CHATALJA LINES, a fortified position 25m. W. of and covering Constantinople, extending from the Black sea at Kara burnu to the Sea of Marmara at Buyuk Chekmedje. They form a very strong position, covered in part by lakes and marshes, and commanding all the country to the west. They were first con structed during the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78, but were not at that time the scene of fighting. During the Balkan war of 1912, however, they afforded a secure refuge to the Turkish armies defeated in the open field by the Bulgarians, and when the latter attacked them in mid-November of that year, with insufficient artillery preparation, they were repulsed with heavy loss. In the World War the lines were once more reconditioned in expectation of an Allied attack on Constantinople.