Özet:

For more than two centuries, our country has been living with the experience of lagging behind Europe, facing the challenges of development both in material and spiritual realms. Our intellectuals, observing Europe's rapid industrial revolution followed by the United States' development, have continuously debated why we haven't been able to catch up with them and what we need to do in order to achieve that. In this study, we attempt to approach the subject of growth and development from the perspective of capital accumulation. Industrialization and consequently development signify the society's aspiration to attain a better position not only economically, but also socially, culturally, and politically – aiming for a welfare state. Industrialization stands as the most crucial element of the developmental process. Facilitating rapid industrialization hinges on achieving capital accumulation and effectively and adequately channeling this accumulation into productive investments, constituting the fundamental process to be accomplished. Our study points us towards the fact that in countries that accomplished the industrial revolution, this process was successful through efficiently functioning financial intermediaries, including the banking system. The Ottoman Empire, unable to succeed in both increasing savings and channeling them into investments that would enable development, has remained unable to escape from continuous decline. This situation was identified primarily by the founders of the Republic, and solution efforts were immediately initiated. In summary, it can be expressed as the essence of our study that the Ottoman Empire, by failing to achieve the dual objectives of increasing savings and directing them towards development-facilitating investments, could not break free from its continuous decline, a reality promptly acknowledged and addressed by the Republic's founders.

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