Turkey and its air force (Hava Müstesarligi first and Türk Hava Kuvvetleri -THK for short- later) were the largest export customer for the Bristol Beaufighter and, apparently, during the war, at least one Beaufighter Mk. I was sold by the Royal Air Force (RAF), together with other types. As the information about the Turkish Beaufighters is confusing, some documents don't acknowledge the existence of this aircraft.
However, it seems that in 1944, when the THK was founded, at least nine ex-RAF Mk. X were supplied to Turkish control, followed in 1946 ordered additional twenty-four machines from Bristol. However, in the official lists, there are only twenty-three Beaufighters listed, so there is some confusion about the number that was actually sold.
Anyway, between April and August 1947 the Beaufighters TF. X were delivered to replace the almost derelict Bristol Beauforts that were sold back during the war. Just like the Beauforts, the Beaufighters were assigned to the 105th Torpedo-Bomber Group based at Köseköy (this unit was created to maintain an effective anti-shipping force in the Black Sea), with nine aircraft assigned to each company and six being kept in reserve.
As the airfield in Köseköy was not big enough, many accidents took place.
On 23rd August 1947 the 105th Torpedo-Bomber Group was merged into the 10th Reconnaissance Regiment (15th according to some sources), formed at Afyon, with the Beaufighters forming the 1st and 2nd companies.
However, the airfield at Afyon was at an altitude of 2.000 feet (610 m) above the sea level, the take-off performance was not enough for the time and it was decided to put the Beaufighters into storage, so they Eskisehir. Later, in 1948 they were replaced by the American Martin B-26 bombers and, when the 10th Recon Regiment was disbanded in early 1951, the Beaufighters were sold for scrap.
Sources:
1st Turkish Air Force - Türk Hava Kuvvetleri
2nd Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action -153 - Bristol Beaufighter in Action
3rd Scale Aircraft Modellers Datafile 6 - Bristol Beaufighter
4th https://web.archive.org/web/20211028194120/http://www.tayyareci.com/digerucaklar/turkiye/1923ve50/beaufighter.asp
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