Abstract:

The world, which has undergone a tremendous change, is experiencing an everlasting economic process. Natural raw materials were used and given shape as the industry grew into the main branch of economy, industrial investments and activities paced up and globalization emerged as an influential factor. Accordingly, world experienced a rapidly-expanding industrialization movement. After the Ottoman Empire conquered Istanbul, small businesses and workshops stood out as very important economic activities for the Empire and became exemplary enterprises for the Anatolian people. The number of new businesses and small workshops started to increase in parallel with new conquests. At the outset of the 19th century, industrial development in Europe positively affected the Ottoman Empire and industrial/vocational colleges and production-based workshops were founded in a short period of time. However, wars and economic stagnations that the Empire faced in the last period of its decline caused an industrial recession, which resulted in shutdowns of a considerable amount of factories. Turkish industrialization process, which came to slow down till the establishment of the Turkish Republic due to political and economic pressure, started to rally by the support of Atatürk. Later on, state-owned and private industrial facilities were founded to produce and provide employment opportunities. Industry in Turkey took on a different dimension in the years following 1950, 1980 and 2000, and started to produce more competitive and stronger technological-industrial goods.

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