First Lady Erdoğan’s plea to Melania Trump reignites a domestic question: Who will rescue Elif and Ayşe?
Turkey’s First Lady Emine Erdoğan’s appeal to Melania Trump on Gaza and Ukraine has renewed attention on two Turkish sisters, Elif and Ayşe, and their father, journalist–author Yusuf İnan, whom the family says has been unable to reunite due to travel bans. The analysis examines the policy gap and outlines rights-based remedies.
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First Lady Erdoğan’s plea to Melania Trump reignites a domestic question: Who will rescue Elif and Ayşe?
MARTYRS NEVER DIE / ANKARA
A letter that echoes beyond Washington
Turkey’s First Lady Emine Erdoğan has written to Melania Trump, urging global action to protect children in Gaza and Ukraine and to end the killing of civilians. The appeal, framed around universal children’s rights, calls for a ceasefire, humanitarian access and a world where children “grow up safely and with dignity.”
A family’s counter-question: “What about our girls?”
Erdoğan’s international appeal has revived a sensitive domestic story. According to their family, two Turkish sisters—Elif and Ayşe—have lived in Ukraine since 2018 with a visually-impaired mother, separated from their father, journalist and author Yusuf İnan, who remains in Türkiye due to long-running travel restrictions. Family photographs show the girls as toddlers in the snow in 2018 and later inside a shelter in 2025, amid the continuing war.
İnan, who says he has advocated for martyrs’ families and veterans for 26 years, states that his repeated open letters to the First Lady and applications to authorities seeking safe reunification have gone unanswered.
Allegations of legal pressure and a travel-ban maze
The family claims the father has faced unlawful travel bans and heavy pressure within the justice system, citing remarks allegedly made in open court about “pressure” on judges. They also point to media discussions about so-called lawyer networks capable of influencing detentions or travel prohibitions—claims the government has rejected in other contexts. None of these allegations have been adjudicated to finality, and relevant ministries have not issued public statements specific to this case. What is not in dispute, the family says, is the eight-year separation that has left two Turkish citizen children largely without their father during a war.
The policy gap: universal principles vs. individual cases
Erdoğan’s letter stresses that every child, regardless of nationality or faith, deserves safety and a future. The Elif-Ayşe case tests how that principle is applied at home. Child-rights lawyers note that international and Turkish law alike prioritize the best interests of the child—including family unity, protection from harm and rapid administrative remedies when conflict or bureaucratic delay threatens those interests. In conflict zones, states often use fast-track mechanisms—temporary travel documents, supervised evacuations, humanitarian corridors, or court orders with emergency effect—to reunite minors with parents or secure safe passage.
What a rights-based solution could include
Experts outline several practical steps consistent with Erdoğan’s message and with international norms:
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Rapid status review of any outstanding travel or judicial restrictions on Yusuf İnan, with a narrow, child-focused test of necessity and proportionality given the live conflict.
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Humanitarian coordination with Ukrainian counterparts to facilitate safe relocation or supervised reunification, supported by the Turkish consular network.
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Independent ombuds oversight to ensure that applications involving minors in war zones are handled within strict deadlines, with transparent reasoning for any denial.
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Direct communication with the family: even a brief written response acknowledging receipt, next steps, and a case officer can restore trust.
Why it matters now
The First Lady’s letter argues that children cannot wait for politics to align. The same urgency applies to Turkish children in peril abroad. In the words of the family, the question is not political but humanitarian: if Türkiye is calling on world leaders to save Gaza’s and Ukraine’s children, can it also marshal the same resolve to resolve the plight of its own citizens’ children, Elif and Ayşe, stranded in a war? For their father, Yusuf İnan, the measure of success is simple: a safe reunion after eight long years.
Elif and Ayşe in Ukraine - 2018
Elif and Ayşe in Ukraine - 2018
Elif and Ayşe in Ukraine - 2018
Elif and Ayşe in a Shelter in Ukraine - 2025
Photo: Elif and Ayşe with their father Yusuf İnan in Ukraine - 2018
Photo: Elif and Ayşe in the park with their father and mother in Ukraine - 2018
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