
A Turkish military enthusiast has claimed he has found the final resting place of 50 German Second World War fighters donated by Hitler in 1943 in a bid to encourage Ankara to join the Axis powers.

The Focke-Wulf FW-190s were handed over to the Turkish air force who had only about 300 pilots at the outbreak of hostilities.

Turkey, in the early 1940s, attempted to avoid antagonising either side, with pilots receiving training in Britain despite accepting aircraft from the Nazis.

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A Turkish aviation enthusiast believes he has discovered the Top Secret location of 50 Nazi fighter aircraft buried under an airstrip at the end of the Second World War as part of a secret deal between Ankara and the United States

In 1943, Adolf Hitler supplied 71 Focke-Wulf FW-190 aircraft, similar to this one, in return for iron ore and chromium

The FW-190, right, pictured here chasing an RAF Spitfire over the English coast in June 1942, was a highly effective aircraft

One Turkish historian believes that of the 71 aircraft delivered by the Nazis, some 50 were buried at a military base at the end of the war.

The FW-190 was an advanced, lightweight fighter, which was more than a match for the early versions of the legendary Spitfire.

According to the Daily Sabah, Uluhan Hasdal, amateur aviation historian believes the aircraft were dismantled and carefully buried beneath an air force base in the city of Kayseri.

Turkey sold Germany raw materials such as iron ore and chromium while the Nazis supplied fighter aircraft in return.

Turkey played a careful diplomatic game during the early years of the war, providing raw materials to the Nazis while also talking to the Allies about joining their coalition against Hitler before eventually joining in the final months of the conflict

At the end of the conflict, the US government insisted that Ankara destroyed its fleet of FW-190s and bought US aircraft

Aviation historian Uluhan Hasdal believes instead of destroying the aircraft, at least 50 of them were carefully dismantled and buried at a former military airbase in the central city of Kayseri, where, if necessary, the aircraft could be re-assembled

However, the beginning of the jet age and the passage of time meant the aircraft were forgotten, until now

At the very end of the war, Turkey sided with the Allies. The US insisted, after the war was over, that Turkey destroyed the German fighter aircraft and buy surplus American planes instead.

Some experts believe the aircraft were broken up and sold for scrap following an agreement in 1947 between Ankara and Washington.

The 50 aircraft disappeared at this time, although Hasdal believes instead of being destroyed, the aircraft were carefully dismantled, wrapped in oil soaked clothes and buried at the airbase for future possible use.

However, with the arrival of the jet age, radial-engined aircraft were no longer of any military value and were forgotten.

Hasdal believes the fact the aircraft were dismantled and stored for future use means that some of them could potentially be returned to flight.

The aircraft enthusiast approached the Turkish government last year for permission to begin excavating the former airbase but faced a mass of bureaucratic red tape.

Then plans to begin the dig were further delayed due to the recent coup.

However, Hasdal is confident he has found the location of the aircraft and believes returns from a metal detector survey are proof they exist.

Hasdal said the aircraft were built for rugged conditions and may have survived 70 years buried beneath surface.