Beginning several centuries ago, during the period of the Ottoman Empire, tens of thousands of Black Africans were brought by slave traders to plantations and agricultural areas situated between Antalya and Istanbul in present-day Turkey. Some of their descendants remained in situ, and many migrated to larger cities and towns. Other blacks slaves were transported to Crete, from where they or their descendants later reached the İzmir area through the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923, or indirectly from Ayvalık in pursuit of work.

When did the slave trade begin?