Prime Minister Mark Carney has handed over the engraved pistol that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave him at the NATO summit this week to the RCMP for decommissioning, the government says.
Carney, along with other world leaders, was presented a gun bearing his name, along with live ammunition, as he left the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8. The Prime Minister’s Office has confirmed that all NATO leaders received personalized pistols from Erdoğan.
The RCMP will render the pistol incapable of firing, and the ammunition that came with the gift has been left in Turkey, Global Affairs Canada said in a media statement.
“All official gifts are handled in accordance with applicable Canadian laws, security requirements, and government policies,” the department said, adding that it will look for a home for the gift, possibly at a museum.
Global Affairs didn’t disclose the type of the gun, but images released by the office of Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda showed what seemed to be a Gumusay .357 Magnum, a rare six-shooter made by Turkish arms producer MKE during the 1990s.
The Epoch Times contacted the Prime Minister’s Office for comment on the matter but did not receive a response.
Federal regulations forbid office holders from receiving any gifts that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their official responsibilities. Exceptions exist for gifts from family and friends but protocol gifts are still subject to stringent reporting and forfeiture requirements under the Conflict of Interest Act.
While the pistol received by Carney will be brought back to Canada, that wasn’t the case for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Starmer told reporters while flying home on July 8, that he left his gift in Turkey because bringing it into the UK would be against the law, even though he possessed a letter from Erdoğan that removed export restrictions on the gun.
Several other heads of state are making arrangements similar to those taken by Carney’s office.
The offices of the prime ministers of the Netherlands and Sweden announced that their revolvers had been transported to their respective embassies in Ankara. The Dutch revolver was scheduled to be deactivated, while the Swedish revolver was pending import documentation.
Belgian Premier Bart De Wever submitted his revolver to the airport police in Brussels for storage in a safe, while an aide to Polish President Karol Nawrocki said the firearm was awaiting customs clearance at Warsaw Airport and would be stored in a suitable location “so that it is firstly safe and secondly respected as a gift.”
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced plans to donate hers to a military museum, while Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis planned to donate his to the War Museum in Athens.
The revolver given to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has already been placed at the Palazzo Chigi, the seat of government, alongside other state gifts.
