Waheed Ahmed, the son of a local Labour politician from Rochdale, was arrested as he landed at Birmingham airport today.
He was detained along with eight other family members in Hatay, near the Syrian border, on April 1 on suspicion of being enroute to join Islamic State (IS) militants in the region.
Ahmed is thought to have flown from Dalaman into Birmingham, where he was arrested by Greater Manchester Police.
The group of nine from Rochdale included five adults and four children.
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His father, Rochdale Labour councillor Shakil Ahmed, said he "wanted his son to come home as soon as possible".
"My son is a good Muslim and his loyalties belong to Britain, so I don't understand what he's doing there."
"If I thought for a second that he was in danger of being radicalised, I would have reported him to the authorities," he said in a statement.
He's studying a degree in politics and sociology at Manchester University.
Greater Manchester Police and the UK's North West Counter Terrorism Unit have launched an investigation to establish why the group apparently tried to enter Syria.
Police have been searching Waheed's family home in Rochdale.