LYNCHBURG, Va. – A federal judge in Lynchburg has ordered that a 5-year-old girl be returned to Turkey after she had been separated from her mother for nearly 18 months, bringing an end to an intense international custody dispute that drew widespread attention.
This comes after her mother, Niloofar Ilbaki Aragh, filed a petition in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, accusing Saeed Abedini, the girl’s father, of wrongfully taking his daughter and bringing her to Lynchburg without permission. Aragh claimed that the young girl was taken from Turkey in January 2025 after she allowed the child to travel with Abedini to visit family in Istanbul.
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In a hearing on Monday, District Judge Norman Moon ruled that the father wrongfully brought the child to the U.S. in violation of Aragh’s custody rights under Turkish law and didn’t comply with court orders, according to court documents.
The case was handled under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, an international treaty designed to address cases where children are taken across international borders during custody disputes. Hague Convention cases are typically handled quickly, requiring the prompt return of a wrongfully removed child to their home country.
Ultimately, the judge ruled that the father didn’t prove any of the usual arguments that can block a Hague return, like that the child is now “well-settled” in the U.S. or would face a “grave risk” of physical or psychological harm if sent back.
Effective immediately, the judge is temporarily transferring physical custody from the dad to Nastaran Ilbaki Aragh, the girl’s maternal aunt, who will take care of the girl until she is returned to Turkey to her mother. The aunt is responsible for promptly getting the child back to Turkey, and no later than 10 days after the judge’s order. The child will be placed back in her mother’s custody once they arrive.