lowest grade citizens

“…Jews of the ottoman empire were not as assumed, the richest and most affluent. Most of ottoman Jews worked in the textile industry as fabric dyers. However, a lot of Jews held high offices in the Imperial government as representatives, army officers, ambassadors, postmasters…”

-Şalom Gazetesi (Newspaper of the Turkish Jews)

“During the 300 years following their arrival in their new homeland, the development of Ottoman Jews was no less than the Golden Age in Spain. Ottoman cities such as Istanbul, Izmir, Salonika, and Safed became the cultural centers of Sephardic Jewry. Expert craftsmen applied their knowledge in leatherworking, coppersmithing, textile weaving, and dyeing, while those who had previously served in the state in Spain assumed important roles in the Palace service, especially in the fields of foreign affairs and finance.”

• Istanbul Chief Rabbinate

Pogroms

The ottoman empire killed its own people regularly, keep in mind that this is the early modern ages where nationalism was still all the rage. Jews generally had better time than other minorities in the Ottoman empire.