MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The family – Asif Malik, 31, Sara Kiran, 29, and their four children – were reported missing April 16, over a week after last being seen.
"Thames Valley Police understand that they have been detained by the Turkish authorities today (20/4) but is awaiting confirmation," the statement reads.
The announcement comes a day after police, looking at the family’s direction of travel and concerns voiced by relatives, inferred actions that, when compared to the online rhetoric of the Islamic State, led them to believe that the couple could be trying to reach Syria.
According to an unnamed official from the Turkish prime minister’s office interviewed by BBC, a deportation procedure for Malik, Kiran and their children is currently underway.
Turkish police on Monday arrested a missing British couple with four children believed to have left England for Syria to join the Islamic State group
© AP Photo / Turkish Government via AP
