Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan presented every NATO leader, including Prime Minister Mark Carney, with a personalized, engraved revolver and live ammunition as the alliance’s summit in Ankara concluded on Wednesday — a gift that Canadian authorities have since transferred to the RCMP for decommissioning.
An Unusual Diplomatic Gift
The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that the firearm was not singled out for Carney alone but was distributed to all heads of government attending the summit. A BBC News report described the weapon as a revolver, presented alongside live rounds to each of the alliance’s leaders as they departed the Turkish capital.
No photograph of the firearm has been released publicly.
Canadian Authorities Act in Accordance with Law
Global Affairs Canada issued a statement to reporters travelling with the Prime Minister, clarifying precisely how the gift would be handled under Canadian law and government policy. The statement left little ambiguity:
“All official gifts are handled in accordance with applicable Canadian laws, security requirements and government policies,” the department’s statement read.
A Future Home at a Canadian Museum?
Once decommissioned, the firearm will not simply be discarded. According to a senior government official, Ottawa intends to find an appropriate placement for the weapon, with a Canadian museum cited as a likely destination. The suggestion points to a broader practice in which official gifts of historical or diplomatic significance are preserved in public institutions rather than retained for personal use or destroyed outright.
The episode illustrates the occasionally delicate intersection of diplomatic custom and domestic law — a tension that Canadian institutions, in this case the RCMP and Global Affairs Canada, appear to have navigated swiftly and by the book.
