2019 embassies in Ankara and would also be taken out of service, officials said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy first reaction was, this is something a bit different to the box of syrup waffles that we gave out at the NATO summit in The Hague,\u201d Jetten said Friday. \u201cI think the Turkish president wanted to underscore what we saw during the NATO summit, namely that the Turkish defense industry is among the best in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Croatian President Zoran Milanovi\u0107 said he only found out after his return from the summit that Erdogan had given him a gun. His office said it would probably be handed over to a police museum.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t take it. I shoot from different weapons,\u201d Milanovic said, referring to his political style.<\/p>\n The White House did not immediately respond to questions about Erdogan\u2019s gifts.<\/p>\n On a visit to New Zealand last year, FBI Director Kash Patel<\/a> gave the country\u2019s police and spy bosses gifts of inoperable pistols that were illegal to possess under local gun laws and had to be destroyed<\/a>.<\/p>\n The gift was aimed at highlighting Turkey\u2019s growing defense prowess<\/p>\n Erdogan\u2019s office has not commented on the gift. Turkish media reports identified the revolvers as the Gumusay .357 Magnum, a vintage six\u2011shot revolver produced by the Turkish state arms manufacturer, MKE.<\/p>\n