UK and Turkey Reach Intelligence-Sharing Agreement at Ankara NATO Summit

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted a NATO summit in Ankara this week. At the conclusion of the meeting, the UK and Turkey signed a defense agreement intended to expand intelligence sharing between the two countries.

Sir Keir Starmer attended the summit as UK prime minister. Erdogan presented each participating leader with a personalized .357 Magnum revolver engraved with the recipient's name, along with six rounds of ammunition. The gifts were accompanied by notes stating that the firearms were exempt from export controls.

Several leaders did not bring the revolvers back to their home countries. UK officials kept Starmer's revolver in Turkey. One recipient's firearm is expected to be decommissioned before any return. The original article did not identify which countries' leaders retained or returned the weapons.

Starmer spoke after the summit. "This has been a good summit. We achieved what we wanted to achieve, which is unity. So important we have that, particularly with the conflicts going on in Ukraine and the conflicts in Iran," he said. The summit marked Starmer's final major international engagement before his announced resignation.

The defense agreement between the UK and Turkey was signed during the same gathering that produced the revolver presentations.