President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presented personalized Turkish-made pistols and ammunition boxes to leaders attending the NATO summit in Ankara, with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying he was unable to take the gift back to Britain because of the country's strict firearms laws.

The gifts were presented during the NATO Heads of State and Government Summit held in the Turkish capital on July 7-8.

Starmer told reporters on his return flight that each leader received a Turkish-made pistol engraved with their name, along with an ammunition box.

He said the gift also included a signed document from Türkiye intended to exempt the firearm from export restrictions.

Despite the accompanying documentation, Starmer said Britain's strict firearms legislation prevented him from bringing the pistol into the country.

He said the firearm would remain in Türkiye and be permanently deactivated.

The United Kingdom introduced some of the world's strictest handgun laws following the 1996 Dunblane school shooting.

It remains unclear whether other NATO leaders encountered similar legal restrictions.

German officials reportedly classified the pistol presented to Chancellor Friedrich Merz as an official state gift, with import procedures expected to be handled through Germany's embassy in Ankara.

The personalized gifts have been widely viewed as a symbolic showcase of Türkiye's expanding defense industry and domestic firearms manufacturing capabilities. (ILKHA)