Despite a note from Mr Erdogan waiving export controls, the Prime Minister has had to leave the revolver in Turkey to be decommissioned as it is illegal to import it into the UK.

19:39, Wed, Jul 8, 2026 Updated: 19:42, Wed, Jul 8, 2026

Erdogan meets UK Prime Minister Starmer during NATO summit, Istanbul, Turkey - 08 Jul 2026

Sir Keir Starmer and Recep Erdogan at the summit (Image: Turkish presidency/APAImages/Shutterstock)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave Sir Keir Starmer a pistol and a box of live ammunition as a present during the Nato summit in Ankara. Sir Keir told reporters Mr Erdogan had given all the leaders at the summit a similar gift, with each weapon engraved with the recipient’s name.

Despite a note from Mr Erdogan waiving export controls, the Prime Minister has had to leave the revolver in Turkey to be decommissioned as it is illegal to import it into the UK. In his press conference at the end of the two-day summit, the Turkish leader also praised US President Donald Trump's “positive approach” toward the sale of F-35 jets to Turkey.

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Trump and Starmer share awkward look following NATO photo call

He added: “Hopefully, when the F-35s are delivered to Turkey, the whole world will say America kept its promise.”

He further dismissed objections from Israel and Greece concerning the possible sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.

Speaking at a closing news conference at the end of the two‑day summit he hosted, the Turkish president said opposition raised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Greece’s Kyriakos Mitsotakis “have no place in my world.”

Mr Trump had announced during a meeting with Erdogan on Tuesday that the US will lift sanctions on Turkey that were issued after Ankara purchased Russian missile defense systems in 2019. The move led to the country being kicked out of the F-35 fighter jet program.

On Wednesday, however, Mr Trump suggested he hadn’t made up his mind concerning the F-35s.

Erdogan, meanwhile, also renewed Turkey’s long-standing offer to mediate between Ukraine and Russia for an end to the war.