In this paper the writer intends to reviwe the Ottoman statesmen's approach to the reforms issue and its necessity. In line with this intention, a number of questions such as "Under what circumstances the Ottoman Empire chose to go on the reform path as a solution to its problems? Which ideas and developments influenced the reforms issue? What was the Ottoman sultans' understanding of the reform path when the issue was brought up?" are raised. The role of foreign elements, and especially of the Westerners, in the reforms is aslo an important question for which the writer tries to find the right answers. Time-wise the paper encompasses the period between the Tulip Time (1718-1730) to the beginning of the Tanzimat (Reorganization) Age (1839).
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