Student Arrested for Trying to Join ISIL Returns to Russia

A Russian student, Varvara Karaulova, who had been detained in Turkey during an alleged attempt to join the Islamic State, has returned to Russia with her father, her mother said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — “The plane with my former husband and my daughter has landed. As far as I know, they are currently in the airport going through some juridical procedures,” the student's mother told RIA Novosti.

Moscow State University student Varvara Karaulova, 19, was detained earlier in June on the border between Turkey and Syria while traveling with a group of foreigners allegedly recruited by Islamic radicals.

Since the rise of the Islamic State militant group, Turkey has become a gateway for foreign fighters attempting to join the group. As many as 20,000 foreign fighters have joined militant groups in Syria, including ISIL, according to the US National Counterterrorism Center.

Earlier Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on Turkey to allow diplomatic access to 14 Russian nationals detained for allegedly attempting to cross the Syrian border to join the Islamic State.