The Ottomans were very religiously conservative- influential religious leaders rejected new European technologies and innovations, which led to a military decline. However, Sultans during the Tanzimat Era tried to reform society and politics in the Empire- through suffrage, education, and economic improvements. This attracted the ire of many Islamic clerics who despised this change, and they impeded further progression.
These people were a mess! Drinking coffee was considered evil.
With all this social unrest, Europeans found a simple way to manipulate the Ottomans- Europeans were given extraterritoriality- exemption from jurisdiction of the local law; European merchants also took advantage of the Ottomans. But Europeans did not wish to dispose of the empire, because it would lead to a imbalance of power.
