I certify that I have read this thesis and have ... - Bilkent University

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank Assistant Professor Paul Latimer for teaching
me how to write a thesis, giving me courage as well as being patient with me. Without
his deep knowledge, suggestions and help, there would not be such a thesis. Besides
my supervisor, I also would like to thank Assistant Professor David E. Thornton,
especially for his support with documents, sharing his knowledge with me and giving
me valuable advice on onomastics; and Assistant Professor Cadoc Leighton for his
pre and post-jury support, as well as for providing me with very important sources
from England. In addition to the European historians in my department, I also
received help and advice from the archaeology department, from Dr Julian Bennett.
His suggestions, especially on motte and bailey castles were very useful to the ideas
that I put forward concerning the military system in this thesis.
My other professors in the department — Dr Gülriz Büken, Assistant
Professor Oktay Ozel, Assistant Professor S. Akşin Somel, Ann-Marie Thornton, the
Head of Department, Assistant Professor Mehmet Kalpaklı, Assistant Professor
Russell Johnson and others — were also, always, very kind and helpful to me.
Of course, not in an academic sense, but by sharing their love and always
giving me courage, my family — Serra Inci, Sevim and Salim Çelebi — were also
important contributors to this thesis. Besides my family, the Ottomanist Dr Eugenia
Kermeli-Ünal, Assistant Professor Hasan Ünal from the International Relations
Department and Zeynep Ünal, both personally and academically were always with
me.
Above all, I also would like to thank the founders of Bilkent University, the
Doğramacı family, for giving us an opportunity to study in such a university, and the
founder of History Department at Bilkent University, Halil Inalcık.
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