Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave NATO summit participants an unusual gift before their departure from Ankara: a revolver with a box of cartridges. The name of each recipient was engraved on the weapon, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told British media on his flight home from the Turkish capital. German Friedrich Merz (CDU) also received a weapon.
However, neither Merz nor Starmer took their gift home. A German government spokesperson said the revolver had been handed over to the embassy so it could be properly imported and then inventoried in the official gifts collection. Starmer left his gift in Turkey, according to his own statement, because importing it into Britain would be illegal.
Erdoğan attached a letter to each revolver lifting export restrictions for the weapons from Turkey. The NATO summit concluded in Ankara on Wednesday. In addition to Merz and Starmer, US Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also traveled to Ankara.
Source: www.zeit.de
