türkçe links to original Turkish article
(Milliyet Newspaper, 18 December 2019)
After the water level of Lake Büyükçekmece fell, a portion of the
"Çakmak Line" appeared. The line was built during World War II
to repel a possible Nazi invasion of Turkey and was modeled on
the French "Maginot Line".
Çatalca Culture and Tourism Association Chief Ahmet Rasim Yücel
stated that this structure, which carries traces of Turkey's near-history,
must be preserved and opened to tourism. Continuing, Yücel explained
that "During the Second World War, Fevzi Çakmak, the Chief of the
General Staff, had a line built from Lake Terkos to Lake Büyükçekmece
near Istanbul, on the model of the French 'Maginot Line'. The line
consisted of large and small military blockhouses with nests for
machine guns and cannon and facilities to house troops. There was
also a rail system inside tunnels linking the blockhouses."
The first Çakmak Line was along the border with Bulgaria.
The second protected Istanbul and is the subject of this article.
Lake Terkos is on the Black Sea coast and Büyükçekmece is
on the Sea of Marmara coast.
"During construction many soldiers died from the cold weather. But
the Germans came as far as Greece and decided not to attack Turkey.
In those year Turkey was producing 350,000 tons of cement per year
and it was all used for these defense lines. The "Çakmak Line" was
then forgotten and was left to its own fate."
As the water level in Lake Büyükçekmece fell, remnants of the lines
appeared. The line had cement barriers, tank obstacles and
underground tunnels for transporting ammunition. Currently, the
condition of the blockhouses from Çatalca to Lake Büyükçekmece is
quite depressing. The walls are covered with graffiti and there are piles
of garbage in the blockhouses. The iron doors that were part of the
concrete barriers in the fields have all been stolen. In the tunnels, rail
wagons and rails not yet stolen by scavengers are in a sorry state.
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