Dr Ilhan has a BA (Hons) in Arabic and Religious Studies from Leeds University, and a PhD in History from the University of Manchester. Dr. Ilhan is a specialist in History and Socio-economic History of the Ottoman Empire and History of Islam. He has taught Turkish Language at the University of Manchester, History at Ankara University, History and Turkish Language at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia (in Arabic) and History at Al al-Bayt University of Jordan (in Arabic).

Prior to taking up his appointment at the Australian National University in 2003, Dr Ilhan was Professor and Chair of the Department of History, Middle East Technical University, Ankara (1989-2003). His most recent publication is ‘The Town of Cankiri: Its Population and Development’ in Imber and Kiyotaki (ed), Frontiers of Ottoman Studies: State, Province, and the West Vol. 1 (London: IB Tauris, 2005).