In the 18th century there was no real industrial change, however the Ottoman Empire invested great effort to industrialize at the turn of the centuries.

Sultan Selim III introduced contemporary European processes and equipment for production of cannon, rifles, mines and gunpowder in 1793-4. In 1804 Sultan Selim III built woolen mills for uniforms and paper factory in Hünkâr Iskelesi. After initial stop, Sultan Mahmud II continued these efforts vigorously. A spinning mill was built near Eyüp in 1827, then a leather tannery and boot works at Beykoz at the beginning of 1830s. At nearly the same time a part of the paper factory was converted to a cloth manufacture. In 1835 a feshane was established in order to manufacture fez hats. Wool spinning and weaving mill were opened at Islimiye (Sliven in present day Bulgaria) in 1836. In late 1830s a saw mill and a copper sheet-rolling mill were built near Tophane; the existing cannon foundry and the musket works at Dolmabahçe were converted from animal to steam power. In the following period a great number of state manufacturing facilities was built.

The region in which these reforms were carried out laid west of Istanbul, in the area between the Edirne road and the Marmara Sea, extending 8-9 miles east-west from the Yedikule corner. In 1842 this was announced by the government as the area of an industrial park. A technical school was established, the workers were housed in two-story barracks 650 ft long, and the industrial park was encircled by walls half a mile of circumference. The park, with its center near the shore of Zeytinburnu, produced iron pipes, steel rails, plows, bits, stirrups, locks, lanceheads, cannon, swords, knives, razors etc. In 1840 the entire complex was put under the single management, which built an advanced woolen cloth factory near Izmit and a luxurious silk factory near Hereke.

The Ottoman Empire started looking to produce its own raw materials since 1840s: in 1845 a group of foreign geologists and mining engineers started excavating iron ore from both sides of the Princes' Islands and in Maltepe. At the same year, excavations of limestone west of Istanbul, and coal from seams at Erekli. In 1842 the government established a ranch of 15.000 merino sheeps near Bursa. Around 1845 an American agricultural expert planted cotton west of Istanbul, even bringing emancipated slaves from the USA.

Silk cultivators in Bursa switched from hand reels to steam-powered mills in mid 1840s. In 1850 the Ottoman government built one of biggest silk weaving factories in Hereke.

The machinery was exclusively imported from Europe. Most of foremen, master craftsmen and skilled workers were from the UK, Belgium, France, Italy and Austria. Under their supervision there were some 5000 unskilled workers, Armenians, Bulgarians, Greeks, Jews and Turks. Most of them were male, but in textile industries women were employed as well.

In the beginning the entire Istanbul complex was handled by a single Gregorian Armenian family - the Dadians. In 1795 Haci Arakel Dad was introduced to Sultan Selim III as a mechanical genius, to whom the sultan had to thank for introducing most of gunpowder improvements. His son and grandson, Ohannes and Bogos Dadian, who handled much of the development in 1840s.

In 1841 the Ottomans were however forced to sign the Treaty of Balta Liman, surrendering themselves to the laissez-faire policy of the UK. Even though Sultan Abdülmecid tried to compete, just like in Egypt, the market came under European domination. In 1849 the Dadians were removed from office and their properties were seized. In 1855 the silk mill at Bursa was destroyed by an earthquake. In the late 1840s the cotton farm died out. The merino sheep farm was mismanaged and suffered from thefts and diseases.