I'm talking more about the 1700's and the 1800's. I read in a book that there wasn't a printing press in Constantinople until the 1720s, and that the Ottoman army was very far behind other armies in Europe. Why was it so far behind other major powers at the time? I would assume that the progressive heir of Islam combined with a history of using new technology (gunpowder) to great success would help develop the Ottoman Empire into a truly great, progressive power. How did it become the "sick man of Europe" despite having many factors working in its favor?
One important element, certainly not the only one, was the ban on the printing press. In europe the printing press enabled cheaper books wich spread ideas and knowledge more easily, a greater access to books stimulated the literacy level etc.. It resulted in a more educated society, even if the majority was still illiterate. In the ottoman empire there were no printing press until the middle of the 18th century, and it was banned again later. Indeed the sultans feared that this invention could help to spead pernicious ideas, wich is not a little problem for a pluri-ethnic and pluri-religious empire.
This explanation comes from: Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson, Why nation fails