With the Tanzimat Edict, the Ottoman Empire initiated a policy that aimed atpromoting the development of state-subsidized industry, building factories to engagein production using traditional methods to shore up the economy. To this end, theBursa Silk Factory, the Feshane Fez Factory, the İzmit Broadcloth Factory, theVeliefendi Calico Factory and the Hereke Cloth Factory were founded andsupported by the state. Non-Muslim Armenians and Greeks made up a significantproportion of the workforce in these factories. For a limited period of time, throughthe Bank Ministry of Industry and Mining, the state helped to meet some of the basicneeds of the Hereke Factory – which was an important institution in terms of itsengagement in the Republican drive to create a national industrial base. Theprovided support took the form of subsidized loans to promote productdiversification and to allow modernization of the machinery, as well as theemployment of expert personnel to carry out production and maintenance tasks.Employing foreign workers became was an important component of the employmentpolicy of the factory at the time with the increase in modern machinery and theoccurrence of variation in production, as the machinery was modernized andproducts were diversified. This article evaluates the early-Republican policy ofemploying foreign workers and experts in Turkey, with particular focus on the caseof the Hereke Cloth Factory.