Shakil Ahmed, a Labour Party councilor in Rochdale, northwest England, said Thursday he had believed his university student son was in Birmingham, England. Ahmed said he was "shocked, worried and extremely upset" to learn he was in Turkey.
British police say the group detained in Turkey on Wednesday includes three men, two women and four children aged 1 to 11. They are being deported to Britain.
The nine are among a spate of recent cases of UK citizens trying to reach areas of Syria controlled by the Islamic State group. Several have been apprehended, but three teenage schoolgirls are believed to have reached Syria in February.