Carney says engraved gun from Turkey's Erdogan 'not what I expected'

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA — Prime Minister Mark Carney says he was surprised to learn that Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had given an engraved gun to him and his fellow world leaders who attended this week’s NATO Summit in Ankara.

Asked during a press conference on Thursday what went through his mind when he opened the unusual gift, Carney candidly admitted he never laid eyes on it.

“I would like to reassure Canadians they keep guns away from me,” he quipped, referring to his staff.

Carney said he learned the contents of the present — pistols individually inscribed with the name of each leader and accompanied by a box of six bullets — during a discussion with British Prime Minister Kier Starmer. Other leaders also confirmed they received the same gift.

Starmer revealed the gift to the British press on the flight back to the United Kingdom Wednesday. He said he had to leave the gun in Turkey because importing it into Britain would be illegal.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, who only learned of the contents of the gift after landing in Belgium, immediately handed it over to airport police.

De Wever’s security team also handled the revolvers given to European Union chiefs based in Brussels, Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa, the AFP reported.

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on X the gun was a Magnum revolver.

Global Affairs Canada said in an unattributed statement on Wednesday evening that Carney’s pistol was being transferred to the RCMP to be decommissioned. The ammunition was left in Turkey, the statement said.

“It’s not a legal firearm in Canada, and I certainly don’t have a licence for it,” Carney said.

“We’re going to find the best home for it” in a military museum or with the Canadian Armed Forces, given that it relates to NATO, the prime minister said.

“But yes, it was not what I expected,” he added.

Carney said his gift of maple syrup to Erdoğan “kind of undermatched” the engraved revolver.

National Post calevesque@postmedia.com

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